Assignment
Managing a team which is native to a foreign country of unknown culture and customs is not an easy task. Originally, such projects are always close to failure; nevertheless, there are some positive examples. In order to be able to manage the foreign team, it is necessary to get acquainted with the local traditions and culture; however, if there is no opportunity and time to do so, the best solution will be to hire an advisor. His duty will be to solve the issues closely linked with traditions and culture of the local people. (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002)
To become a successful manager it is necessary to get rid of any sophisticated stereotypes and prejudices, as all the people are unique, and there is no need to apply the same yardstick to everybody. The guarantee of success in such case is to accept the traditions and culture as a part of the team and do not go on a bargain with your own price.
A culturally competent executive manager will provide opportunities for team members to take some risks and explore projects that do not require concordance with others. On the other hand, as Gardenswartz emphasizes (2001) when managers place too high a premium on avoiding workplace discord, even individual team members may be discouraged from providing potentially productive feedback.
From the marketing point of view, a good decision will be to purchase the existing small company with finally formed team, and expand this team and company. It will be the starting jumping-off ground for further conquering of the market. The next step is to encourage your employees offer the suggestions, make decisions and, surely, prove their point of view. This would be the best way to study the way of thinking of your new team, and realize the actions by the competitors and companions.
South African Brewery used this mean of market expansion in a bit different way. They have created their own company, and then started buying other small companies, creating a syndicate of breweries. (Klein, 2000)
Cooperation with other Companies in “Unknown” Country
Cooperation with the other companies may be held by the means of traditional management and marketing – by offering those companies advantageous provisions of cooperation. However, in order to cooperate, it is necessary to study the profile, the intentions and the attitude of the company to such cooperation. After studying the basics of market behavior traditions and peculiarities, it is necessary to start acting like an independent actor on the target market. When domestic companies notice that a company tries to act according to their rules, they will eagerly adjust market relations with this company, and even partnership. Originally, the signing of the contract is not the end, but the very beginning of all the difficulties. Cooperating with foreign companion is a task even more complex then the starting up of your business. It is necessary to emphasize that acting on a market of an unknown country complicates the application of globalization strategy essentially. It is explained by the fact that multidomestic strategy, which is a part of globalization, is not effective, when managers do not know the domestic audience.
Multinational and Global Industries
Multinational companies are the companies that act in several countries and cannot be regarded as global. The fact is that, this classification is closely linked with the ability to adapt to the unknown and uncommon marketing conditions, stipulated by cultural peculiarities of the country. Global industry and global market expansion may be achieved by the means of unprejudiced approach to various target audiences and multinational teams. The guarantee of success here is to realize the cultural particularities of all the countries where the company is acting. (Yip, 1989)
Thus, SAB (South African Brewery) can be regarded as global company, as it is oriented not only on the African target audience. Its globalization is held under thorough control of its managers. It is said that the capstone of SAB’s recent international movement occurred in March 1999 when SAB shifted its primary stock market listing to London to facilitate the raising of hard currency for acquisitions. The rationale for the listing included membership in the Financial Times Stock Exchange Index (FTSE 100), which would ensure an international rating in turn enhancing global competitiveness in raising capital.
A multinational company, such as West Indies Yacht Club Resort is a type of company that cannot be global originally. Yachts are the type of production that will never be consumed globally, as the target audience of this production is the countries of the Gold Billion, and the ecotourism, which company offers, is not popular among all yacht owners. Moreover, the president of the company Joe Kimball firmly believed that marketing activities should take place close to WIYCR’s target geographic markets. (Shay, 2001)
Beer industry on a New Competitive Landscape
First of all it is necessary to emphasize that entering a new competitive landscape always means adaptation to the rules and traditions of the new market region. There is strong need to accept the rules of competitors in order to get fixed on a new landscape. It is the main reason, why preliminary market researches are arranged. The example of SAB shows that entering a new landscape was performed by the means of buying small companies, and then starting the expansion with formed domestic team, which was trained to act on that market. As for the allover changes in corporate policy, it was not affected by entering any NCL, as departments in other regions went on acting according to the rules of those NCLs.
The beer industry itself could be affected by the importing of new technologies and means, gathered as the world brewery experience. Thus it could become a trump when entering a new competitive landscape.
As for any other industry that is subjected to influence, such as furniture industry, it is essential to emphasize that it is one of the industries that require cultural and traditional adaptation. Thus, it is impossible to sell European furniture in Japan, Indian in Africa etc. Entering a new competitive landscape, any furniture manufacturer needs to get adapted as fast as it is possible, otherwise this entering will be detrimental. However, this adaptation is mostly required for the production itself, while the marketing means and managing traditions should stay firm and not subjected to regional influence if these marketing and managing principles promote stable company development and rapid market expansion.
Conclusion
Globalization of a company is a responsible step that requires proper management and openness to adaptations. It should be mentioned that the decision to globalize should be based not only on the wish and ability to conquer other markets, but it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the production or services.
References
Gardenswartz, L., Rowe, A. (2001) “Cross-Cultural Awareness” HR magazine Management tools, supervisor resources.
Gupta A.K. and Govindarajan, V. “Cultivating a global mindset” Academy of Management Executive, 2002, VQI 16, No. I
Klein, S. (2000) “South African Breweries: Achieving Growth in the Global Beer Market” McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Shay, J. P. (2001) “West Indies Yacht Club Resort: When Cultures Collide” Case Research Journal. Cases in Strategic Management
Yip, George S. (1989) “Global Strategy… In a World of Nations?” MIT Sloan Management Review; 31, 1; pg. 29