6. Global Trends and Issues in Management

6.1 International Management and Culture 6.2 Conflict Resolution

6.3 Organizational Communications

6.4 Operations Management

6.5 Human Resource Management

6.1 International Management and Culture

The global economy is a fact and modern managers must understand how to manage globally

International businesses face many challenges but the most significant for managers is often Culture

The US has 5% of the world’s population

But produces and consumes 20% of its economic activity

Cultural Differences

• Language • History • Religion • Family Relations • Ethnicity

Cultural differences can affect how we perceive leaders and how we respond to incentives

Hofstede Matrix

91

40

6246

29

PowerDistance Individuality Masculinity

UncertaintyAvoidance

Long TermOrientation

United States of America

Hofstede Matrix Dimensions

Power Distance - How we believe leaders should be treated

Individualism - How important we consider our own interests over the interests of our group Masculinity - How much we live to work, rather than work to live

Uncertainty Avoidance - How comfortable we are with uncertainty and risk Long Term Orientation - How far into the future we think is important

Global Organization Choices

MonocentricPolycentricBrazil

USA

Russia

FranceEgypt

China

USAGermany

High Power Distance - Expect managers to be treated with great respect and be distant from workers

What to Expect from Global Cultures

Low Individualism - Expect everyone to be on a team. Individual incentives will not work

Low Masculinity - Expect people to only work as hard as they must, and to value time away from work more than additional salary

Low Uncertainty Avoidance - Expect managers and workers to be uncomfortable with risk and prefer a certain outcome to a possible better outcome

What to Expect from Global Cultures

High Long term Orientation - Expect managers to value long term relationships over short term profits

Managing inside a single national culture is hard enough. Managing across many different global cultures is far more challenging

6.2 Conflict Resolution

Sooner or later, all managers face a conflict between some groups of people. How can this be resolved?

A conflict is more than just a difference of opinion. One group or both feel threatened by the conflict

2 Approaches to Conflict Resolution: • Competition • Cooperation

(Collaboration)

Competition• Based on “Win-

Lose” • May not understand

both sets of interests well

• Often the first approach we choose

Cooperation/Collaboration• Based on “Win-Win” • Usually requires

both sides to understand each other’s interests well

• Can be more effective than competition but often more difficult to achieve

Both the collaborative and competitive positions involve negotiation - learning about each other and proposing alternatives

If two disputants cannot resolve a conflict on their own, they may turn to a disinterested 3rd party

3rd Party ApproachesArbitration: When the 3rd party leads both groups through a resolution process, and has the power to bind both groups to a resolution

Mediation: When the 3rd party leads both groups through a resolution process, but has no power to decide the outcome

• Try to understand the other side’s position. Why do they want what they want?

• Think about your position in detail. Why do you want what you want? resolution style

Getting to an Agreement

• Set priorities. What can you give up and what must you keep?

• Control your emotions and try to be rational

• Consider your conflict resolution style

Conflict Resolution Styles

1. Competitive - High assertion/low cooperation

2. Accommodating - Low assertion/high cooperation

3. Avoiding - Low on assertion and cooperation

4. Collaborating - High on assertion and cooperation

5. Compromising - Moderate on everything

Resolving conflicts requires skill and understanding. Think “Win-Win” whenever you can

6.3 Organizational Communications

We all communicate every day. As a manager inside an organization, however, we need a different understanding of communication

• Filtering • Selective Perception • Info Overload • Emotional

Disconnects

Barriers to Communication

• Lack of Source Credibility

• Semantics

Barriers to organizational communication are often a function of the people in the organization

• Filtering - Distortion or withholding of information by the sender to manage a reaction

Barriers to Communication

• Selective Perception - Distortion or misinterpretation of information by the receiver

• Information Overload - Too much information coming at us. Can’t pay attention to it all

• Emotional Disconnect - The sender or receiver is emotionally upset and misinterprets information

• Lack of Source Credibility (Or familiarity) - The receiver does not believe the sender knows what they are talking about, or may not know the sender at all and be unable to decide if they are credible

• Semantics - Words can mean different things to different people

When Different Sources Say Different Things

The boss says “No layoffs”

The grapevine says “Layoffs next month”

When One Source Says Different Things

He says “Nothing to worry about.”

He looks nervous and distracted - worried

When the verbal and non-verbal messages say different things, most people believe the non-verbal only

Audience is everything. Think about who you are talking with

Communications failures are inevitable in organizations. Try to be an effective communicator, but expect the worst

6.4 Operations Management

Operations management is the specific approaches we use to manage the production of an organization’s products

Operations Management

“Overseeing the transformation process that converts inputs such as labor and raw materials into outputs such as goods and services.”

OperationsTechnology

Labor

CapitalRaw Matis

Energy

Product

Inputs Outputs

Most of the time, we think of manufacturing when we say “operations” but it is more than that

• Usually thought of as manufacturing

• For a bank, this is the moving of money in and out of customer accounts

Operations

• For a law firm this is handling cases for clients

• For a construction company, this is designing and constructing buildings

Operations

Operations management is about efficiency and lower costs, and we gain that through good control systems

Lean Operations/Lean Control Reducing Waste

Eliminate:

Wasted materials Wasted labor Wasted time Wasted energy Wasted space Wasted information

Quality ControlAudience is everything. Think about who you are talking with

Make sure things meet quality standards through inspections and process control

Audience is everything. Think about who you are talking with

Inventory ControlAudience is everything. Think about who you are talking with

Only buy what you need and only produce what your customers need.

Operations management is how we manage the daily work of the organization. Control intensive

6.5 Human Resource Management

Human resource management is the specific approaches we use to manage the people who work in an organization

HR ManagementManages how people are hired, trained, promoted, motivated, and let go. Hopefully according to the organization’s plans

Recruiting The War for Talent• Identify what kinds of

skills and talents are needed

• Attract employees with those skills and talents

• Assess skills and suitability

• Develop processes so managers can do this systematically

Recruitment involves advertising for applicants and then may include detailed tests and interviews to select the best

Situational Interviews - Ask questions about past experience or future plans

Interviews and Skills Common Selection Tools

Work Sampling - Ask a candidate to actually demonstrate the ability to perform a specific task

Aptitude Testing - Ask a candidate to perform a task that uses the same talents or skills as the job itself.

Training and Development Investing in Your Human Capital• Teach employees about

organizational operations and culture - Onboarding

• Invest in skills, balanced against the costs

• Track skills and provide that information to other managers

• Design jobs for maximum motivation

Motivation Getting the Most From Your People

• Develop competitive but affordable compensation plans

• Recommend bonus structures and other incentives that provide additional motivation for employees and managers

Employees leave an organization for many reasons, but HR managers deal with them all

Off boarding

Most Americans are under “Employment at Will” Employee and employer can cancel the arrangement at any time

Diversity

Modern HR managers deal with organizational diversity issues.

Audience is everything. Think about who you are talking with

HR management is a staff function in most organizations. It sets policies rather than making individual decisions