Abstract
The paper provides an overview of the principles of global awareness in the context of a case study, which analyzes the functioning of the Afro-French expatriate company. The first part of the study outlines a general foundation for joint business venturing as well as the role of cultural awareness in international expatriate firms. The body part of the analysis differentiates several cultural dimensions, which have to be taken into consideration while treating intercultural work teams.
Specifically, the differentiation between traditional platforms of cultural specifications in developing and prosperous states is made; the notion of personality characteristics is analyzed. Finally, the system of rewards, as well as Hofstdean cultural dimensions, is verified against the principles of joint venturing. In the final part, a complex discussion of the critical implications is suggested.
Introduction: The Role of Global Awareness and Joint Venturing in Business
The domain of business relations is often built on the foundation of intercultural values. Thus, separate communities possess an abundance of natural resources, which might be used with the aim of developing a strong production platform; the other states dispose of specific manufacturing experience and facilities. Some business centers involve high-quality human resources, which have appropriate knowledge of the production area.
Therefore, international communication in business relations might guarantee complex experience-sharing, which may contribute to manufacturing improving as well as the utilization of intercultural business practices and approaches. Therefore, the maintenance of stable international relations with business partners might elaborate on the quality of individual productions throughout the world.
Still, cross-national business communication is often complicated through cultural misunderstandings, rivalry, and experience gaps. Therefore, it is critical for the management of every firm to employ international-oriented professionals, who would be responsible for establishing a strong dialogue with the partnering businesses.
The issue of global awareness is relevant for international joint ventures as well since such business unions are based on intercultural partnerships. Therefore, the management of such ventures must discuss the alignment of common goals and values, which would combine the ventures. A successful establishment of partnership relations includes such critical aspects as specific goals and duration objectives, shared profits and control tools, as well as joint property opportunities and potential funding prospects.
If the alliances manage to develop mutual understanding and strategic techniques, the businesses receive access to the resources, knowledge bases, technologies, and markets of their partners. The case study, which targets French-African venturing, implies an aspect of supporting business relations between developing and prosperous states. That is why it is critical to developing a strong dialogue, which would target mutual experience-sharing (Miller, Glen, Jaspersen, & Karmokolias, 2007).
Cultural Dimensions of International Business
Cross-National Assumptions in the Context of Developing Country
The case study represents a discrepancy in the basic management and culture-related assumptions of Mr. Bernard, N’Diaye, and Diop. Mr. Oliver Bernard is a French production manager of the joint venture, Socometal, who has graduated from a popular engineering school and is known as a strict and dictatorial specialist.
In the course of work time enhancement, the manager revealed some critical cultural attitudes towards the African employees, who are engaged in production. Mainly, the arrogant leader concentrated his attention on the fact that the workers from Africa could not dedicate themselves to the work quality enhancement and embrace the goals of the firm.
Moreover, after Diop and N’Diaye implemented the renovation without Mr. Bernard’s approval, the latter noticed that the employees managed to make only one-hour improvement instead of the suggested two hour-regulation, which was ridiculous since it did not comply with the demands of the management.
From this perspective, one can deduce that the leader sees a working process as a system of authoritative relations. Therefore, such type of managers usually sticks to the point, according to which any non-conformism and disobedience at work must be harshly punished, which especially concerns the citizens from the developing states.
In contrast to Mr. Bernard, the Senegalese managers, N’Diaye, and Diop reveal attention to the needs of the workers. Moreover, they try to align the production objectives and the real abilities of the employees. The strategy of production enhancement was embraced by the managers with the aim of showing their French partners that the African community can reveal strong work aspirations and abilities.
The Notion of Personality Characteristics in International Business
The quality of work coordination always depends on the attitude of the management structures, which empowers the employees for the revelation of professionalism. In the reviewed case, one of the central personalities is French production manager Mr. Bernard. The specialist is despised by the African working staff, for they do not feel the support of their coordinator.
The workers can not turn to Mr. Bernard for advice since he behaves in an arrogant way and does not establish any stable, communicative rapport with the employees. If I were a managing director of Mr. Bernard, I would establish control over the attitude of the manager towards both business procedures and the workers. The case study reveals that Bernard discriminates against the African team, for he does not believe that they can excel in their professional development.
Moreover, the manager is not able to solve the problematic disputes at work, which was demonstrated in the case when Mr. Bernard revealed his disbelief in the new policy and detached himself from the renovation experiment. Finally, the methods of supervision, which are demonstrated by the manager, do not comply with the basic work ethics. Consequently, it is important to encourage Mr. Bernard to pass a training course in management so that to guarantee practical and theoretical insights into the profession to the specialist.
A Reward System as a Cultural Phenomenon
The system of employment, which is characterized by some specific characteristics, exists in every country in the world. Every working structure employs a certain set of rewarding strategies, which motivate the workers for high-quality work. According to the discrepancies in financial positioning and employment values, the system of rewards may be perceived as a cultural phenomenon. The basic methods of rewarding may include bonuses, salary increases, stock awards, promotions, etc. (Kerr, 2005).
The systems of reward predetermine corporate successes in separate firms. Generally, one differentiates two major types of rewarding. These are performance-based and hierarchy-based systems of paying for the completed work. The reward platform of performance orientation is based on the quantitative methods of work quality estimation.
In other words, the workers, who are engaged in such systems of employment, receive their salaries, according to the accomplished work. The system of hierarchal rewarding pay much attention to the qualitative evaluation of the accomplished work. According to this platform, the achievements of the employees are measured along with certain qualitative guidelines by their supervisors.
In the case of Socometal company, the specific system of rewarding has to be selected according to the international character of the firm. Since the work team of the business involves both the representatives of a developing country and the managers from prosperous states, it is critical to use the mixed reward system.
Specifically, the practical example showed that salary rewards enhance the quality of work of Africans due to the financial instability, which exists in the country. In contrast to it, the hierarchal system of rewarding, which stems from promotional encouragements, passes for the work orientations of French managers.
Hofstedean Cultural Dimensions Verification
According to the classification of Hofstedean cultural dimensions, which describe the general characteristics of interrelations between the employees and the employers, who belong to contrastive cultural settings. In the reviewed case, one can trace a distinctive power distance principle, which predetermines the attitudes of the Socometal workers towards the manager from France and vice versa.
Mainly, the residents of Africa, who work for the expatriate company, notice that their supervisor shows signs of superiority and detaches himself from the African staff. The tendency contributes to the creation of an unfavorable environment in the working system.
The principles of work in Socometal contradict the principle of uncertainty avoidance since the level of general work expectations is characterized by certain instability. Thus, the innovation revealed that the management of the company did not have any clear notion of the outcomes of the experiment.
Finally, the structure of the working system in Socometal demonstrates a clear indulgence vs. restraint principle. Thus, productivity improvement, which was demonstrated by the staff after work time had been prolonged, showed that emotional motivation and personal encouragement became the propelling mechanism for the workers. Instead, the management must work at the improvement of logical concordance between the goals of the business and the actions of employees.
Discussion of the IHRM Implications
The principles of human resource management in intercultural settings have several critical implications. The reviewed case revealed such concerns as a misunderstanding between the international management groups as well as the crisis in interrelations between the employees and employers. Secondly, the system of work, the general goals, and work expectations are not clearly differentiated. Finally, it became clear that global awareness plays a central role in the treatment of the working process.
The differentiation of IHRM implications outlines the guidelines for expatriate elaboration. Primarily, it has to be noted that the management groups, which stem from France and Africa, have to agree on the joint establishment of long-term and short-term objectives, which have to be common for the whole venture business since disagreements lead to the dispersion of working tasks. Moreover, it is important to develop a specific type of mixed corporate culture, which would comply with the traditions and regulations of the two countries.
The company tasks have to be clearly outlined in advance by two groups of expatriate company management. The guidelines for work behavior and rewarding system have to be developed during joint meetings so that to ensure the interests of both sides.
Finally, it is vital to take into consideration the cultural dimensions, which impose a certain influence on the working staff. Mainly, it is clear that African workers put a strong emphasis on emotional treatment and non-discriminatory attitude from the side of the management. Consequently, the expatriate business must accommodate its system of management to the cultural characteristics of the staff.
References
Kerr, J. (2005). Managing corporate culture through reward systems. Academy of Management Executive, 19(4), 130-140.
Miller, R., Glen, J., Jaspersen, F., & Karmokolias, Y. (2007). International joint ventures in developing countries. Finance & Development, 12(2), 26-30.