OLEAD 410: Leadership in a Global Context

Cultural Leadership blog

Islamic Management

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Islam focuses more of its attention on the individual person who manages or the people who are managed, and much less on the methodologies and processes of management. Islam defines the qualities that make a good manager as; work as an act of worship, fulfill all contracts, keeping promises, loyalty to employer, no kickbacks, do not fight for leadership, build trust, always be truthful, be optimistic, admit mistakes, avoid pride, time management, seek and share knowledge, manage anger, aim for excellence, and be just (Moran, Abramson, Moran, pp. 304-305).

I feel that there is a lot that can be learned from these views on leadership. In most work places, employees will strive to become leadership and fight to get to that position. I agree with the approach that Islam takes to fighting to become a leader. Becoming a leader should not come from how well you position yourself over time. It should come from proving to your team that you have the qualities that would make you a good leader (Moran, Abramson, Moran. Pp. 305).

To obtain this recognition from your team I feel that it is important to spend time on admitting mistakes, aiming for excellence, and seek/sharing knowledge (Moran, Abramson, Moran, pp. 305). As a leader one should always seek knowledge. I feel that Islam’s view on seeking knowledge is much like Plato’s view. Plato believed to be a guardian, his term for leadership, you must rely upon the value of a good education (Plato: The State and the Soul).

Applying these principles, followers who wish to become management could achieve this goal. I could also use these principles in my career to help me progress to management. I am a firm believer in proving yourself worthy of management and not having it given to you due to your positioning.

 

Reference:

  1. Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge
  2. Kemerling, G. (n.d.). Plato: The State and the Soul. Retrieved July 02, 2017, from http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2g.htm

 

Picture Credit: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/operational-principles-islamic-managerial-leadership-qureshi

 

Cultural Synergy with Global Suppliers

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In a global setting, having cultural synergy is a must for businesses. Working in a global setting myself, I have seen the importance of having a team that has a cultural emphasis. In this chapter, the subject of improving performance through team culture is covered.

“Organization’s culture emphasizes employee participation through team management, the group microcultures are likely to reflect that system’s macroculture” (Moran,Abramson,Moran, pp. 271). I fully agree with this statement. The company I am a part of focuses on getting product team members to learn from one another. While learning from one another we also focus on learning more from our international counterparts. Working with our international office we have been working to achieve synergy.

According to the chapter, “synergy occurs when the members listen to each other and enter into the private worlds of the others” (Moran, Abramson, Moran, pp.271). Working with our international teams and suppliers I have seen the effects of how the evolution of microcultures reflect the macrocultures.

This is especially evident when it comes to working with suppliers. Expressing the company goals amongst the team helps to build the microculture. Then projecting these goal onto our suppliers builds this culture within the collective group. During this process, we build upon the companies macroculture.

 

 

 

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

Learning to compete globally

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“Businessmen go down with their businesses because they like the old way so well they cannot bring themselves to change. One sees them all about-men who did not know that yesterday is past, and who wake up this morning with their last year’s ideas.”

-Henry Ford

 

The company I work with company that is considered to be a multinational enterprise (MNE). These are companies that seek returns by doing business in two or more countries (Moran, Abramson, Moran, pp. 102).

When competing in a global market, it is vital for companies to focus on global efficiency. The company I work for focuses on perfecting their global strategy. They have done a good job thus far with combining global efficiency with local responsiveness in order to grow the global business.

Henry Ford’s statement is very fitting for growing a business in a global market. The global market is constantly changing with the creation of new technology. A lot of this strategy is affected by the company’s mindset. Perlmutter states that there are three mindsets: ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric. Out of these three mindsets, the company I work for would fall into the geocentric mindset. This mindset is where the company strives to achieve global efficiency and local responsiveness at the same time (Moran, Abramson, Moran, pp.115).

 

 

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

Challenges of Intercultural Communication

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St. Lucia

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to St. Lucia for my honeymoon 3 years ago. This was my first face to face experience with intercultural communication in a different country. While over there I gained a better knowledge of the value, social norms, attitudes, stereotypes, the social organization, roles, and language skills (Moran, 42).

There were multiple instances where I saw the effects of the cultural difference. The first one was when me and my wife left the resort to go for a hike on our own. There was a couple in front of us who was from the island and wanted to pay to go in. Due to them being from a specific neighborhood from the island their price was different. When we walked up we were charged something completely different. The body language during both conversations was the thing I noticed the most.

The next social norm that I noticed was the way that they treated animals. A few stray dogs wandered onto the resort one night. Some of the other couples were playing with them and feeding them. When I staff member saw this, he came over and kicked the dog to get it to leave. This upset quite a few of the people who were standing there when it happened. This social norm towards these animals was something that most of the guests were not accustomed to.

This trip taught me a lot about understand verbal and non-verbal signals when working with a different culture. I plan to build upon this knowledge at my current job to help me to be able to handle these situations moving forward.

 

 

 

 

References:

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

Cultural

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Through working in a several different jobs, I have been exposed to many unique cultures. During these different jobs, I learned a lot about different aspects of these cultures. The main cultures that I was exposed to was Hispanic culture, Indian culture, and also Korean culture.

Schmitz describes a cultural profile of being made from the following parts: environment, time, action, communication, space, power, individualism, competitiveness, structure, and thinking. (Moran et al., 2014, p. 19). In my previous experience, I have seen many of these aspects arise in the different cultures I have been exposed to. For example, communication amongst my former Hispanic co-workers changed depending on which part of central America they were from. Learning how each country preferred to talk to one another was key when handling difficult situations. I also learned through communication how each countries slang was slightly different than the next. There was more than one time where I tried to put together a sentence in spanish and it was misunderstood.

In my current job, I am being exposed to a whole new level of cultural differences. Working with people that are based in Europe has taught me many things about their culture. The most noticeable one is how they handle stressful situations as opposed to the U.S. From my experience, I have seen them remain perfectly calm during trying times, whereas some of my coworkers have not had the same response.

These experiences have helped to shape how I handle new culturally different situations. With the ever-growing melt pot that is the U.S., it has become more important than ever before to understand different cultures. I have found that it is vital to constantly be willing to learn more about others cultures as well as spreading awareness about your own.

 

 

References

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

John Introduction

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Hello Everyone,

My name is John Spindle Jr. I am currently a supply planner for a spinal reconstruction company.

I am born and raise in VA, currently still reside in Virginia. At the end of this semester I will be graduating with my BA in OLEAD. My plans after graduating are to try to start graduate school next year. I am hoping to start my MBA.

I enjoy the company I work for. They are only 14 years old, so there is constant growth. Eventually I will be looking to move up the ladder, but as for now I am unsure as to where in the company I would like to move to.

My current position is not in leadership. My goal is to get into a leadership position within the company I am with.

Something interesting about me is that I am a avid mountain biker. I compete in races from time to time.

I look forward to working with everyone.

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