The potential developments in Africa remind me of the developments individuals go through in college.  Africa has potential to enhance the financial state of the continent, and this relates to how college students have the potential to enhance their financial state through earning a degree.  “The full potential of Africa may be realized in this century if Africans are empowered to build an infrastructure on the basis of their own uniqueness and cultures.” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  College students have the potential to build a professional reputation for themselves based on the knowledge they learn through courses and their own personalities.  In order for Africa to develop into a more financially stable continent, Africans will have to practice synergy, control populations, advance literacy, education, and productivity, build infrastructure, promote conservation, and connect with technology (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  College students are also faced with challenges that must be completed to succeed with earning a degree.  They must gain knowledge about their degree, work with others, build networking relationships, be productive in their studies, and help to make the learning environment better for the future.  Africa has the potential to advance, but the citizens need to take the initiative and work in the right direction for the continent.

References:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences: Leadership skills and strategies for working in a global world. New York: Elsevier.

Italy is a very interesting country in Central Europe with the fact that it is divided within based on origin and cultural practices.  Italy consists of multiple groups of Italians who may not refer to themselves as Italians, but rather Roman, Florentine, or Genovese (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  Many Italians prefer to remain within the city limits of their origin, but this is not a good move when working internationally.  As an employee of an international organization, it is important to be willing to travel outside of your comfort area and even relocate for the job.  Italy has contributed greatly to Western civilization and this can be credited to those natives whom stepped out of their comfort zones to travel and interact with cultures outside of their own (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  Italians take pride in their successful heritage and it is important for future generations to carry on with the legacy of innovation and creativity.  One of the aspects of Italian culture that as contributed to this success of international business is the concept of relationships and connections with family and friends.  “The successful foreign businessperson makes it a point to understand the connections and use them.” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  By being open and accepting of other cultures, values, and business practices, a foreign businessperson will be able to successfully make connections and deals with others for the better of both organizations.  When working with international organizations, the differences between cultures should be identified and embraced to aide in the task at hand.

References:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences: Leadership skills and strategies for working in a global world. New York: Elsevier.

The dynamic of today’s Europe resembles the dynamics of many organizations in the United States.  Europe is the home of many countries which each hold their own culture, beliefs, and customs (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  Each country in Europe has its own differences, but there are still common features between those countries.  This same concept can be seen in many organizations due to the diversity of employees who make up the organization.  Each of those employees have differences like ethnicity, sex, age, beliefs, etc.  However, all of those individuals still have common features like profession, knowledge, salary, etc.  It is important for organizations to have a diverse workforce that can work together smoothly towards a common goal.  Another commonality between European culture and what makes a U.S. organization thrive is the image Europeans hold of a successful company.  “The concept of simply making money is not the foundation of a company; the long-term survival of the business is also important.” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).

The countries within Europe are continually changing due to younger generations altering beliefs and customs, and they are calling themselves the New Europeans (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  This changing culture can also be seen in many organizations due to young generations entering the workforce and becoming professionals.  These new generations can pose for a threat to standard practices of the organization, but they often provide valuable new insights for business practices.  The countries in Europe have had challenges with each other due to differences.  These challenges can also relate to employees of U.S. organizations as well as the competing organizations within an industry.

These challenging differences and collective similarities have been present in almost all of the organizations I have personally worked for.  I have witnessed how differences and similarities can both be good or bad for an organization’s success.  Differences bring about many hardships for management to deal with, but differences can also provide multiple insights into a business’ functions.  Similarities can be both good and bad for management because similarities provide for cohesive teamwork, but at the same time can cause for conflict.  I think it is important for organizations to balance these differences and commonalities just like European countries have been doing for decades.

References

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences: Leadership skills and strategies for working in a global world. New York: Elsevier.

Dr. Geert Hofstede created four dimensions that characterize national cultures.  Although these dimensions were created to describe the characteristics of national cultures, I will be applying these dimensions to my personal organizational culture.  Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, and masculinity/feminism (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  The lesson also identified two other dimensions of long-term/short-term orientation and indulgence/restraint (Pennsylvania State University, 2018).  The organization I currently work for utilizes some of these dimensions to create a working culture.  Some of the dimensions used in this organization are beneficial and other dimensions could be adjusted to become more beneficial to the overall organization.

Power distance is the idea of how power is accepted into an organization either equally or unequally (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  In other words, power distance identifies how power should be acknowledged between members of a group or culture.  In my organization, power does not determine how a person is treated or acknowledged by others.  The store manager and assistant store managers have authority over the other employees, but that given authority is not used to the advantage of one person.  The managers of the organization willingly work at the same level as all other employees, unless managerial duties arise.

Another cultural dimension used in this organization is uncertainty avoidance.  Uncertainty avoidance is measure of how a group or culture handles uncertain situations and ambiguity (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  This organization has a high level of uncertainty avoidance which means there are a lot of rules to follow.  The organization has developed rules for all employees to follow because there needs to be order and organization so the company functions properly.  If the organization did not have rules and guidelines set, there would be a lot of uncertainty and confusion when faced with unfamiliar situations.  For example, if a customer came in and stole a product, how should an employee handle that situation when a manager is not available?  The employee would be trained on the situation and know what to do in the uncertain situation.

The last two dimensions that this organization utilizes is individualism/collectivism and long-term/short-term orientation.  Individualism/collectivism focuses on the idea that members of a group or culture are either responsible for themselves or share responsibility for outcomes with the group (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  The organization I work for uses collectivism a majority of the time.  This can be demonstrated in the met quotas each month because the entire organization is appraised for meeting the quotas.  Individual employees may have had a large influence on an employee applying for a credit card, but the entirety of the organization put in effort to influence that customer throughout their whole shopping experience.  This organization has a long-term orientation, which means the company is future-oriented in its goals and procedures (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  The organization is always advising how sales and credit card numbers can be increased through employee interaction and product availability.  Employees are always calculating numbers to see what future actions can or should be taken to increase the success of the company.

The organization I work for does a very good job of incorporating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions for the advantage of the company.  However, there is always room for improvement and I believe the dimension of individualism/collectivism should be evaluated and adjusted to better meet the wants of employees.  For example, having a collectivist organization does not always allow for individual employees to advance in the company.  I believe the organization needs to modify this dimension so that employees feel like they can work independently, but still be a part of the organization’s success.  The functionality of any organization or culture relies on these cultural dimensions to identify how the culture can interact with one another as well as with other cultures.

 

References:

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

Pennsylvania State University. OLEAD 410; Lesson 02: Introduction to culture. 2018, January 21. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640507

My name is Abigail, but I prefer Abbey.  I currently live in Southern California where my husband is stationed at the moment, but I am originally from a small town in central PA that is about an hour from State College.  This is my final semester at Penn State! I am very excited to graduate see where my professional career takes me in life.  I currently work at a retail store due to lack of employment in this area, but I am looking to begin my professional career in the HR department of Geisinger upon moving back to PA.  A few of my long-term goals are to find a job with my degree that I will enjoy for a long time and continue to build my education with possibly a masters or other bachelors degree.  I currently am not in a leadership position because I am fairly new to the organization, but I have been in a few leadership positions in past employments.  I used to work for a local restaurant in PA for about 7 years before moving to California.  Towards the last few years of my work there, I was given the opportunity to be a shift leader.  This role allowed for me to continue my normal work that I loved, but I also was able to take charge of the organization when our manager was not present.  If a coworker was having any problems, I was the person they went to for assistance.  I really enjoyed being in that role because it allowed me to still work alongside my coworkers, but also have experience in leading an entire organization when needed.  Something slightly interesting about me is that I began my Penn State education at main campus, but decided to utilize World Campus after my first year so I could move to California.  I greatly miss the atmosphere and culture in State College, but World Campus has given me the opportunity to be with my family while still receiving a degree from my favorite university!

I look forward to working with all of you this semester!