OLEAD 410: Leadership in a Global Context

Cultural Leadership blog

What’s the deal with Switzerland and the EU?

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Switzerland-EU Flag (Ruletkka, 2015)

If you are wondering what the EU is, you are in good company.  I did not know either and living in the United States; I would gather that a good majority of people do not know.  The EU stands for the European Union.  The European Union is made consists of 28 countries.  The countries in the EU goals are to provide peace in Europe, allow people to have good lives, ensure things are fair for all people, and nobody is left out, that all languages and cultures for all people are respected and that there is a strong European economy and that counties use the same currency (Euro) to do business (European Union, 2019).

One country in Western Europe that is not part of the EU is Switzerland.  In keeping with its long traditions of sovereignty and neutrality, Switzerland has maintained a bilateral relationship with the EU (American Swiss Foundation, 2016).  The fear by the Swiss Business Association is if Switzerland were to join the EU, there would be increased regulations and costs and less political autonomy (American Swiss Foundation, 2016).  The flip side is that the EU is considering new laws that would lessen the competition with non-members, which could impact Switzerland’s financial sector (American Swiss Foundation, 2016).

There has been movement as recent as October 2019 regarding Switzerland and the EU.  In July 2019 Brussels refused to recognize Swiss market regulations, which effectively banned EU-based banks and brokers from trading on Swiss exchanges (Shields, 2019a).  Switzerland retaliated by banning the trade of Swiss stocks on EU exchanges, which is estimated at 30% of the volume in Zurich-listed shares (Shields, 2019a).  There were hopes that the issues could be worked out and after four years of negotiations, and a new Switzerland-EU treaty could be resolved in 2019; however that has not occurred at this time.  The rumor is that no Swiss-EU treaty will emerge until Britains’s chaotic Brexit is settled (Sheilds, 2019b).

Based on what I have read, it appears that Switzerland wants to remain the neutral party.  They don’t want to be required to be part of the EU, but they don’t want to be penalized for it either.  They are not willing to take penalties without a fight.  What I found in reading is that is similar to leadership styles in Switzerland, as well.  They are typically non-confrontational, collective approach styles (World Business Culture, 2017).  They like decisions to be made by a group of peers over a length of time, this goes back to that neutral state.  They seem to shy away from the autocratic or authoritarian styles.

Reference:

American Swiss Foundation (Ed.). (2016). Switzerland and the European Union. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://www.americanswiss.org/resources_and_publications/switzerland-and-the-european-union/

European Union (Ed.). (2019, October 29). Easy to read – The European Union. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/easy-to-read_en

Ruletkka. (2015, November 26). Puzzle with the national flag of Switzerland and European Union. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://depositphotos.com/91236368/stock-photo-puzzle-with-the-national-flag.html (Originally photographed 2015, November 26)

Shields, M. (2019a, July 01). Swiss-EU relations risk downward spiral as bourse ROW FLARES. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-eu/swiss-eu-relations-risk-downward-spiral-as-bourse-row-flares-idUSKCN1TW2LJ

Shields, M. (2019b, October 04). Chances of Swiss-EU treaty deal this month have VANISHED, sources say. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-eu/chances-of-swiss-eu-treaty-deal-this-month-have-vanished-sources-say-idUSKBN1WJ1PY

World Business Culture (Ed.). (2017, March 27). Swiss management style. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://www.worldbusinessculture.com/country-profiles/switzerland/culture/management-style/

The Impact of Power Distance.

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Over the last twenty years, my family has traveled all over Mexico.  We have visited tourist towns, as well as those towns that were not so populated.  Many years ago, we used to visit the border towns now classified as dangerous, and currently, we own property not far from Progresso and visit there.  The one thing that we always noticed, no matter what town we were in was the disparity between the classes of people.  We would see some people where dressed to impressed, driving expensive cars and throwing around money.  Also, in the same towns, we would see people begging on the streets and living in holes dug in the side of the mountain.

After reading about power distance and understanding that Mexico has a higher than normal score compared to average, the disparity makes more sense.  According to Hofstede (n.d.), power distance is defined as “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.”  So, as we learned as leaders when working with individuals from Mexico, we should not be surprised and should expect there to be acceptance between the haves and the have-nots (PSU WC, L9, 2019).  They accept this disparity as a part of their society.  We also need to keep in mind that this power distance relationship happens in more counties and nations than just Mexico.

As we develop our leadership styles, we need to understand how a power distance relationship can impact our business communications.  In countries that have a higher power distance index score, followers are just that; they will follow anything that a leader says because that leader is who has the power (The Articulate CEO, 2011).  The same goes for leaders in those counties; they are responsible for making all decisions and resolving all problems because their followers will only comply which what they are told (The Articulate CEO, 2011).  The opposite of this happens in countries with lower power distance indexes.  In lower index counties subordinates and leaders work together to resolve issues, to encourage individual thoughts, and to problem-solve (The Articulate CEO, 2011).

Lastly, to fully understand the power distance index and how it relates to leadership roles, we must understand how people were raised.  Take for example, in a family or a society that was built with a strong hierarchy between father, mother, siblings; the power index is going to be high.  But, in the same scenario, if we look at a family or society that everything has an opinion, the power index will be low.  As a leader, it will be essential to have a good understanding of everyone on your team, as well as the organization in which you work.  It will be the flexibility of handling all facets of a culturally diverse scale that will make you successful.

 

Reference:

Hofstede. (n.d.). Country comparison. Retrieved November 04, 2019, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-usa/

PSU World Campus. (2019). Olead 410 Lesson 09: Central America and Mexico Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008449/modules/items/27026994

The Articulate CEO (Ed.). (2011). Cultural differences – the power distance relationship. Retrieved November 04, 2019, from https://thearticulateceo.typepad.com/my-blog/2011/09/cultural-differences-the-power-distance-relationship.html

Is Synergy a phobia?

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Over my 25+ years in the business world, I have heard the word synergy multiple times.  In the early years, no one knew what it meant.  As time went by, when we heard the word, most often, it meant people were going to be losing their jobs.  The more promotions I received, and as I worked my way into executive management, I understood the importance of synergy.  A great definition this week was stated as “synergy is a cooperative or combined action and occurs when diverse or disparate individuals or groups collaborate for common cause…to increase effectiveness by sharing perceptions and experiences, insights, and knowledge” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 266).

Using this thought, culture synergy is taking all the diversity that a group has and determining what best parts of each person will create the most efficient team.  Because the synergy is brought down to the team member level, each person can a direct impact on the choices that are made and the behaviors that are displayed (PSU WC, 2019, L6).  One crucial element that a team leader needs to keep in mind when they are working on synergy is ensuring that an organization’s vision, values, and missions are clearly defined and supported.  It can be somewhat challenging to obtain synergy within a group when you have team members that do not support the organization’s visions or values.

We should also ask ourselves is there a downside to synergy, should we be looking for to make the team act as one instead of the creativity of individuals?  I believe one of the biggest downfalls of synergy within a team is the road in which we get there.  If a leader does not communicate what their expected goals are for a team, instead tries to make the teamwork better through synergies, most likely, the team will fail because the goals that the leader failed to share did not get met (Campbell and Goold, 2014).  The other downside of leaders trying to obtain synergies is the time and effort spent trying to get there.  Instead of a leader realizing the synergies they have, they are distracted by trying to gain more instead of trying to resolve an issue or run their current operations (Campbell and Goold, 2014).

So, as we can see, there are great things and bad things that can be said about synergies.  I do think that they are a good thing and should be explored by leadership; however, I also believe that we should not be so caught up in trying to obtain them that we lose sight of the bigger picture.  As I said in the beginning, I have been involved in main organization changes that we made trying to obtain synergies.  Some have worked out well, and others we lost valuable time trying to undo when it did not work.  The one lesson that I think we all can learn is that we need to understand our teams first before we attempt synergy, we need to see what skillset each individual brings to the table and how effectively it is being used or how we can enhance it for collaboration for the common cause.

References:

Campbell, A., & Goold, M. (2014, August 01). Desperately seeking synergy. Retrieved October 14, 2019, from https://hbr.org/1998/09/desperately-seeking-synergy

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.

PSU World Campus. (2019). Olead 410 Lesson 06: cultural synergy Retrieved from PSU World Campus https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008449/modules/items/27026977

Why Are We So Confused???

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Have you ever been involved in a conversation with another person or persons and at the end, thought to yourself, “I have no clue what we just talked about?”  This often happens because our communication skills as a society are inadequate.  We are listening to respond instead of being active listeners.  Communication is a vital element, especially to a leader, communication is the exchange of information that is then used by people to make choices that influence present and future individuals (PSU WC, 2019, L.4).

One area that we need to be aware of when it comes to communications is bias.  One of the most common mistakes in communication bias is tone.  It can range from verbal tone when speaking to someone to written tone and how emails are constructed and perceived by the receiving party.  One of the biases that we studied was egocentrism.  Egocentrism is defined as relying on your viewpoint and either underestimating another person viewpoint or disregarding it entirely (Effectiviology, n.d.).  With so much of our communications in business being via email, we need to learn how to effectively navigate how the person receiving the information will perceive it.  We also need to recognize that just because we are ready to communication information, that the receiving party may not be in a place to receive that information and we must adapt for that (Myatt, 2017).

As we have also learned, diversity and culture can impact how communication should be incorporated into your business relationships.  Take, for example, I work in a heavily male populated field.  Most of the people that I have daily interactions with are men.  Most of the men email with daily are executives (CEO, CFO, Presidents, VP, etc.) at the companies they are employed with.  As a female in a dominantly male field, I have grown accustomed to having to prove myself to my counterparts.  The one item that still happens almost daily in email is I am referred to a Mr. Miller.  My first name is unisex, and with a Vice-President title, they assume that I am male.  This is an example how gender bias in our culture has a play in business communications.

The most important take-away is that we need to be constantly aware of how we are communicating with our employers, employees, customers, peers, business partners, etc.  They may reside or be from a culture that is very different from our own.  How we interact with them both verbally and in writing will determine what type of relationship we will have.  One thing the past has taught us about great leaders is that they are great listeners and perceptive in their surroundings (Myatt, 2017).

 

References:

Effectiviology (Ed.). (n.d.). Effectiviology. Retrieved September 22, 2019, from https://effectiviology.com/egocentric-bias/

Myatt, M. (2017, March 17). 10 communication secrets of great leaders. Retrieved September 23, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/04/04/10-communication-secrets-of-great-leaders/#54a947b022fe

PSU World Campus. (2019, September 22). Olead 410 Lesson 04: Global Communication Retrieved from PSU World Campus https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008449/modules/items/27026964

 

Jamie Miller – Introduction

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My name is Jamie Miller; I currently live in a suburb of Austin, Texas, called Pflugerville. I have been married for 24 years, and we have a 21-year-old son. My close-knit family also consists of one dog and three cats. I am currently a senior (graduating this semester) pursuing my B.A. in Organization Leadership with a minor in Labor Relations. I have taken several of Dr. Redmond’s classes, and I am looking forward to this one, as well.

Something interesting about me is I am adventurous. I have skydived, bungee jumped, been zip lining in Mexico, swam a mile in an underground river, etc. I love warm weather and beach/water activities.

I did not start my academic journey until I turned forty.  I have asked myself the question, “Why are you making the choice to attend college as an adult student?” a million times. I have finally come to the conclusion, why not. I am not getting any younger, and this is something that I want for myself. I have worked for the same consulting firm for the last 19 years. I am currently the Vice President of Billing Operations and responsible for all business operations of four different companies owned by the same parent company. I am currently in a leadership position and hope taking this course will provide me additional tools when working with a diverse workforce.

Good Luck this semester!

 

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