“Spanning 6.7 million km2 (twice the size of India) the Amazon Biome is virtually unrivaled in scale, complexity and opportunity, and truly is a region distinguished by superlatives” (WWF, 2016). Unfortunately, according to WWF seemingly endless Amazon has lost 17% of it’s forest cover in the last 50 years which stands to affect all life on Earth if it continues because if the Amazon’s ability to regulate carbon emissions is weakened, the resultant discharge is expected to considerably accelerate global warming and that affects everyone.

“The Amazon is home to more than 30 million people living across a vast region subdivided into nine different national political systems. 9 % of the Amazon’s population is still made up of indigenous people-350 different ethnic groups (WWF, 2016)”. Amazon forests are shared between Brazil, Peru, Columbia and some other Brazil’s neighbors. That makes it a very culturally diverse place.

“Here, as elsewhere in Latin America, the government owns the subsoil and any oil, gas, and minerals found there. All these Amazon nations are attempting to use the rain-forest for oil and gas exploration. In all cases, an improved policy is needed to reconcile national interests with those of the environment and local inhabitants” (Moran, Abramson, Moran, 2016). According to CIA World Fact Book, Brazil, Peru and Columbia are facing deforestation due partially to illegal logging. To address this issue which has a potential global impact, cultural synergy should come in play. “Synergy is a cooperative or combined action, and occurs when diverse or disparate individuals or groups collaborate for a common cause. The objective is to increase effectiveness by sharing perceptions and experiences, insights, and knowledge” ( PSU, 2016). On both local and international scales we need to synergistically address the issue of the Amazon’s future.

As we can see, the future of the Amazon is a global leadership issue. This affects it’s native inhabitants as well as it’s neighbors and the world as a whole. The Amazon is the single largest remaining tropical rainforest in the world that is responsible for 15% of the world’s total river discharge into the oceans and is responsible for balancing global carbon emissions. While every country involved has it’s own long term orientation according to Hofstede 6D model and it’s unique ways to deal with the challenges of the present and future, cultural synergy is imperative in addressing the issue.

References:

CIA. (2016). World Fact Book. Ecology. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2032.html

Hofstede, G. (2016). Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved from https://geert-hofstede.com/brazil.html

Image. Amazon rainforest parrots. Retrieved from http://www.environmental-watch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/shutterstock_64558576.jpg

Image. Amazon Desktop Wallpaper. Retrieved from http://images.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wallpaperhd.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/amazon-jungle-wallpaper.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wallpaperhd.pk/amazon-jungle-wallpaper/&h=1080&w=1920&tbnid=xga-GxLuA2BokM:&docid=ZyY0T_64RxTrxM&ei=Z84DWLq9MIGMsAHo45SoBQ&tbm=isch&client=safari

Image. Inphographic. Retrieved from http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/deforestation/importance_forests/tropical_rainforest/

Moran, R., Abramson, N., Moran, S. (2014). (P. 349). Taylor and Francis: Kindle Edition.

PSU. (2016). Synergy. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179088

WWF. (2016). About the Amazon. Retrieved from http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/

image: Amazon rainforest parrots

With the advent of globalization it is becoming even more apparent that cultural competence is becoming a lifeline of any successful endeavor. CIA defines cultural competence as “the ability to understand, appreciate, and interact with persons from cultures and/or belief systems other than one’s own and apply insights learned for better outcomes.” It is imperative that we apply cultural competence as a prism through which we approach globalization and doing international business.

“Today, according to the Global Intelligence Monitor, 4 four of the world’s most promising Emerging Markets for the period 2012–2017 are located in the Middle East. The Middle East is where three continents meet –Europe, Africa, and Asia. In ancient times, it was known as the Fertile Crescent. It was the birthplace of two of the four most ancient human civilizations, Egypt and Sumer” (Moran, Abramson, Moran, 2014). “Today typically geographical classification of Middle East would include the countries Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, and Oman” (PSU, 2016). This is a significant part of the world and business with the Middle East is an awfully large market to ignore.

President Obama speaks “Our Nation derives strength from the diversity of its population and from its commitment to equal opportunity for all. We are at our best when we draw on the talents of all parts of our society, and our greatest accomplishments are achieved when diverse perspectives are brought to bear to overcome our greatest challenges.” It seems that in the age of globalization that diversity is becoming ever more inherent in routine business and cultural competence is becoming more necessary skill to have.

The Middle East is still an area of exploration and research for western markets, but with our ability to learn, change, and apply cultural competence to diversify our prospectives we can achieve even more success and greater accomplishments. Each country within the Middle East has it’s own unique history, development, political and socioeconomic state as well as preference on the way things should be done. This individualistic aspect should be considered prior to interactions.

References:

CIA Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (2016-2019). Retrieved October 7, 2016 from https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/Diversity_Inclusion_Strategy_2016_to_2019.pdf

Image retrieved October 7, 2016 from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/1-12_Middle_East_Green-Grey.png

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

PSU.( 2016). Lesson 7: The Middle East: Focus on Saudi Arabia. Retrieved October 7, 2016 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179096

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 iStockphoto

Very important concepts to organizational leadership are the concepts of diversity, cultural synergy and participative leadership. Lets look at them a little closer and examine how they fit together.

“Participative leadership may be defined as the approach in which leaders involve others in making and implementing decisions. A participative leader collects subordinates’ ideas and perspectives and integrates them into the decisions” (PSU, 2016). “Synergy is the synthesis of what each individual in the group has to offer. It is about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts in the way an automobile is more than the pile of its individual parts. Cultural synergy is the same idea but involving cultures rather than individuals” (PSU, 2016). “Synergy is a cooperative or combined action, and occurs when diverse or disparate individuals or groups collaborate for a common cause. The objective is to increase effectiveness by sharing perceptions and experiences, insights, and knowledge” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p . 266). “Diversity generally refers to the ways that people in organizations differ” (PSU, 2016).

We can see that the parts are interconnected. A leader chooses participative leadership style to find the missing piece by enlisting help from a diverse group of individuals as the best source for talent and encourages them to use synergy to collectively solve the puzzle.

Globally this is the same principle just at a much larger scale. Fareed Zakaria said it well: “If, on the one hand, we come together and work on common problems of humanity, imagine the opportunities it would create for everyone.” (Moran, Abramson, 2014).

These three concepts are in the play more times than we notice. For example, when a leader hires a foreign manager that has perfected an art of food&beverage to better quality of  a club we see these concepts at play. We see these concepts at play when a multinational group of scientists is working on a cure for cancer. When people come to vote for a president we see it again.

Naturally each concept is important by itself, but by connecting these parts together we can see that this inter connectedness improves chances of solving any puzzle.

References:

Cultural Synergy. Penn State. Retrieved October 2, 2016 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179088

Defining Diversity. Retrieved October 2, 2016 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179061

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

Participative leadership. Penn State. Retrieved October 2, 2016 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1790923/modules/items/21146646

 

Learning and change are very important to the dynamic global environment we live in. If we look internationally, we can see that companies set in their old ways, refusing to change and learn failed.

“In 1989, Encyclopedia Britannica sold over one hundred thousand copies of its multi-volume encyclopedia and set a sales record of $627 million. Only five years later, sales had plummeted 53 percent.”(Russo & Schoemaker, 2002) Unfortunately the leadership of Britannica was blind to the global technological revolution. That resulted in it’s unwillingness to change and learn new ways bringing them to a point of fall Britannica was not able to recover from.

“In global organizations learning can occur in many ways, but social learning is one way that occurs in all cultures across the globe, as it is a basic part of being human” (Redmond, 2016). This makes social learning a bridge that connects all societies. Bandura(1986) developed a social learning model that is especially noticed in young children. Children tend to take a behavior they see and adapt it to their own. Bandura outlines four main steps: Attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. Social learning is imperative for growth and development of all ages. This makes the old adage leading by example ever more imperative as our peers and subordinates unwittingly emulate us for better or worse.

On a bigger scale we have organizational change. Shein(1980) created a planned change theory that describes steps involved in the process of change in organizations. While many models exist, this one has a lot of supporting research that shows it’s effectiveness. Shein states that unfreezing, changing, and refreezing steps are imperative to effective and permanent change, but behind any change there is a motivation stemming from belief that the change in behavior is necessary and will lead to beneficial outcome.

In Britannica’s example the leadership failed to perceive the need to change. They saw themselves as book publishers first, which limited their view. If they were willing to change their organization from book publisher to a firm that specializes in global knowledge distribution they would be more willing to see the importance of restructuring the company in favor of new technological advancement and would develop planned change, they would learn from their global peers that perceived the importance of technology and thus managed to corner new market insuring their success.

Times are changing and demanding new ways. By applying principles of Bandura’s social learning and Schein’s planned change today we can be better prepared for tomorrow.

References:

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought & action: A social cognitive theory. Upper Saddle River, : Prentice Hall.

Image retrieved on 21 September, 2016 from http://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Images/Insights/ChangeManagement.jpg

Redmond, B. (2016).The Pennsylvania State University World Campus, (2016). Lesson 4: Introduction to Culture. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179083

Russo, J. & Schoemaker, P. (2002). Winning decisions. New York: Currency.

Schein, E. H. (1980). Organizational psychology. Englewood Cliffs, : Prentice Hall.

 

http://istockphoto.com

When dinning out with a diverse group to my surprise some of them paid their bill without tip. In United States it is looked upon favorably to give a large tip, as in Germany you are expected to tip very little, while in some nations tip is not expected. Every nation has it’s etiquette when it comes to tipping and it’s social norms. I had to explain to the group it is customary to tip and is the way to thank the waiter for the job well-done. They get paid for it was their response to which I had to clarify that most waiters in US are paid less than a minimal wage. They were shocked.

If cross-cultural communication at this level has already presented differences, it gets even more involved in the business world. According to CIA World Factbook report in 2013 United States is involved in 13.9% value of world trade (Moran, Abramson, 2014). How would people from different countries learn about inner workings of another countries and social norms? How can we anticipate what is a socially acceptable behavior when dealing with people all over the world? How can we expect to make fair deals and negotiations when we do not know what is the expected level of it in the country?

Global communication may require challenging what you know and what you consider acceptable and proper. Furthermore, it will require changing the way you interact if you want to get the message across and have a working global relationship. Taking a class on Leadership in a Global Context has helped me to reexamine cross-cultural communication, dimensions involved and to recognize ways of managing those. It is important to focus not only on differences, but similarities as well. For example, understanding that we both share and altruistic point of view can make a communication much easier.

Understanding needs, values, expectations, goals, cultural and social norms, roles, attitudes, stereotypes, social organization and social dimensions, personality, influences, customs, beliefs, thought patterns, history, politics, language are all vital ingredients in the process. Egocentrism is a factor that will decrease effectiveness of the communication, however it should be accounted for during interactions. Active listening will increase the effectiveness of communication and a lot of times will help to negate challenges presented by intercultural differences. Nonverbal clues equate to 80-90% of communication and send an important message. (Moran, Abramson, 2014). Realization that countries vary on low-high context, preference of slow or fast messages, preferences of space and time may enable one to elude potential misunderstandings and frustrations. For example, understanding that Germany is interested in shutting down it’s nuclear plans and has a goal to completely depend on renewable energy can assist in preparation of presentation to discuss energy needs of countries. Business investors will realize that it is faulty to offer Germany plans to build new nuclear reactors, but instead is beneficial to present plans with renewable energy sources.

Understanding global communications presents us with a multidimensional model, but understanding every additional aspect of it brings us closer to the goal of improved communication.

References:

Image retrieved 15 September, 2016 from http://media.istockphoto.com/vectors/abstract-global-traffic-design-communication-transport-networking-vector-id511473492?k=6&m=511473492&s=170667a&w=0&h=tbq3-AbxYwFZr4ks84TpXV-IVE-B2Vaup7gnoDARHrg=
http://media.istockphoto.com/vectors/abstract-global-traffic-design-communication-transport-networking-vector-id511473492?k=6&m=511473492&s=170667a&w=0&h=tbq3-AbxYwFZr4ks84TpXV-IVE-B2Vaup7gnoDARHrg=

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

Diversity generally refers to the ways that people in organizations differ. That sounds simple, but defining it more specifically is a challenge because people in organizations differ in many ways—race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, and more. There is also the fact that diversity not only involves how people think of others and how this affects their interaction but how they conceive of themselves. (Santa Fe College Office of Diversity, 2013)

Diversity is something I got to exposed to my whole life. First years were filled with familiar faces and familiar culture. I was raised with the image of people of different origins holding hands and smiling around the globe yet I have not seen any representatives of different culture in real life. Every day was similar and predictable till my first years in college when I first saw a man with different color skin. I came from a multimillion city inland of Russia that was remote from international trade. I did not have any concept of what this man is like other than he is different from any people I have seen in my life and what I heard from others that he is the person from South African country and his parents are rich since they were able to pay for education of their son in the foreign country. He just looked different and this is first time I was introduced to surface-level diversity. However I also heard of people calling themselves skin heads as they would keep their hair short and were the remnants of Nazi ideology. This was not a welcomed group in the country however unfortunately it was they did exist. Later on I heard that this guy was shot on the streets. This is when I got to know that intolerance and cruel ideology are real. Yet it is possible that the shooting was caused by some other reason other than surface-level diversity it does sound like a very possible cause.

Few years later one of the popular entertainment figures on our Television was a guy with dark skin. He was presenting to the whole nation an introductory view of what people from unfamiliar countries are like. He won the whole nation over with his charm and humor, he was one of the Moscow students. No wonder the change in Russia originated there since Moscow is connected to the international trade routes and is more progressive. It was progressive and embracing new exposure to information and various cultures after so called “iron curtain”. The term symbolized efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet-controlled areas (Wikipedia, 2016). This was the beginning of the process of inclusion where new cultures and ideas began to be accepted.

After coming to United States and living in “melting pot” of various nationalities New York I was excited by the abundance of people from all over the world, by their similarities and differences. This is where I was truly exposed to diversity of people for the first time. Now I saw the diversity not only in surface/appearance level but in a deeper/fundamental level, the difference in beliefs, values and attitudes. New York is a highly competitive city where most adaptable and culturally savvy thrive.

However attending Organizational Leadership program for the first time gave me an invaluable insight on the cultures, diversity, discrimination, values and tools on how to have a more in depth structured understanding of diversity. One of the useful tools giving a broad view on multicultural modeling is done by efforts and research by Hofstede. Comparison of data from this research and my personal observations are invaluable. Now my new renewed understanding of people’s values and driving forces behind the action introduced me to a vast amount of information and underlying mental programs that govern my and others behavior and perception of other cultures deeply imbedded in us. Living in Germany on the American military base I get to interact with diverse groups of people helps me to interact and work with them more efficiently.

While misunderstanding, misconceptions, miscommunications when dealing with diversity can lead to complications a modern day leader once again understands importance of developing new language skills, broadening horizons on international trade and different styles of doing business. Globalization, the unification of the globe in a digital world and technological advancement that increase speed of travel can enable people to communicate with people all over the world. However, while distance and time barriers have been erased, cultural, conceptual and language skills are still leaping behind and hold up the development. Things like discrimination at work unfortunately still take place, however, a significant step to limit those has been done by Title 7, the work of Equal Opportunity personnel and intense efforts of educational institutions increasing understanding of different cultures and trying to bridge that gap in United States. Various lawsuits that took precedent have provided needed protection to diverse groups that has been discriminated against. Annihilation of conflicts within the group has enabled workers to feel safer, feel more invested in the company since they believe they interests will be protected and their dignity and uniqueness will be respected. Less interactions and less hostility equals better production and improved communication. On the bigger scale the most widely recognized set of human rights is the United Nations’ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was formed after World War II to prevent atrocities from happening to people globally, and is based on the values of “universality, interdependence and indivisibility, equality and non-discrimination, and that human rights simultaneously entail both rights and obligations (United Nations, n.d.). Each country has a different set of rules protecting human rights.

Dealing with proactive people willing to learn, explore , educate and breach the gap between the diverse groups is inspiring. These are the people that are doers, go-getters and visionaries of the time that are willing to embrace the positive change and channel their energy towards constructive change. Meeting one of these people is always refreshing and leaves a lasting positive impression. Learning from diverse group and pushing though stereotypes is imperative for growth. Inclusion of diversity leads to positive changes that can improve organizational functioning through encouraging creative problem solving and reaching new markets (PennState, n.d.). Embracing diversity is an essential step that fuels globalization.

References:

Hofstede, G. & Hofstede, G. J. (n.d.). Dimensions of national cultures. Retrieved from http://www.geerthofstede.com/dimensions-of-national-cultures

Image retrieved on September 9, 2016 from http://missrmartinez.weebly.com/uploads/5/7/4/1/57419049/5550439_orig.png

Pennsylvannia State University. (2016). Defining Diversity. Psu.instructure.com. Retrieved 9 September 2016, from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179061

Santa Fe College Office of Diversity. (2013). Defining diversity. Retrieved from http://www.sfcollege.edu/diversity/?section=defining_diversity

United Nations. (n.d.). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from http://eeoc.gov/

Wikipedia. (2016). Iron Curtain. Wikipedia. Retrieved 9 September 2016, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain

 

Looking at Hofstede(2001) model presents us with three base levels of universal, collective and individual. While we all belong to Homo sapiens and share so many similarities, the groups/countries/societies we belong to vary vastly. And finally the individual level what makes us unique.

In my personal experience moving from area to another being apart of military family opened my eyes to those layers. In a sense they resemble land shaft of Earth. Sometimes there are distinct tectonic plates like Muslim, atheist, Catholic, etc. Sometimes these plates overlap. On another scale different countries present different layers of mind programming. However there are differences within the group just like there are valleys and mountain regions. A lot of historical and developmental differences shaped the differences that are highlighted by Hofstede like individualism, collectivism, gender, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/feminity, long-term/short-term orientation and indulgence/restraint.

Values of the citizens of the country done with war might be focused more on survival and rebuilding of what has been broken and destroyed, while country Ina peaceful mode can be more focused on development of science and infrastructure.

Different values drive societies and individuals. On a smaller scale we can notice cultures within in organization. Gym culture is highlighted by certain type of thinking that is concerned with calorie counting, styles of workouts and their effectiveness while sales culture is driven by quota and total revenue generated. These two cultures can be completely comfortable within one country and overlap on certain instances. Sometimes these cultures speak the same language and think alike. Maslow argues that on the base level individual as a smaller part of society is primarily driven by basic and physiological need, where apron satisfaction of those one can evolve into the next level of the pyramid safety and security, than love and belonging, self esteem and finally achieve self-actualization (Maslow, 2016).

It is not surprising that one can feel passionate and proud of belonging to certain culture however it is different from Ethnocentrism, which blinds one from a potential to grow and learn from other culture. The extreme of that is genocide which also seek to destroy other completely as not worthy of taking place. With globalization on our doorstep there is more and more need for knowledge of other culture and tolerance towards other. Understanding that being brought up by one culture since birth and later presented with the view of other can be a shock. Snippets of the world are presented in the thought provoking movie Baraka by Ron Fricke (Baraka, 2016)

References:

Baraka Original Theatrical Trailer – HD Matchframe Re-Edit. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 6 September 2016, from https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSfFHxyYJJA

Hofstede, G. & Hofstede, G. J. (n.d.). Dimensions of national cultures. Retrieved from http://www.geerthofstede.com/dimensions-of-national-cultures

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 6 September 2016, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Summary. (2016). Psu.instructure.com. Retrieved 6 September 2016, from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179056

 

Introduction Blog by Arina Kim

I am currently residing in Baden-Württemberg, Germany which is famous for housing the Mercedez-Benz and proche HQ and museums. It is also is filled with luscious green spaces, fertile farmlands and history dating back to the 10th century.

I am a sophomore of Pennsylvania State University’s Organizational Leadership program which has had a positive impact on my life as a whole. I come from a long line of international academics so you might say degree’s run in the family. I am already researching programs for my Masters Degree. With my renewed and more in depth understanding of things in general, I find myself interested in founding an organization that is focused on improvement of health, wellbeing and quality of life.

I was President of the class in Voronezh State University, Russia, which was the school I attended prior to becoming a United States citizen. I was also part of creative comity for department of Philology for student involvement.

One of the quotes that made me reevaluate and reconsider some of my personal values is the following quote: “If your action inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” (John Quincy Adams). Leading people should inspire them to be and do their best.

I am interested in nature, organization of biological life forms, natural and synthetic structures and systems. Some of my favorite recreational activities are working on projects with my husband, massage therapy, hiking, swimming, gardening, sightseeing, drawing, gaming, and playing with my 120lb Rhodesian Ridgeback Rocks.