Chapter 2- The environment and Corporate Culture
The organizational environment includes all elements existing outside the organization’s boundaries that have the potential to affect the organization. Events in the external environment are considered important influences on organizational behavior and performance, which consists of two layers: the task environment and the general environment.
The task environment includes customers, competitors, suppliers, and the labor market. The general environment includes technological, sociocultural, economic, legal-political, international, and natural dimensions.
It is important for an organization to adapt to the environment. Management techniques for helping the organization adapt to the environment include boundary-spanning roles, interorganizational partnerships, and mergers and joint ventures.
A major internal element that helps that helps the organizations adapt to the environment is culture. Corporate culture is an important part of the internal organizational environment and includes the key values, beliefs, understandings, and norms that organization members share.
Four types of culture are adaptability, achievement, involvement, and consistency. Strong cultures are effective when they enable an organization to meet strategic goals and adapt to changes in the environment.
Managers should create sustain adaptive high-performance cultures through cultural leadership.
Ø In class with spoke about the “Rio Grande Supply Company” and its cultural dilemma the president faces. This case clearly shows that cultural objectives of a company need to be obeyed in order to be successful and in order to have a cultural environment within the company (page 72)
Ø An example of a cultural leadership assessment of a historical leader is NAPOLEON BONAPARTE for example (take a look and see why he is well known as a historical leader)
Historical Leader- Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon, also known as Napoleon Bonaparte, crowned himself emperor of France. He was the greatest military genius of his time and perhaps the greatest general in history. He created an empire that covered most of western and central Europe.
Napoleon was also an excellent administrator. He introduced many useful reforms, including the creation of a strong, efficient central government and the revision and organization of French laws into collections called codes. Many of Napoleon's reforms are evident today in the institutions of France and of areas once under French control.
Napoleon was an inspirational and dramatic leader. He could also be cynical and demanding, though this side of his character was usually hidden from the public. In addition, Napoleon had great energy and ambition. He personally directed complex military maneuvers and at the same time controlled France's press, police system, foreign policy, and domestic affairs. He chose capable subordinates and rewarded them generously with medals, wealth, military rank, and titles of nobility.
Napoleon's ambition ultimately led him to overextend his power. His downfall also resulted in part from feelings of nationalism in areas invaded by French troops and from economic hardship brought on by Napoleon's attempts to exclude British goods from continental Europe. Other factors that contributed to his downfall included bitter reaction to the taxes and conscription (the draft) that he imposed across his empire and opposition to Napoleon of many of Europe's royal rulers.
Napoleon had by now developed a highly successful military strategy that was to form the basis of his future campaigns. He would start a battle while holding back as large a reserve as possible. He would then seek the weakest point in the enemy's lines and throw all his strength against that point at the decisive moment. Napoleon had an extraordinary ability to recognize the best time to attack.
Napoleon is both a historical figure and a legend -- and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. The events of his life have fired the imaginations of great writers, filmmakers, and playwrights whose works have done much to create the Napoleonic legend.
Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. But he has also been portrayed as a power-hungry conqueror. He denied being such a conqueror. He argued that he had tried to build a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. He did intend, though, to achieve this goal by concentrating power in his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments, and fostered education, science, literature, and the arts.
SOURCE: IBM 1999 WORLD BOOK
Chapter 3- Managing in a Global Environment
Successful companies expanding their business overseas and successfully competing with foreign companies on their home turf. International markets provide many opportunities but are also fraught with difficulties.
Major alternatives for entering foreign markets are outsourcing, exporting, and franchising through joint ventures or wholly owned subsidiaries.
Business in the global arena involves special risks and difficulties because of complicated economic, legal-political, and sociocultural forces.
Managers and companies doing business internationally face many challenges and must develop a high level of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) to be successful. CQ involves a cognitive component (head), an emotional component (heart), and a physical component (body). Those 3 things help managers interpret unfamiliar situations and devise culturally appropriate responses.
Social and cultural values differ widely across cultures and influence appropriate patterns of leadership, decision making, motivation, and managerial control.
Ø Page 101 in our textbook shows us a poem that addresses cultural differences. You should read it; it is very interesting and amusing.
Ø The case “Managing in a global environment” (page 108) describes best how many things go into developing an international business and how important it is, not to only be profit oriented but also how to do business with other cultures and how to play after international rules and restrictions. The company EVO is a very successful business even though the company faces international difficulties and restrictions, but if you know how to work with it and to please your customers in the end it will work out to the company’s best interest. Check out their Web page and get a feeling how successful they are.
