THE MODERN CORPORATION DEBATE

Nowadays, it is a matter of controversy the fact that corporations can have the same legal rights as individuals. These entities can not have the same legal right that a human, just because the common sense assumes how the organization doesn´t have a physical body that can be held in jail, do not have feelings, is a profit seeker unit and so on... different arguments that support the creation of a new legislative framework for them. The term "legal person" however is something that is necessary for the developed society, since under its action so many activities are executed, activities that otherwise would not be possible, or thing for example the creation of projects such as a dam, if a "physical person" human had to handle the money and the production activities, would not be appropiate I think. The limit (line) should be at the drawn at the border of responsability because the corporations can get rights, but also duties and obligations to comply with.

In order for the corporations to be held accountable for their actions, there should be a deeper involvement of governmental institutions such as environmental regulators that witness all the steps followed by the corporations regarding pollution, effects on global warming, security in standards of production, the follow of established standards and so on. The previous would work just if there were stronger laws applicable worldwide and supported by any coercitive power. The result could be a diminished effect due to externalities caused by companies, however there would be also an increase in general prices, because a right following of proper regulations world wide would put in evidence the real cost of products once corporations assume the costs of undertaking "fair" business activities.

The directors and shareholders of the corporations should have a total responsability for the actions of "legal persons" that are in charge of them, just because the corporation does what its owners and managers decide it to do. The limited responsability is a figure that should not exist since every person in the world is responsible for the actions that he/she causes, so the corporations should be held liable for anything it did, and does.

After critizicing the corporations we also have to highlight the benefits they have. The essence of the capitalist system is the pursue of the self interest, and that has estimulated enourmous growth in terms of standard of living. The corporations estimulate those improvements since they can organize capital, labour and a management system in a way that individuals and other proven systems (communist in Russia) haven´t achieved, and that effectiveness accomplished through time is what give them the power they nowadays have.

An alternative model could be a free enterprise system but in deep involvement with state and citizens in a way that everyone interest can be better fulfilled.

REFERENCES

- The Corporation: The documentary. DVD video.

- http://www.delegatesource.com/images/corporate-social-responsability.gif

THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: WOMEN MIGRANT WORKERS

We can understand, how nowadays the flows of people going from some parts of the world toward others is increasing. This has ocurred mainly due to expanding differences between the developed and the developing worlds, evidenced primarly on the standard of living, and the well-being of the populations. This trend has created the need for an organization that can comprise the group of migrants in the world which is a big ammount (214 million estimates). The mission functions of that international organization that helps and supports that set of individuals whose life sometimes depends on it, as it´s the case of refugees, is detailed as follows...

- Assist in meeting the growing operational challenges of migration management.
- Advance understanding of migration issues.
- Encourage social and economic development through migration.
- Uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

The name of that institution is the INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION, an institution founded in 1951 which is headquartered in Geneve and actually has 125 member states. It is also very important to highlight the new wave of migration in today´s world, one that was not very often in the past, but nowadays has huge impact not only on governments but also on the people. It is the ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION, or the migration that is caused due to climate change, such as the one ocurring in Pakistan where the floods have reached record levels that were never registered before, harming crops and shelter and therefore people´s life. It is a matter of responsability because the global warming is basically caused by the poluting emissions from developed economies, but the atmosphere is shared by every individual, so the consequences of poluting the atmosphere are shared by every individual as well, can be that individual responsible or not responsible for the actions that caused damages into our natural resources.

THE CASE OF WOMEN

The previous without mentioning the hundreds of women that go abroad, leaving their countries of origin under the prospect of a better life, but actually end up in prostitution activities, or the people that work as slaves just because they do not know the rights they have as humans wherever they can be at any moment. I think this help us understand the importance of the IOM and the focus of its activities.

The OIM develops some projects to support migrant women such as the one carried out in Italy to engage West African women migrants in the development of their countries of origin through Investment and Business Creation. The projects will build on this by supporting West African women migrants interested in committing all or part of their remittances to establish small and medium enterprises through joint ventures with Italian partners and host communites, this with the idea of making a more effective use of remittances.

The Organization also combats the traficking of women and girls through networks for assisting women affected by migration and also through the prevention of such problems. The networks are among institutions of national scope as the Mexican National Women Institute, and supranational entities as the Inter-American Women´s commission of the Organization of American States. These programs are intended to prevent the case of traficking by pressuring local government legislation, and also by encouraging the internatinal cooperation to fight criminal groups of human traficking.

References

- International Organization for Migration. Retrieved on 05 of October of 2010, From International Organization for Migrantion Website. http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/lang/en/pid/1

- http://unheardnomore.blogspot.com/2008/08/ending-human-traficking-in-cnmi.html

UBUNTU: THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Ubuntu, a word that comes to our minds related to an operative system software, has its roots in the African social philosophy, that sometimes is misunderstood by foreigners ignoring the tacit and explicit knowledge derived from it. Some aspects analyzed as relevant by Mangaliso (2003) are presented as follows...

Relationship with others

Human interdependance, has as driving norms reciprocity, suppression of self-interest, and the virtue of symbiosis. These words provide a different understanding in relation to the western society philosophy of life, which rests on individual gains rather than group harmony. In this sense managers can apply the social responsability not as an added value but as a normal symbiotical relation with its stake-holders.

Language and Communication

The mastery of the art and skill of oratory is still a prerequisite for leadership. Cross cultural managers must understand and identify the proper way to express the company´s objectives and purpose to its employees so that they can receive the message as wanted by the managers.

Decision Making

Under Ubuntu´s Philosophy decision making is a circular, inclusive one process trying to get unitiy. The western managers must understand how important it is to make decision making process as inclusive as possible so that the different viewpoints can add more value to the taken decisions.

Time

"God gave the African time, and the westerner a watch". Since misunderstandings about time are often a source of friction in cross-cultural interactions, managers must identify every single society view of time, before establishing assumptions over it, and even more about the time limits, being them very often conflict creating matters.

Productivity and Efficiency

In the Ubuntu context, the emphasis is on social well-being rather than on technical rationality. Managers can use this philosophy for the benefit of the employees creating spaces at work in which the employee can have improvements, such as resting spaces, or free food, things like that which improve the well-being initially of the employee but then of the entire organization.

Age and Seniority

Ubuntu´s philosophy values experience, and accept directions only by those "elder". In that order of ideas is something clear that experience is an added value, so it´s important to understand how in some contexts the elders are trusted more as leaders than youngers.

Since all of this has a belief system inside of it, we must understand how by being aware of Ubuntu´s cultural philosophy managers can benefit not only by increasing the welfare of the employees but also by a better performance of the entire organization.

References

- Mangaliso, Mzamo. 2003. Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu. In Thomas, David Clinton, editor, Readings and Cases in International Management: A cross-cultural perspective.

- http://media.photobucket.com/image/ubuntu%20africa/MotherTongues/SouthAfrican8.gif

Don´t let the earth undressed, dress yourself.

This could be a slogan to commercialize a shirt made of recycled materials, that also generates electricity based on solar panels on it. The idea is that by buying our product (shirt), you can help to protect the Amazon jungle, because a part of the money would go to programs against deforestation. Also by the raw materials used to make the product, you can contribute to the recicling processes in the Amazon neighboring countries. But the most interesting part is that while walking in the street you can charge your cellphone or any other devise, thank´s to the energy generated by your shirt which is powered by the sun light.

The metaphor means that by using the proper cloth, you can contribute to protect the Amazon jungle against deforestation, so the earth won´t be "undressed" of its green. In order to commercialize successfully the product in the international markets there should be some strategies to be carried out with the business parters:

1. It´s neccessary that the partners don´t be wholly profit oriented, but also companies with social responsability and most important of all "environmentally active". If the company to do business with, has environmental programs, would be an excellent channel because the "environmentally aware customer" would prefer to buy this kind of product to them, the trust already exists.

2. Non profit organizations working on environmental issues, could receive free items, with the condition of showing the advantages of how a product that dress you can help "to dress" the earth with its original green.

3. Another strategy is to offer the product to governmental agencies working on environmental issues, and be with them promoting green solutions, of course as part of it the use of our new product.

4. Very important is the international certification of the CO2 saved by charging your Cellphone with the shirt power, and the certification of the land protected and the reforestation programs, because in that order of ideas the customer would be satisfied that their money is really contributing to what they wanted it to contribute.

Image taken from: http://ecosolpartners.com/default.aspx

OPEN DEBATE: DO YOU THINK MARKETING IS A CONSTANT PYGMALION EFFECT?

Have you ever realized a lot of people buy goods or services just because they watched an advertising campaign showing how good is a product or service. And at the end the people feel what they thought at beggining they would feel, a clear example of Pygmalianism Do you agree with this statement?

Curiosity about self-fulfilling prophecy: Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZZs5atIGDU&feature=related

Pygmalion effect and managerial perception

There is a relation between expectations about performance, and the effect those expectations have in the real performance. That is known as the pygmalion effect or the self-fulfilling prophecy. In the work done by Takao and Analoui (2009), they demonstrated the effect of that on Japanese aid workers. The result of their work is that Japanese aid worker´s positive perception causes positive behaviour in local colleagues and will result in higher organizational organizational performance.

That research is an excellent demonstration of how the human being can cause effects just by thinking those effects would actually happen. Even movies such as "the secret" explain how thoughts, can make things happen, however that is part of the phsycological field.

Here there´s a diagram by doctor Tim Ong (2008) that explains the pygmalion effect as a process, as a secuence of actions and beliefs..

http://theselfimprovementsite.com/news/100303.php

Quote:

"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil"

James Allen

Reference: Takao Inamori, Farhad Analoui "Beyond the pygmalion effect: the role of managerial perception" journal of Management Development, Vol 29 Iss: 4, pp. 306 - 321

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND OPPORTUNITY

Organizational behavior can be understood as the study of individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations. The studies about human behavior are influenced by two types of perspectives:

- Internal: the behavior is influenced by factors inside the person, thoughts, feelings, past experiences, and is generally psychodynamics.

- External: the behavior is influenced by environmental forces to which a person is subject

http://oldweb.lyon.edu/webdata/groups/psychology/Information_and_Requirements.htm

VERSUS

http://www.planware.org/salebi_report.htm

Organizations are entities, for that reason they change, like any natural entity that has to adapt itself to his environment, organizations if wanting to have a future must adapt themselves to their own changing environment.

Reference: Mead, Richard 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimension London: Blackwell Publishing, chapter 1

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND CULTURE

The culture has a strong influence on how the organizations make decisions, communicates with the external environment, the performance of its internal structure and in general with its relationships. This can lead to the next statement:

" different social groups may respond to similar situations in a different way"

That´s way organizations with a very different approach to the same market, and of course differing strategies, can have similar effects and results in terms of organizational performance. An important characteristic of the culture is the enormous influence it has on the behavior of the members sharing it, all because it influences and is influenced as well by:

- A particular system of values.

- A set of beliefs (including religion)

Since the previous vary in different people, so does culture. Furthermore culture is learned and the learning process is sustained within particular groups. These are the reasons for a multicultural world, and because of it managers must be aware of the implications of handling organizations which are a mix of a cultures under the concept of modern globalization.

Reference: Nelson D.L & Quick J.C 2010. Organizational behavior: science, the real world and you. South-Western College Publication 7th Ed. Chapter 1

What a mulcultural world, don´t you think?

Source: http://www. globallead.comPressRoomArchive.cfm

Experiments on organizational behavior (VIDEO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCOOnlEnudY

Languge as a cultural Implicaction for international business

One of the most important aspects in life, which is learned by culture is the language. Business implications of this cultural dimension are very relevant, especially for those enterprises that take the challenge of going internationally. When doing so, they must be aware of the word´s uses in the foreign territories, and the appropiate selection of names, especially those included in products marketed. In the link we can find different cases about the importance in proper selection of products names, related to the spanish language.

http://spanish.about.com/cs/culture/a/chevy_nova_2.htm

Image link: http://jordan17.learningconnects.us

Organizations and Cultures

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