OLEAD 410: Leadership in a Global Context

Europe is known as the worlds second smallest continent, which makes it home to more than 800 million people and to more than forty countries (Abramson & Moran, 2018). Some of those countries include Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia (Abramson & Moran, 2018). For the purpose of this blog, I will focus on Germany and provide an overview on how Germany conducts business. Many German business value input from their employees to management which is known as codetermination (Abramson & Moran, 2018). Furthermore, German business with five or more employees have a worker’s council which represents employees and helps employees solve issues with the firm’s management (Abramson & Moran, 2018). As a result, unions in Germany are very strong and with the help of codetermination it allows management and employees to work together to better shape and serve the firm (Abramson & Moran, 2018).

When conducting business in Germany it is important to note that many businesses and employees take long vacations during July, August, and December (Abramson & Moran, 2018). From my personal experience, my organization manufactures medical instruments in Germany and for the month of August the plant is closed expect for a skeleton crew. From experience, I know I will encounter delays in email responses. While it can be frustrating, it is important for employees to simply communicate that their offices will be closed during the month of August. When I first started at my organization, I had no idea that our manufacturing site was closed for the month of August.

 

References

Abramson, R. N., Moran, T, R. (2018). Managing cultural differences: Global Leadership for the 21^st Century. (10th ed.). Routledge. ISBN: 9871138223455

For Blog Entry 4 I wanted to focus on Russia, I was born there and lived there for 8 years. There is still a lot I don’t know about the country so I was excited to learn more! 

What I wanted to do further research on was economic development in Russia. The Russian economy is undergoing profound transformations and in the coming years, the country will radically upgrade its economic system to meet changes and challenges in the global social and economic order. For a number of years Russia has experienced increased issues that have affected all areas of social and economic life: production trends, foreign trade, general well-being, employment, and financial and foreign exchange markets. The changing political landscape and political conflict has a major effect on Russia as well. In addition to geopolitical and structural factors, Russia’s economic development has been impacted by external shocks, these include price changes in oil and other gods and commodities that the country exports. (Medvedev, 2016) However, regardless of all of this, Russia has found a way to rise through it several times throughout several economic crises. There are several things Russia could implement that would help advance economic growth. First is having an efficient fiscal policy which is essential for any economy. It is comprised of macroeconomic and structural enablers of economic growth and improved well-being. Second is a structural policy which could improve the competitiveness of the economy. The task of improving efficiency and modernizing will always be a part of the plan. Another step that can be taken is recognizing the importance of solutions related to economic policy, those solutions will not yield the expected results if government institutions don’t operate efficiently. (Medvedev, 2016) 

In spite of all the hardships, Russia has had some important accomplishments that provide the basis for their continued advancement. First, the Russian population has been growing over the past three years for the first time since the 1980’s. Second, the quantity of families with more than one child is also growing. Third life expectancy has increased to 71 years, which is the first time that this has been achieved in Russia’s centuries-long history. (Medvedev, 2016) In the years to come, Russia will face competition between countries for markets, investments, and human capital; persisting trade and financial embargoes; and the instability of prices for its traditionally exported goods. It is important not only to restore economic growth but to ensure its long-term sustainable rate. Medvedev, D. (2016)

Reference: 

Medvedev, D. (2016). Social and economic development of Russia: Finding new dynamics (Vol. 2, Ser. 4). ELSEVIER. 

My fondest memory was when my husband was on a long business trip in Germany, and he surprised me with a plane ticket to fly out to meet with him and keep him company on the return home. I was so excited, and it was going to be not only my first longest flight solo, but it was my first international trip. I remember my husband researching about the culture and learning about the culture through his work resources and discussing it with me. So now all this information we are learning in our current class makes so much sense and is relatable to me. I remember they said you don’t want to stand out too much as a tourist for safety reasons, so I read some articles on how they usually dress as I did not know what to pack and I didn’t want to stand out.

When I arrived in Germany, I remember how beautiful and organic everything was. I felt like I was in a movie set, but this was real life. We stayed in Fresing, Germany. I could hear the church bells ring from our hotel balcony, and I would see many people walking or biking. Many people on their bikes would be shopping around town and you can see fresh veggies and flowers from their bicycle baskets.  I noticed late in the afternoon, a group of very young children speeding around the streets on their bike as they may be just leaving school for the day. This town gave me a sense of security and a strong sense of a community feel. My husband told me that they would serve beer in the cafeteria in his office building, and they would have mandatory teatime at 3:00 p.m. Of course, that was a huge culture shock for him compared to his organization in the United States.

When we went out to dinner, I noticed many tables were set up family style. That was something that I really had to get use to. They would provide you with an English menu per request. I remember at one restaurant a lady turned around and started to talk to me and unfortunately, I did not know any conversational words. My husband knew a few to let her know we did not understand her, and we spoke only English. We experienced that quite a few times, so many of them though we were originally German, so we felt that we fit right in. According to our Book on Managing Cultural Differences by authors Neil Abramson and Robert Moran, “The Germans are generally restrained in their body movements. They do not wave their arms and hands a lot as in other cultures.” (Abramson & Moran, 2018, p. 542) Service was slow, so in the United States you are comfortable by waving your hands in the air to get the waiter’s attention. My husband does this a lot, so I had to tell him to avoid doing it and wait until he got his attention. I believe that would be rude in any other cultural environment.

When I was in Germany, we were there during Oktoberfest season. My husband and I took the train from Fresing to Munich, Germany. It took us some time to figure out the ticket pay system. We tried googling instruction on it and finally we learned that the train is sometimes and honor system and if you had no ticket, the train conductor would just kick you out on the next stop. My husband and I took a chance and just followed the crowd that were dressed up for the Oktoberfest event. We did not get caught, (please do not take this tip as this was many years ago). We followed the crowd and found ourselves at Oktoberfest! It was amazing and so well organized and clean. Everyone was drinking, but I have to say they were the nicest drunks I have ever met. Everyone was welcoming and would invite you to join them no matter what table you found yourself at. I really enjoyed my time and now recognize the cultural differences clearly now.

Works Cited

Abramson, N. R., & Moran, R. T. (2018). Managing Cultural Differences. New York: Routledge.

The largest continent and countries in Asia are China, India, and Russia. The fourth-largest country is China. “As such, Chinese culture has the potential to have a significant impact on the world, and developing an appropriate leadership strategy for working in this area is critical.” (Mainland Asia, 2021). So many things I can talk about Chinese culture and their business impact on the world and share so many positive ideas for leadership. 

 

The Deaf community is tiny, but China opened the first Deaf Starbucks in Malaysia, China. So now are five Deaf Starbucks globally, three in China, Japan, and the United States (Washington DC). China’s leadership was great to develop for the Deaf community and give them opportunities to have a place full of Deaf workers. In addition, they showed the world how to communicate with Deaf people in different ways. “Customers have several options when ordering in the store, including contactless speech-to-text voice recognition through a tablet at the register, pointing to items on the menu, or writing on a notepad.” (First Look: Starbucks Opening Its Fifth €˜signing Store’, 2020). 

 

The first Deaf Starbucks is in Washington DC, a few miles from Gallaudet University (the first Deaf university). I have never been there, but I’ve heard from my friends and sister that it was a charming and friendly place. So it was a big inspiration for the Deaf community to know that there is a Deaf Starbucks. It was the best news for us because Deaf individuals could feel comfortable working there without barriers in communication. 

 

Overall, leaderships from Asia are successful because they could spread opportunities for the Deaf to develop their ideas in the businesses. “In particular, an overall Asian leadership strategy for power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and indulgence–restraint is likely to be successful.” 

(Summary, 2021). 

References: 

First Look: Starbucks opening its fifth ‘signing store’. (2020, June 25). Chain Store Age. https://chainstoreage.com/first-look-starbucks-opening-its-fifth-signing-store

Mainland Asia. (2021). Psu.Instructure.Com. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847702

 

Summary. (2021). Www.Psu.Instructure.Com. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847704

Russia has commonalities logistically with Eastern Europe rather then Asia, although continentally it is placed on both.  I had heard of travel and trade routes through the Asian Silk Road, but did not know it had extended into Russia.  Having had been under Czar rule until the first world war, “and a provisional government was established with a partnership with the Petrograd Soviet socialists.  The ineffectiveness of this government, particularly with regard to the war, led to the Bolshevik Party—in particular Vladimir Lenin—gaining power. While the Allies won the war, Russia was transformed into a Communist nation…until 1991, when the USSR was dissolved into modern Russia and neighboring countries.” (PSU 2021) Although they did not want any part of WWII, they ultimately joined the Allies and have had a strong history of nation building, with particular contributions to the arts, math and sciences.  The United states and Russia have strong relationships in regards to their space programs.  I remember an instance that occurred where a Russian cosmonaut was stranded in space due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 

 That is not to say there aren’t some struggles for nationality to form with countries formerly part of the USSR.”these entities struggle to be nations, like Belarus, Georgia, and the Ukraine.  They seek a new identity and more independence, while coping with dictators, internal conflict an, and serious economic problems.  besides the Russian Federation, the other key Commonwealth player is ancient Ukraine, populated with Slavic peoples since at least 2000BC…its beautiful capital is Kiev, the mother city of the Old Russian Empire, famous for Slavic Orthodox churches, and Cossacks.”(Moran, & Abramson, pg 556) There is a considerable lack of social infrastructure, such as inflation of food and goods as well as production and distribution of those services.  There is significant maffia presence extending its way to New York and Los Angels.  Every few years or so I come across an article about the take down of a sex trafficking ring and quite often the perpetrators have connections to Russia. 

When doing business, one would expect a drawn out process.  Russians are still very ‘protocol-conscious’.  They expect to get multiple offers, and then may still expect additional perks to be available even after coming to an agreement. “Foreigners can expect much confusion, frustration and uncertainty.  In negations, the Russians are noted for patience and stalling, considering compromise a sign of weakness.  They expect to ‘play hardball,”continually seeking concessions, and revising “final offers” the longer the foreigner holds out acceptance, the more attractive the offer.”(Moran, & Abramson, pg 557) 

It is also expected that the individuals sent to represent your company are executives, as high up as possible, in order to establish trust between corporations.  (Moran, & Abramson, pg 557) Rich in natural resources, Russian people value their traditions and education.  Festivities tend to be elaborate, so being open to socialize will also help gain trust. 

Resources

Pennsylvania State University (2021). OLEAD 410, Modules Lesson 13: Eastern Europe and Russia. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847720

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (10th ed.). Oxford: Routledge. ISBN: 9781138223684 ives, 1980: 515–60

This week for Lesson 13, we learned about Eastern Europe & Russia and the collective shared culture. One of the things that was pointed out in the lesson was how genetics contribute to Russia & Eastern Europe having a similar culture and political ideals. Specifically, “social psychology research indicates that people are not only more likely to find people like themselves more attractive but also more likely to help them as well (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2010). I believe most of us can see some truth to this as it probably accounts for most of our unconscious bias.

However, Russia/Eastern Europe or the term Eastern European brings up a very specific image for most of us. If you google “Eastern European person” you will get back search results for ethnically Caucasian people. Russia has over 190 ethnic groups (Kazak, & RBTH, 2010). Many are ethnically Asian, so the question is, how do they fit into the Eastern European equation? When we speak on the genetic link between Eastern Europeans, personality, & culture, are we to assume that Eastern Europeans with non Caucasian backgrounds will naturally exhibit a different personality outside of Eastern European culture based on genetics? If this is what is described based on E.O Wilson’s definition of socio-biology (Pennsylvania State University WC, 2021), then it makes things a bit murky.

Given everything we have learned so far about Global Leadership, I wonder then how exactly we would strategize stakeholdering a partnership where our business partner is nationally Eastern European or Russian but not “genetically” either. We know we should prioritize company culture, but that is also affected by outside culture as well. Should we build our partnership based firstly on the customs of Eastern European culture or should we assume that if they ethnically match another culture that the universals of that culture would hold true for them as well? I’m sure the answer is simple and more nuanced than demonstrated in the lesson, but it does give one a lot to think about.

 

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R.M. (2010). Social psychology. New York: Prentice Hall.

OLEAD 410: Lesson 13 : Genetics & Social Psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20th, 2021, from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847720

Aizhan Kazak, R. B. T. H. (2017, November 30). Why do some Russians look Asian? Russia Beyond. Retrieved November 21, 2021, from https://www.rbth.com/politics_and_society/2017/05/10/why-some-russians-look-asian-759856

The lesson I found most valuable from lesson 12 was the unique nature in which Western European countries so commonly share their cultures, whether by design or not, across borders. While I think we take it for granted, the fact that so many different languages, as well as the other facets of cultural diversity, are seen in such a wide variety of countries is truly remarkable. Consider how many times in world history you can see cultures attempt to overwhelm their neighbors in their pursuit of forcing their cultural ideals on others, yet Western Europe (while admittedly not perfect) has managed to reinforce and protect quite a few wildly diverse culture sets. For example, every year the European Union picks two cities to name as their “Capitals of Culture” and spends the year encouraging tourism and publicizing the cultural uniqueness of those two cities (European Commission, 2021).

While this was simply an interesting fact to learn about, when transitioning to Lesson 13: Eastern Europe and Russia, it reminded me of the darker side of culture-sharing across borders. In recent years, Russia has done a remarkable job of using the exportation of their own culture into other countries as a precursor to some incredibly aggressive political strategies. Countries such as Georgia and Ukraine found themselves at an extreme disadvantage when invaded by Russian and/or their proxies when they realized that large portions of their populations had come to see themselves more as Russian than as Ukrainian or Georgian (Beehner et al, 2018). Thus, when the leaders of these countries exhorted their people to resist the Russians or their proxies during these conflicts, they found that these people identified more with Russia despite their role as the aggressor than with their own country’s government.

I think these two examples demonstrate the delicate balancing act that differing cultures must execute when they find themselves in such close proximity. On one hand, the preservation of one’s own culture can be fostered and guarded to keep it strong for future generations to enjoy and partake in. However strong, popular cultures are at risk of becoming so overpowering that they can overshadow and stifle neighboring cultures. While one can dismiss this as simple cultural Darwinism, I believe we are capable of far more than this kind of cultural fatalism.

 

References

European Commission (2021). Capitals of culture. https://ec.europa.eu/culture/policies/culture-in-cities-and-regions/european-capitals-of-culture

Beehner, L., Collins, L. Ferenzi, S., Person, R. & Brently, A. (2018) Modern War Institute. The Russian way of war. https://mwi.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Analyzing-the-Russian-Way-of-War.pdf