RESPONDING

TO
GLOBALISATI
ON
Organizational Behaviour
Assignment

Midhu Abraham (Roll No. 65)

Pisharody Ranjit Devesan (Roll No.
75)
Sam Alex (Roll No. 85)
Shradha Jharana Patnaik (Roll No.
95)
Sudipta Swain (Roll No. 105)
Vikas Nigam (Roll no. 115)
Responding To Globalisation

Responding To Globalisation

Introduction

Globalisation is the process by which the people of the world are unified into a single
society and function together. According to Guy Brainbant, the process of globalisation not
only includes opening up of world trade, development of advanced means of communication,
internationalisation of financial markets, growing importance of MNC's, population
migrations and more generally increased mobility of persons, goods, capital, data and ideas
but also infections, diseases and pollution.These processes are being driven by a combination
of economic, technological, socio-cultural, political and biological factors.
Growing interconnections brought about by this process requires that both managers
and organisations expand on traditional repertoire of roles. For organisational leaders as well,
the challenge is to manage tradition and change. Global firms take shape by borrowing best
practices and new ideas from multiple cultures, but they must at the same time create an
internal culture that infuses unity and provides direction. Thus, global management skills and
competencies are integral to all organisations. The most important competencies in handling
it are-
1. Managing Self
2. Managing Communication
3. Managing Diversity
4. Managing Across culture
5. Managing Teams
6. Managing Change

7. Managing Ethics

Managing Self and Across Cultures

Globalisation has caused cultures of different nations to interact with each other. This
heterogeneity has brought about changes in the organisational culture. However, such
interactions can sometimes lead to cultural clashes if not handled delicately. At the individual
level also, it may become evident when people from different cultures work with each other.
Thus in this light managing, perceiving, appraising, and interpreting accurately oneself,
others, and the immediate environment is very necessary. This in turn equips us with the
ability to recognize and embrace similarities and differences among nations and cultures and
then approach key organizational and strategic issues with an open and curious mind.
The set norms and practices of a nation dictates a number of things in an organisation
including when meetings start who convenes, who speaks during a meeting and when is it
adjourned. It also determines small things like presenting gift to your associates or customers.
Example- Indians on a professional call accept gifts whereas Japanese consider gifts as an
offence.
Culture also frames our sense of right and wrong. Most cultures interpret behaviour
depending on their own cultural frames. This can lead to cultural misunderstandings.
Example:-In Saudi Arabia people stare deeply into others eyes, while in Nigeria averting the
eyes is a sign of respect.
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In some cases, the value differences can be antipolar to each other. As a manager, it is
essential to adapt to these differences and motivate teams on that basis.
Example:- If fatalism is prevalent in a society; negative effects in work are attributed to
supernatural forces while the societies which believe that people control their own destiny
almost certainly will motivate individual efforts to alter negative outcomes.

Managing Communications
Communication is an inevitable tool of globalization. In a global environment a
company will have its own branches, franchisees or even an outsource partner in another
country. The distance between the two countries might be large but because of advancements
in the field of communication the decisions are taken and implemented simultaneously and
therefore efficiency of the company increases.
Cross-cultural communication is a very important aspect of modern day businesses.
The people of various countries have various cultures and languages. There are mainly two
types of communication:
a) Verbal communication- It is mainly language based that is communication by
speaking
b) Non-verbal communication- This include the body language and the speed of
communication. It has maximum importance when it comes to cross cultural
communication.
Example:-The Koreans exchange business cards even before they sit down but in
Switzerland, there is no set time for exchanging business cards. Koreans greet by
bowing while the Swiss do so by shaking hands. Swiss like to have direct eye contact
while the Koreans use indirect eye contact.
There exist many barriers to cross cultural communication the major being, the physical
barriers. These may arise due to differences in nationalities, skin colour etc. The onus lies
with the managers to discourage such barriers in communication.
Moreover, the extent to which information is transmitted via verbal versus nonverbal
forms of communications tells us a lot about the working of that nation. There may occur a
high context or low context communication. While the former refers to communications
mostly by gestures (e.g. Asian Nations), the latter refers to communication mostly by words
(e.g. Western Nations). This is why most western nations rely on written business contracts
while verbal commitment is typical of Asian nations.

Managing Diversity:
Today multi-national companies are keen on developing diverse human resource
pools to transform themselves into true global organisations. The top leaders are passionate
about this initiative because ideally diverse workforces make organisations alert and
responsive. Moreover, such a workforce can always come with spectacular innovations.
However, managing a diverse workforce is always a challenge, which has to be tackled
effectively. The global organisations have to come with integrative mechanisms that would
make people from diverse background operate effectively. Thus, many leading organisations
have taken excellent initiatives in this regard by:
a) Re-examining their traditional ways of functioning

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b) Seeking value similarities and differences as sources of competitive advantages

c) Training people for skills that enhance a sense of inclusion.
Example:- For a certain project, Sun Microsystems had formed a team of 35 engineers, at
their headquarters. These engineers hailed from 11 different nations. Some of these technical
experts were not well versed with freewheeling culture of Silicon Valley. For example, many
of the Asian engineers could not tolerate conflicts and criticisms in meetings. Khanh Vu, the
manager of this team, had the challenge of making these individuals function as one team. Vu
formulated a strategy through which functioning of a team could be made smoother. He made
the group realise that some of the topics are culturally sensitive and thus, should not be
discussed in any conversation. However, it was made very clear to the team that work related
opinions and criticisms should be taken in a positive way.
Marketing initiatives also need to be examined carefully for their globalization
potential. A truly global marketing strategy would aim to standardize some elements of the
marketing mix across the world, while customizing others. The correct approach would be to
identify the various value chain activities within the marketing function and decide which of
these can be performed on a global basis and which can be localized. The main influencing
factors while designing a marketing strategy would be local and international environment,
competitive situation, firm’s internal situation, customer needs & price elasticity.
Example:- In a globalised economy, there is pressure on companies to improve
efficiencies by offering standard products. There are pitfalls however to be avoided as
customer preferences vary across countries. The following statement of Toyota about
globalisation substantiates the same “Our global strategy used to centre on “world cars,”
which we would modify slightly to accommodate demand in different markets. Today our
focus is shifting to models that we develop and manufacture especially for selected regional
markets.”

Managing Teams
How one builds a team and teamwork in one’s organization will most likely be the
greatest priority of a manager. All accomplishments of an organisation will be because their
team works well together. Fostering teamwork is creating a work culture that values
collaboration. The team must truly believe and even assimilate the belief that `none of us is as
good as all of us'. In a teamwork environment, people understand and believe that thinking,
planning, decisions and actions are better when done co-operatively.
This becomes all the more important when the companies go global and the team
comprises of individuals from all over the world. The biggest challenge that a manager faces
is breaking the ice between his team members and making them respect and accept each other
with their culture. Many companies for this purpose have devised ice breaking sessions and
team games.

Managing Change:-
The business environment is changing more rapidly today with increasing
globalisation, which has made it imperative to change with the speed of change. This process
becomes more difficult because of cultural differences. Many firms find approaching multi-
dimensional changes brought about by globalization very difficult. It is easier to change

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systems than to change people. Change management means to plan, initiate, realize, control,
and finally stabilize processes on both, corporate and personal level. Change may cover such
problems as strategic directions or personal development programs for staff.
Those firms, which were reluctant to change ultimately turned out to be failures.
Example:- Wang Laboratories, back in the 80’s, was a major player in the world of powerful
personal computers. Some even thought the company could capture the nascent PC market.
However, Wang made some bad decisions and disappeared from the market altogether.
Similarly, Hindustan Motors, which was one of the original three car manufacturers in India,
founded in 1942 by Mr. B.M. Birla, was a leader in car sales until the economic
liberalisation. However, after liberalisation it could not adapt itself to the new changes and
hence could never attain its past glory again.
To manage change successfully a manager needs to act according to the following
phases of change:
1. Shock and Surprise: It refers to confrontation with unexpected situations. This can
happen ‘by accident’ (e.g. losses in particular business units) or planned events (e.g.
workshops for personal development and team performance improvement). These
situations make people realize that their own patterns of doing things are not suitable
for new conditions any more.
2. Denial and Refusal: People lean on their values as support for their conviction that
change is not necessary. Hence, they believe that there is no need for change.
3. Rational Understanding: People realize the need for change and focus on finding
short-term solutions. Thus, they only cure symptoms and there is no willingness to
change own patterns of behaviour.
4. Emotional Acceptance: This phase is also known as, ‘crisis’. Only if management
succeeds to create willingness for changing values, beliefs, and behaviours, the
organization will be able to exploit their real potentials.
5. Exercising and Learning: The new acceptance of change creates a new willingness
for learning. People start trying new behaviours and processes. They will experience
success and failure during this phase. It is the change manager’s task to create some
early wins (e.g. by starting with easier projects).
6. Realization: With experimentation and new learning experiences, people get to
realise, which behaviour is effective in which situation. This, in turn, opens them up
for new experiences. These extended patterns of behaviour increase organizational
flexibility. Perceived competency has reached a higher level than prior to change.
7. Integration: People totally integrate their newly acquired patterns of thinking and
acting. The new behaviour becomes routine.
Following are the few examples of firms that survived change and were successful:
Apple Computer: Apple computers although a market leader in 1980’s, by 1996 was
on the verge of a takeover. After Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997, Apple
computers took tough decision of discontinuation of many products and introduced products
like iMac desktop, iMac laptops and iPod etc. Which revived the sales of the company and
since then it has managed to hang onto a loyal customer base that other companies can only
dream of.

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Managing Ethics
In the age of globalization ethics play a very important role as the boundary of
business extends beyond the national frontiers involving different countries, people, culture
and mind set. Ethics inculcate the ability to incorporate values and principles that distinguish
right from wrong in making decisions and choosing behaviours.
Managing ethics in the workplace involves identifying and prioritizing values to guide
behaviours in the organization, and establishing associated policies and procedures to ensure
those behaviours are conducted.
Business ethics can be defined in the following ways :-
1. An application of ethics to the corporate community
2. A way to determine responsibility in business dealings
3. The identification of important business and social issues and
4. A critique of business.
As companies operate in different countries simultaneously, there can be ups and
downs in different countries leading to pressure on the management to produce results
compared to other countries. At the same time, global organisations should have a clear
moral compass to direct leaders even in troubled times to strictly avoid unethical
behaviour.
Ethics programs align employees’ behaviours with those top priority ethical values
that are preferred by leaders of the organization. Usually, an organization finds surprising
disparity between its preferred values and the values actually reflected in the behaviour of its
employees. Ongoing attention and dialogue regarding values in the workplace builds critical
ingredients of strong teams in the workplace i.e. openness, integrity and community. Thus
Employees feel strong alignment between their values and those of the organization. In result,
they react with strong motivation and performance.
Example:- Akzo Noble Coatings India a subsidiary of Akzo Noble N.V. launched their
venture in India and within a short span of time they grew up by leaps and bounds. Few
years later, they were among the finalists to win a tender of a huge government organisation.
However, one of the powerful officers asked for a commission to grant the contract. The
company faced an ethical dilemma as this was a huge contract for them but finally the
company decided to follow its ethical code of conduct and let the contract go. This decision
made clear to the employees that no matter what the company would not deviate from its
code of ethics.

Conclusion
Thus, an organisation which intends to evolve as a prominent entity in this globalised
arena, has to respond in a way that it does not fail to miss a single beat. This can be done only
by developing an unmatched organisational culture which gives due respect to each
individual in the organisation. Further, this culture should be all set to adapt to any needed
changes which would reinforce its presence in the market. At the same time, the organisation
should not forego ethical values so that in the long run the organisation can stand tall in its
true sense.

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