Archives for September 2017

There are two types of funeral homes in the United States: Corporate and Independent (Family Owned). Independent firms have limited resources and they are usually more culturally in touch with the community they serve. Corporate firms, having an obligation to shareholders, will place a higher priority on cost savings than service. Corporate firms usually focus on business synergy by centralizing preparation and cremation of bodies and the types of merchandise they offer at the expense of cultural synergy of the local employees and the families they serve. “Synergy” is the focus of a team, allowing individual contributions to collaborate for a greater common cause (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 266). Unfortunately from my experience, the greater common cause for the corporate firms was profit.

I believe in the ability for a company to maximize profits as long as they don’t minimize quality. The corporate firm had contracts with casket, urn, embalming fluid and sundry companies to take full advantage of bulk-buying discounts. This approach created national homogeny, as their belief was to make the company similar to McDonalds: the menu is the same and wherever you buy a burger and fries they look the same and taste the same. Management’s gamble that every American in every part of the country wanted exactly the same “menu” of options to honor their loved one sacrificed the long-term orientation for short-term earnings potential (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 282). Families on the coasts were more likely to choose cremation over burial, families in Pennsylvania preferred full couch caskets to the half couch versions found in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, and there is a growing movement for “green” funerals that were not addressed at all.

“Most corporate executives, whether or not they have any special insight into synergy opportunities or aptitude for nurturing collaboration, feel they ought to be creating synergy” (Goold & Campbell, 1998). This was the case in the shift to sameness in the corporate firms. The finger on the pulse of the industry was the licensed funeral director sitting in the arrangement conferences with families; yet they were never consulted. If they had been, suggestions of what approaches were working and which options were meaningful to the families they served, would have been bountiful. The excuse for not incorporating this valuable information was that the local funeral homes were too busy to share and did not have the “whole picture” in mind if input was requested. They were also reluctant to garner information to make a change because that would have tipped their hat that a corporate transformation was in the works; knowing the funeral directors believed the funeral homes were successful and did not need to change. “Assuming that unit managers are naturally resistant to cooperation, executives conclude that synergy can be achieved only through the intervention of the parent.  Because the parenting bias encourages corporate executives to discount unit managers’ objections, it often leads them to interfere excessively, doing more harm than good” (Goold & Campbell, 1998).

As you could imagine, the rollout of the business synergy plan caused much conflict with the culture synergy of various firms in the company. “Conflict comes from seeing the world from a different perspective than someone else or competing for resources. This is particularly true in cross-cultural scenarios because the chance for conflict increases as each culture encourages its members to see the world from its own point of view and to obtain resources in a specific way” (Penn State World Campus, n.d.).  Funeral homes all said that they were unique and the “one menu” option wouldn’t work at their locations. Management’s response was that the plan was sound and the only way it could fail was at the hands of reluctant managers and staff at the various locations. There were signs that the new direction was not going to be successful: “few opportunities exist for inexpensive, low-commitment testing and leaders are convinced they have the answer and not willing to change course” (McGrath, 2015). They completely ignored the fact that they never considered other problem solving viewpoints- if a problem existed at all. This laid the success or failure squarely at the local location managers, which caused a tremendous amount of stress.

I was appointed by corporate to be a rollout-training liaison for my territory that included D.C., Maryland Virginia and West Virginia. The funeral homes local to me all had the same reaction: they sensed failure because of the diversity of the families they served even considering our geographical proximity. The eye-opening moment for me was when I travelled to West Virginia to train those firms. On my way to the first session, I swung by McDonald’s for breakfast and lo and behold on the menu was something I have never seen before: biscuits and gravy. Even McDonald’s acknowledges that even though there are cultural similarities in the United States, people still enjoy their cultural uniqueness. That is why they have served over one billion customers and are still going strong.

(Cowbag, 2009).

 

Works Cited

Cowbag. (2009, March 19). Twisted takes on pop culture icons; burger boxes as coffins. Retrieved         September 28, 2017, from Trend Hunter: https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ronald-mcdonalds-funeral-refreshingly-different-t-shirt-designs-from-glennz

Goold, M., & Campbell, A. (1998, September/October). Desperately seeking synergy. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/1998/09/desperately-seeking-synergy

McGrath, R. G. (2015, January 10). 15 years later, lessons from the failed AOL-Time Warner merger. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from Fortune: http://fortune.com/2015/01/10/15-years-later-lessons-from-the-failed-aol-time-warner-merger/

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

State World Campus. (n.d.). Lesson 06: Cultural synergy. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from OLEAD 410: Leadership in global context: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1867265/modules/items/22824741

 

Before computers there were working businesses that had to communicate throughout the world. However, now everyone wants their items now and not wait; even the classroom.   In this state of constant connectivity even learning has moved on to the internet. Albert Bandura, Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University placed 4 steps of learning. Attention, retention, reproduction and motivation is how he theorizes how people learn. His throey is still used today and most feel that people learn from one another, just as we have from the beginning of time.

Bandura’s four steps were introduced in the 1970’s; so how do theses steps on learning change in a global setting? The answer may be a mixture of classroom and electronic training; their should be a human element in the process.

Using the four principles, business can use social media to show a human element that fits the process. Attention step of the process could be peer pressure as a motivator to mentors that help others learn new skills; If these aspects are paired with schooling the lessons are reinforce formal. As the first step attention is about keeping the focus on the task.  As Retention is the storing of the memory for future use.  This step necessitates no distractions so that the task is fully seeded. Desire is the core to motivation, if the person has now want to learn they will not retain the knowledge. This concept calls for the person to have a positive environment, trust,  and peers.  If the person does not feel the three; the unmotivation causes learning to be useless.

The internet is the new social platform for the global community; we can research and recall when we forget and the interaction of a human through a quick email is a driving force on learning and change in a global setting.  There are ways that business can incorporate these principles and techniques. the web has been creating social and political change then the use of the internet globally can unite.

References

1. Picture Social Media. www.caclubindia.com/editor_upload/243285087untitled.png.
2. Hatcher, Alex. “Keep It Social: Using Social Learning Theory to Improve Instructional Strategies.” Designed:2:Learn, 27 Mar. 2015, lpd.nau.edu/keep-it-social/
3. “Canvaslearning Management System.” Penn State Canvas, psu.instructure.com/courses/1867265/modules/items/22824731.

Melissa Adams

OLEAD 410, 001, FA17

Cultural Synergy

Cultural Synergy was coined by Nancy  Alder in 1980 when she wrote an article for Trends and Issues in OD: Current Theory and Practice. (1. Alder) She starts the paper with a copy of a memo to North American Executives in Saudia Arabia. (2. Anonymous)   The person writing the memo was upset about “nonchalant” behaviour.  However, saudi Arabia is not the United States; creating an atmosphere for a global policy is not as clear.  Companies trying to take their successful business model from one country to another often find this is not a clear and  streamlined process.

I have also worked on a Middle Eastern project, the first thoughts that came to mind was when the project wanted the United States retailers to create a shopping center that had minimal households in the area.  US retailers have precise formulas that include housing, population, wages and access to products.  In the Middle East and other place people travel to where they shop at top retailers.  This is not a concept that can be mimicked for other locations outside the US.

There are many cross-cultural management systems that have to be considered  some include parochial, assimilation, ethnocentric, polycentric, comparative, geocentric, and synergistic. Theories are only as good as the information on the area relates; there is amnay assumptions as to the similarity and difference of a culture. Weick in 1976, wrote that to enact new forms of management, the companies have to transcend the individual culture of their members.  (3.Weick, 1976) Cultural Synergy has to be aware of the members differences and similarities and use them as a resource to grow the team. with proper research to uncover the true possibilities.

Pondy and Mitroff, stated in a 1979 article that business are ” static framework and empirical systems; which is still true today. (4. Pondy and Mittroff, 1979) They believed in 1979 that on a scale of 1-9 that most companies only understood Cultural diversity between 1-3. In an article in the Economic Times from this year there is little change; yet there is a foreseeable future want to change.  “When the people strategy is aligned to overall business strategy, it helps build sustainable and scalable business. This coupled with a digitised work environment will help business achieve efficiency and enhanced customer experience and engagement.” (5. Bhattacharyya 2017)  With more businesses reaching globally for financial backing. The article quotes, Avendus Capital CEO Ranu Vohra, “We wanted to take on board someone to head our HR function, someone who had the experience of growing and nurturing businesses, someone who could spot and groom talent, someone who could create a cultural synergy across our businesses.” (6. Bhattacharyya 2017)

 

 

 

Reference

Adler, Nancy. (1980). Cultural synergy: The management of cross-cultural organizations.  page 163 – 184

Weick, K.E. Enactment in Organization. In B.M. Staw & G.R. Salincik (eds) New Directions in Orgaizational Behavior. Chicago: St. Clair Press, 1976

Pondy, L.R. & Mitroff, I.I. Beyond Open Systems Model of Organizations. In B.M. Staw (ed) Research in Organizational behaviours, Greenwich Conn. JAI Press, 1979 Pg 3-39

Bhattacharyya, Rica & Shah, Snesha. “Pay of HR Heads Rises as Finance Sector Expands.” The Economic Times, 9 Sept. 2017, economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/pay-of-hr-heads-rises-as-finance-sector-expands/articleshow/60739654.cms.

 

The complexities and difficulties of communication are apparent in our daily lives. Whether in writing, on the telephone or in person, everyone has had experiences where they have misunderstood, or have been misunderstood. However, those misunderstandings have the potential of compounding in the course of intercultural communication.

At its foundation, communication occurs when a sender encodes, or creates, a message that is decoded, or interpreted, by a receiver; intercultural communication, then, is when the sender and receiver are from different cultural backgrounds (Moran, et al., 2014). In successful, or effective, communication, the message intended by the sender is accurately interpreted by the receiver, who then responds reciprocally as the communication continues. Occasionally, errors, or noise, occurs that prevent a message from being accurately encoded or decoded, and misunderstandings occur.

One such misunderstanding occurred when I was thirteen years old, and my parents took my two younger sisters and me to Germany for a month. My father had emigrated from Germany when he was twenty-two years old; and although he had returned to visit his parents and siblings on a few subsequent occasions, this was the first trip we took as a family.

My father did not speak German in our home. My year of junior-high level German gave me some basics, but certainly not enough to converse. While my younger sisters learned some German phrases as they played with our younger cousins who had not yet learned English, I was spoiled by teenaged cousins who had at least three years of English in school. They loved practicing their English!

One day I was visiting my cousin, Sonja.

“Do you like to dance?” she asked me.

“Yes!” I replied.

“We have dances, here” she said. Then, immediately, she asked me, “Would you like to go with me tonight on bicycles?”

“Sure!”

Shortly after, I headed back to my aunt’s home and excitedly told everyone I was going to a dance with Sonja. As the time approached, I got dressed in the fanciest dress I had brought with me.   I wasn’t sure how I was going to ride a bike wearing a dress, but if that was how we were getting to the dance, then I’d have to figure it out.

Imagine my surprise when Sonja showed up in jeans and a sweatshirt. We weren’t going to a dance; we were riding bikes! We all laughed, I changed clothes, and we had a nice bike ride around the small town where my father’s family lived.

Even though this story happened over forty years ago, yet I still remember how embarrassed I was that I had misunderstood Sonja’s invitation. I imagine that Sonja likewise felt bad about the mix-up. Sonja’s limited English meant that she spoke in simple sentences that would have likely been more elaborate had she been speaking in German. I interpreted her question based on how I would’ve said it. Would you like to ride bikes with me tonight would have signaled to me that we were going bike riding. Instead, I inserted dancing into her question: would you like to go [dancing] with me tonight on bicycles.

Of course, this is a rather benign example of intercultural communication gone awry. Yet, it demonstrates how easily the message can be altered in either the encoding or the decoding, resulting in two completely different plans of action.

References:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.

Media plays a strong and decisive role in modern international relations  in this age of information technologies.   In modern global economics, media has merged from geographical to social communication altitudes as it tries to form perceptions to illicit outcomes of the economics and political offerings.  Modern communication within a community , removes the need to actually be in attendance to the representation shown on the internet and other forms of media.

Without an ethical, respectful dialogue the global communications, international relations will forever be skewed.  As the media seeks ways to increase their viewership the intentions will continue to be less moral and increase friction in communications for the world.

Media plays a large role in military, political, economic, scientific, academic, and cultural diversity discourse as it skews the confines of the global discussions. Global mergers of companies, create a company that is now impacting two countries that have completely separate political and social goals.  Broadcasts of shows and news into other countries cause social revolutions by introducing new concepts. Yet under these same changes there is good and bad.  He introduction of new ways to live can cause unempowered and the underserved and exploited to view a better life.  This can help bring voice to atrocities that are down played in the media and it can topple elite ruling parties.

Iran is a topic of great definition on how Media affects global communications.   With recordings from Ayatollah Khomeini to his followers after being exiled.  The  Marcos family ruling was toppled was broadcast on television . In the Middle East, many opposing parties smuggle in videos to illuminate the royal families.   The same happens daily in North Korea, with the US and other nations promoting the delivery to educate the people.  China’s Tiananmen Square  tape of the activists being run over by tanks is still shown as atrocities by the Chinese government.  The list goes on, and can be tracked to an uprising, that does not always create change but does communicate globally that alter international relations.

References

Mowlana, Hamid. “The Role of Media in Contemporary International Relations: Culture and Politics at the Crossroads.” Taylor & Francis, The Journal for Multicultural Discourses, 1 Nov. 2016, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17447143.2015.1032296?src.

In the progression of studying how to hone my leadership skills in a global context, my course has arrived at intercultural communication. As one would imagine, this area is rife with pitfalls and hazards because being a proficient communicator is not always enough. You must also take the time and energy to understand the culture you are interacting with and to not allow egocentrism to cause your inability to take on other people’s perspectives (Penn State World Campus, n.d.). However it is more common today than in any point in our shared history, that people from many cultures communicate on a daily basis (via electronic media). “Out of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones. Far fewer – only 4.5 billion people – have access to working toilets. Of the 2.5 billion who don’t have proper sanitation, 1.1 billion defecate in the open (Wang, 2013). These numbers suggest that a person who owns a cell phone could be considered a member of a global electronic culture. Culture “includes all the distinct ways in which people in different geographic locations classify and represent their experience and act creatively” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 40). Today, one of the most common ways people represent their experiences electronically is through emoji.

Emoji were created by Shigetaka Kurita and are a product of Japanese cultural obsession of communicating with images. When asked about what inspired him to work on an image-based form of communication, Kurita said: “Everything was shown by text. Even the weather forecast was displayed as ‘fine’. When I saw it, I found it difficult to understand. Japanese TV weather forecasts have always included pictures or symbols to describe the weather – for example, a picture of sun meant ‘sunny’. I’d rather see a picture of the sun, instead of a text saying ‘fine’.” (Schenker, 2016). He experienced a hindrance to communication and instead of seeing a problem, he created a solution so simple it would make a caveman proud; painting pictures on a digital wall that tell a story without need for interpreters. His pictorial electronic language is so pervasive, that you can see Tweets, Facebook posts and text messages that convey a complete message without using a single traditional character from any language.

The word “emoji” is a combination of two Japanese words that literally translates to “picture” (e) and “character” (moji) (Schenker, 2016). Emoji are becoming so mainstream, that the Oxford Dictionary word of the year for 2015 wasn’t word at all; it was the most commonly used emoji in that year:

(Steinmetz, 2015).

Emoji did have some hurdles to pass before becoming a planetary phenomenon. With so many different cell phone network carriers and different operating systems on those phones, the pictures literally didn’t always translate from phone to phone. With the decision by Apple in 2011 to install the emoji keyboard and The Unicode Standard, “a computing industry standard meant to ensure the consistent handling and encoding of text expressed in a majority of the globe’s writing systems”, emoji became a household item (Schenker, 2016).

Emoji are not an official language for conducting business, however they do offer a unique way for individuals to express feelings and innuendo without having it misinterpreted. It allows a global culture to communicate without having to master a shared spoken language and has brought lightheartedness and enjoyment to the sharing of experiences. As it has been said: a picture is worth a thousand words.

The United States of Emoji

(Shenker, 2016)

 

References

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). London: Routledge.

Penn State World Campus. (n.d.). Lesson 04: Global Communication. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from OLEAD 410: Leadership in Global Context: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1867265/modules/items/22824722

Schenker, M. (2016, October 11). The surprising history of emojis. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from Webdesignerdepot.com: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2016/10/the-surprising-history-of-emojis/

Steinmetz, K. (2015, November 16). Oxford’s 2015 word of the year is this emoji. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from Time.com: http://time.com/4114886/oxford-word-of-the-year-2015-emoji/

Wang, Y. (2013, March 25). More people have cell phones than toilets, U.N. study shows. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from Time.com: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/25/more-people-have-cell-phones-than-toilets-u-n-study-shows/