Blog Entry #4

 

Corruption inside a government can be observed in any form of government in almost any country. Though some scandals are more suppressed and or popularized by the media than others, some take the world stage as the world watches the traitor go to trial. Why is it that those who have the means want more? One would think world leaders and high ranking executives would have a more civic and moral duty to those less fortunate and do right by them. Many questions arise as we watch corruption unfold. On another note, some officials and executives are known to engage in rotten business practices yet people know about it but nothing is done. A highly perceived corrupted country, Brazil is ranked high on the corruption scale.

 

Brazil is known for many great things and unfortunately, corruption is one of them. This beautiful country joined democracy not too long ago. According to thebalance.com, “military regime ruled the country from 1822 to 1985. In 1985, it became democratic…Only slightly smaller in size than the United States, it is the largest country in South America” (Amadeo, 2019). As a young democracy, many have seized the opportunity to fool the young country into electing corrupted officials. As an emerging and upcoming new democratic country that is thriving it has lost some momentum to take care of internal political issues like that of scandals among environmental and humanitarian concerns.

 

A BBC article paints a grim timeline of what exactly has happened to the country of Brazil and the scandals it has encountered. In an operation named Car Wash the operation aimed at uncovering a scandal under investigation but it has found more. The article further says,

 

The operation began in March 2014 as an investigation into allegations that executives at the state oil company Petrobras had accepted bribes from construction firms…Among those accused in the scandal were dozens of politicians, and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – the country’s extremely popular former president was found guilty…The attorney general has charged current President Michel Temer as well…there are the separate allegations which saw his predecessor Dilma Rousseff also involved in misappropriation of funds and were later impeached (Brazil Corrution, 2018)

 

The country of Brazil has faced much hardship, these being one of the hardest since it involved one of its beloved presidents, Lula. Those severely affected are the ones who do not have a voice; the poor and unrepresented. In an intense battle to rid the country of corrupt politicians, the country is still moving forward. Though the country has seen growth the question of what it could have been like for the people had Brazilian politicians had the people in mind. As mentioned before the civic and moral duty of those entrusted of running a country has left many wondering who else in government has a hidden agenda.

 

To tie the readings of the class the word leadership is important, and missing, in this scenario. The presumed leaders have left a sour taste in the mouths f many. Leaders need to be trusted, especially when it involves the livelihood and future opportunities of its citizens. For the Brazilian people to trust those leading the country it will take much more than promises.

 

 

 

Sources

Amadeo, K. (2019, July 4). How to Ruin an Emerging Market Success Story. Retrieved April 21, 2020, from https://www.thebalance.com/brazil-s-economy-3306343

Brazil corruption scandals: All you need to know. (2018, April 8). Retrieved April 21, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35810578

 

 

I was reading through a couple chapters in Managing Cultural Differences, a couple review, but also some skipping around due to interest.  I stumbled on a section in one of the later chapters, exploring virtual teams from a global standpoint.  My interest immediately was peaked given the current circumstances we all face and the reality that globally diverse teams is the norm.  Before diving into the text and sharing a couple points that I found useful and interesting, I thought I would give a little background on why this caught my attention.

At moment, most of us are stuck at home and furthermore, some are having to explore a new work life of doing everything remotely.  This is not a huge change for me, my position has always been home based but with lots of travel.  With business impacted, my company made the choice early that we should catch up on internal training and projects that was outstanding.  This is where things have gotten interesting, I have personally participated on more global based teams formed for these projects then I can remember.  Interesting timing, a lot of the concepts that we have covered in this course have been on my mind as I engage with these teams.

One of the very first challenges I recognized had more to do with the leadership rather than the diverse individuals on the team.  One of the first teams I was put on, and still working with, has had very poor leadership.  There are two directors from different country’s trying to lead a rather complex initiative. I found an older article from 2010 on Forbes that list the following points that global leaders need: (Staff, 2010)

• You must lead differently
• You must arrive at decisions differently
• You must build trust differently
• You must communicate differently.

I bring up these points because this article was written ten years ago now on Forbes.  Today these are still very valuable and even 10 years later are still a challenge to achieve.  The very first point is fundamental, leading a global, virtual team means that you can’t approach like you would your local teams.  Not only are you dealing with the challenges that virtual teams bring, you are working with individuals that have different values, behaviors, and approaches to business.  If we walk away from this course with anything, we should have a grasp that different cultures approach business differently.

Bring this back around to the section I read that was specifically exploring the virtual team aspect I found following very helpful:  (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014)

• It is hard to follow what is happening during a virtual meeting.
• People don’t get feedback when working over a distance
• People forget who is attending the meeting
• It is harder to build a team when we are not face-to-face
• It is tough to sort out email communications
• It is harder to reach agreement over a distance
• Small empathetic gestures go a long way with those who usually suffer the most with time-zone differences.

A bunch of these probably seem like common sense but I can attest to a couple of these that happened is the recent past.  I specifically remember one, two-hour virtual meeting, with members from three countries that I attended.  We took the time to do introductions and explain our roles in the beginning.  About fifty minutes in, two members started to talk about how they need to pull me in, and it would have been really helpful if I was invited to this call… Worse, I had done a bunch of talking before this point.  I only bring this up, not to fault them, but these are the challenges that we face with the global world we live in.  Worse, almost all business is being conducted remotely at the moment which as just magnified these challenges.

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences Ninth Edistion. Oxford: Routledge.

Staff, F. (2010, August 19). The Four Keys To Success With Virtual Teams. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/virtual-teams-meetings-leadership-managing-cooperation.html#4b2a12e530cc

 

 

Africa is home to the birthplace of civilization, yet years after those events, Africa is still playing catch-up in many areas. Africa is home to thirty-three of the 48 United Nations’ least developed countries and also home to some of the world’s poorest countries. These are some of the well-known facts about the “Dark Continent”. In 2020, Africa has become home to the youngest population in the world with a reported median age of 19.7 according to World Meters. This group of promising young people has begun to show how their embrace of affordable technology is transforming the continent into a “developed” region.

While more than 70 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans do not have a bank account, more than 75 percent own a SIM card, this means that more than 70 percent of the population doesn’t have access to a bank but they have access to a mobile phone (MOURDOUKOUTAS, 2017). This became a possibility because of the increasing amount of affordable mobile phone devices that have been coming in from China. Africa has become some sort of dumping place for Chinese goods that aren’t fit for the world’s middle-class market. Phones are sold for as cheap as $15. Despite the dark circumstances of the arrival of these devices, they are helping solve so many problems. In 2008 a Kenyan telecommunication company found a way to use mobile phone SIM cards as financial accounts. Other telecommunication companies throughout the continent also embraced this technology (think Venmo or Cashapp on regular internet-free phones). People do not need to get validated by banks anymore before opening accounts, they just need the same SIM card that they use in their phones for everyday communication. As a result, telecommunication companies have become the new financial services. because. Insurance companies also saw potential in using mobile phones and now an uninsured mother of three who lives 10 kilometers away from the closest insurance company, doesn’t need to leave her house to get signed up. Because of the lack of a credit system in almost all African countries, the majority of people could not benefit from loans and credit benefits like other countries do. Banks now use people’s mobile phone financial transactions to build credit reports and history for its potential clients and as a result, people are finally getting access to capital that they never had (MOURDOUKOUTAS, 2017). Most Africans use their mobile phones as the primary source of an internet connection. This increase in internet penetration is giving kids access to the same quality material and education that kids in the developed countries of the world are receiving. These are just a few of the many benefits that mobile phone devices are bringing to the continent.

All of Africa’s 54 countries have their own struggles, cultures, governments, and way of life but the use of mobile phones has been the same throughout the continent. With more than 700 million phone owners, Africa is not the world’s fastest-growing mobile market. (MOURDOUKOUTAS, 2017). We are finally seeing the continent move forward using the same tool. I couldn’t be happier to be African right now. 

 

References

MOURDOUKOUTAS, ELENI. July 2017, www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/may-july-2017/africa’s-digital-rise-hooked-innovation.

WORLD METERS.  APRIL 2020, www.worldometers.info/world-population/africa-population/

Being a HR Professional, there is a lot of work that goes into pay structures and performance reviews to ensure they are consistent and fair. Even once they are implemented it is important to not simply forget about it as position requirements or needs for talent fluctuates. With these fluctuations, there might be an exception to the rule and that is where a company can unintentionally end up in some hot water. After reading this week’s readings I wanted to know more about what other countries gender pay gap was like.

The European Union (n.d.) reports “women in the EU are less present in the labour market than men”. What was very interesting is the European Union (EU) had mentioned this issue is beyond the issue of discrimination. There is an overrepresentation of women in low-paying sectors while predominately men are in STEM sectors which are high paying sectors. It is also discussed how women make up less than 10% of companies’ CEOs and in the EU managers who are women have a 23% lower earnings compared to male counterparts. Another issue is work-life balance, typically women take on greater care-giving roles in the household which means women are spending fewer hours working for pay, which may be a contributing factor to their career paths.

Most notable are the difference between the EU countries. “The gender pay gap ranges from less than 8% in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland and Romania to more than 20% in Czechia, Germany, Estonia and United Kingdom” (European Union, n.d.). It is reported that this is usually because women are primarily in low-paying sectors and work part time (European Union, n.d.).

From my professional experience, working as a Human Resources Advisor supporting small American businesses, it is evident that the gender pay gap is only a result of discrimination. Recently, I had assisted a male employee arranging his leave of absence because his wife was expecting a baby. He anticipated taking 3-4 weeks to bond with this baby and provide care for his wife after giving birth. The female business owner, the employer, connected with me because she wanted to deny his request since he was not the one birthing the baby. Luckily, in the state of New Jersey employees pay into the Family Leave Insurance program and employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees and this employee was eligible for it.

There needs to be a change is social views that it is ok for men to provide care for their families and take time off to bond with a new baby. Leaders can take a look at succession planning for the low paying sectors and how to grow those positions. It is evident that there needs to be a policy change to help promote women into high paying sectors while making it ok for men to take the time they would like to without the negative stigma.

As a global leader, what are some policy recommendations you would make?

 

References:

European Union. (n.d.).  The gender pay gap situation in the EU. Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality/equal-pay/gender-pay-gap-situation-eu_en

During lesson 12, I became interested in learning how, if at all, Western European leadership and business ethics differ from that of the US. Initially, I was under the assumption that this would not allow me to feel challenged because US and Western European business and leadership utilize many of the same practices. Because of these similarities, I made it a point to attempt to discover the differing processes involved in Western European leadership and business relationships.

An interesting article I came across brought up some relevant points regarding leadership and business ethics within Western Europe. As we have discussed in previous lessons, it is evident that Western culture has deep beliefs in individualism. Pervasive throughout our organizational structure in the US, our values and ethics remain set in individualistic ideals. However, one thing I did not consider was how prominent socialism was and still is for many Western European countries. This, clearly, poses cultural differences as leadership from the US may come off as “selfish” and leadership from Western Europe may not fully understand the nature of “every person for themselves.” Thus, making business decisions could be affected since one culture leans toward personal gain while one leans toward influence of an entire group.

Within the research article, Slovenia and Portugal were assessed a western European nations with a recent socialist past and current ties to socialist ethics. Researchers found that both cultures, having been build on socialist ideals, show high levels of power distance and low levels of uncertainty avoidance, while predominantly masculine in ethics (Raskovic, 2014). This is different from US business ethics because we have attempted to create an individualistic structure and have been on a path toward valuing individual contributions while attempting to dispel archaic notions of masculinity and tyranny within business. The way in which an executive from the US approaches an executive from a western European country may be challenged because the US relies on work ethic, aside from toxic beliefs about masculinity and femininity (although there are still many issues regarding these ethics in the US) and the interaction could become problematic, especially if the executive or higher power from the US were a woman.

References

Rašković, M. (2014). Measuring Culture Effect size Differences in Slovenian and Portuguese Leadership Practices: Cross-Cultural Leadership Universality or Contigency?, South East European Journal of Economics and Business, 8(2), 7-15. doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/jeb-2013-0004

 

Growing trends indicate that China is gaining dominance over the United States of America in terms of global leadership. This is in relation to the covid-19 pandemic that has currently affecting the whole world where the Chinese government has been given credit for being more prepared in tackling the issue than the American government. Being that the United States of America had dominance in global leadership through aiding developing nations like those in Africa, China seems to have taken over this responsibility (Cherkaoui, 2020). Currently, China is focusing its financial power on Africa, Asia and European countries that are being affected by the Corona virus.

The most cases and deaths resulting from the corona virus are mostly concentrated in the European region. To some extent, most Asian countries have either not contracted the virus or have been able to contain the virus. However, being that the Russian culture resembles that of Eastern Europe, they have not been able to contain the virus (Steers et al., 2012). The numbers in both Europe and Russia are increasing at an alarming rate. It seems that the Russian population was not cautious enough due to their culture, which resembles that of Europeans.

In the case of Africa, her countries are not well developed and depend highly on foreign aid to survive this pandemic (Steers et al., 2012). Most countries within the African continent have already reported substantial number of people, who have been infected by the virus. These countries do not only need support in terms of identifying those who have been affected but also need aid in terms of containing the virus. Being that most of the recent history of Africa is filled with conflict, controlling this new pandemic will definitely be difficult for the leaders of these countries.

China has already been able to control the spread of the virus and is now taking this opportunity to gain dominance over global leadership (Khan & Faisal, 2020). China is providing aid to not only African countries but also Russia and many European countries that are affected by the virus. Even the United States of America has been hit with this pandemic to the extent that they are now seeking help from the Chinese government to help cub the situation.

With this scenario in play, it seems that China will soon be the dominant player in the global economy and leadership. This is mainly because she is now central in the attending to the needs of African and European countries where the American government has been dominant for decades (Cherkaoui, 2020). Presumably, being able to have a say in the affairs of Russia, Europe and Africa provides enough power for any country to dominate global leadership affairs.

 

References

Cherkaoui, M. (2020). The Shifting Geopolitics of Coronavirus and the Demise of Neoliberalism.

Khan, N., & Faisal, S. (2020). Epidemiology of Corona Virus in the World and Its Effects on the China Economy. Available at SSRN 3548292.

Steers, R. M., Sanchez-Runde, C., & Nardon, L. (2012). Leadership in a global context: New directions in research and theory development. Journal of World Business, 47(4), 479-482.