What is the dominant religion in Colombia? What are the religious implications for doing business here? Give examples.

The dominant religion in Colombia is Christianity, more specific, catholic. The possible religion implication in doing business in Colombian with real catholic people would be the avoidance to illegal procedures that other people would have no problem doing so. For example to bribe public workers for favors to the company. But what happens is that there are a lot of people who say they are catholic but they do not really practice it. There is a low level of commitment to the religion so people might accept doing "bad" things in order to do business and get profits.

Organizational Diversity & Religious implications for international business

The topic today is basically the implications and management of cultural issues into business. Lets see what are the determinants of Culture:

Diversity is the different combinations of the determinants of culture within an organization. So why to choose diversity?

• In this globalized world, the global needs are diverse, and so its people. We have to learn and adapt to the different cultures in order to cooperate and have a good business relationship. Diversity develops more creativity and innovation, more organizational flexibility and better marketing strategies. But the differences can also create conflict when there is difficult communication, that is why Diversity Management is important, that is to create an environment that would make comfortable people to accomplish their tasks.

Religion: Shared beliefs and rituals concerned with the realm of the sacred.

The main religions around the world are: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Atheism, and Buddhism.

Religion´s impact in business depends on the values and beliefs, that may permit actions that other religion would forbid. 

Accroding to Kuruppuarachchi (2009), what benefits and problems arise as a consequence of the creation of virtual team? Identify five each. Based on this, explain how to make the transition from a more traditional team structure to the more distributed team structure?

The transition from a traditional to a more distributed team requires technological abilities and a very well defined rules and responsibilities of the team members. There is the need for a leader that guide the rest of the team.


Benefits:

• No boundaries 
• No need to real time meetings
• Teams might allow people from different companies
• Adds flexibility and responsiveness
• It helps avoid social problems in interaction

Problems:

• Limited amount of people
• The different timezones could be negative for waiting answers from the other part
• Technology could fail, and so the communication
• Vulnerable to mistrust and conflict.
• Lack of direct managerial oversight of work undertaken in remote areas

Organizational Communication

Within the communication (the activity of conveying meaningful information), there are important concepts:

• Language: the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a group of people
• Data: uninterpreted and unanalyzed facts
• Information: data that have been interpreted, analyzed,  and have meaning to some user.

Types of Communication:

• One way/Two-way: Whether if there are one or two parts interacting in the communication. 
• Verbal/non-verbal Communication: verbal is the speaking process of communication, but there are other ways of communication such as Visual, Oral or written.
• Computer-Mediated: using a computer as the main tool of communication.

Proxemics is the space between one and another person in communication and depending on it, it shows a different relation with the person and your purpose.

Barriers to communication:

• Physical separation
• Status differences
• Gender differences
• Cultural diversity
• Language

Virtual Teams: It is basically the use of technology to connect two or more people that are located in other place and in that way, having no boundaries when working in teams. It is very revolutionary because if differs from the traditional team and open a window to cooperation globally. But also has negatives things such as no face to face interaction that does not allow to get to know the people very well and it may be more complex to get together a big amount of people into a virtual team.

Explain how easy is it for Colombian companies to employ expatriates locally? Give examples.

In my opinion is very easy, because to an expatriate to work here in Colombia just need to ask for a working visa and to notify the DAS of the situation*. Other than that, there is no different treatment from local workers. And I think it is a good thing because in that way, companies can get new knowledge from expatriates and learn from them and see what they can apply locally. Nevertheless, also might have negative consequences for local workers because they would have more competition.

*http://consultas-laborales.blogspot.com/2009/09/contratacion-de-extranjeros.html

Migrant Workers & Expatriate Assigments

In the last decades, going abroad became popular since the "American Dream", a lifestyle that was sold in the movies and on the television and in some cases it was not much a dream but a nightmare. So many people started to go and search for a better life in other countries such as United States, the reason? primarily unemployment but in terms of satisfaction of needs, here it comes again the  Maslow´s need hierarchy model that we saw some classes ago.

The Expatriate Assignment: It is when a person is sent abroad to accomplish some specific tasks and get experience from the boundary-less career across organizations and jobs. It requires:

• Socialization
• Acculturation Process
• Re-skilling Process 

This situation brings to the employers different workers profiles that people from other countries can offer. 

According to the case studies (in class and in textbook), what are the practical steps to minimize the feelings of uncertainty normally expected by employees, and also to facilitate the learning process to occur between the two groups of people in their process of cultural and behavioral integration?

In order to reduce uncertainty in the behavioral, and cultural process of integration is to find the way to reach shared goals and find common values to rely on. Managers are also expected to find a strategy in where it is possible the cooperation by the need of interdependence of both parts heading towards a good cultural fit.

The role of organizational culture in merging process

M&A: "A term referring to any process by which two companies become one. In a merger, two companies integrate their operations, management, stock, and everything else, while, in an acquisition, one company buys another. Mergers and acquisitions may also refer to all legal, financial, and other issues involved before a merger or acquisition can take place." Retrieved from http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/M%26A

We can see in this topic where some definitions from past classes can connect each other, Organizational learning and culture diversity has to do a lot with the M&A process when companies as they are doing nowadays to go abroad and look for other companies to do business. What makes every organization different is their organizational culture, which is the pattern of perception of what´s good or bad.


There are different types of M&A processes:

• Horizontal: Two companies that are in direct competition and share the same product lines and markets. 
• Vertical: A customer and company or a supplier and company. Think of a cone supplier merging with an ice cream maker
• Conglomerate: Two companies that have no common business area * Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/university/mergers/mergers1.asp

When Talking about Acquisition, some key aspects are relevant to have in mind:

• The integration process: Is the real source of value creation in acquisitions 
• Creation/Destruction of value: Whether if an acquisitions is negative or positive for a corporation
• Acculturative process: Resolving cultural differences within an acquisition and may generate Cultural Modifications in order to adapt to the environment

What would be the relationship between cross cultural environments and organizational learning strategies?

I think the relation is very clear. For an organization is vital to learn from the local culture of the country they are going to do business with, if not it might be a failure because each culture is different from each other, so, strategies cannot be the same, they need to adapt and change as they need. It would be useful to make research and get some experience into cross cultural environments to try to avoid failure, because in this globalized world, there is no chance to fail.

Organizational Learning & Managing Change and Conflict

Organizational Learning & Change


This is a key issue within an organization, in this actual world situation, where the environment in business is changing very fast thanks to globalization and other factors, Organizations need to transform this change into knowledge, and this into power for taking advantage of those who do not are aware of what is happening. In this era, information is everything, is power. Technology is also a big part of the concerns of nowadays activities. 


They way of learning has to be fast and effective, organizations as humans can no longer wait for negative or positive consequences just hit us, but to try to look forward in order to prevent and be one step ahead from everyone. Nevertheless, change can not always be planned, when random issues just happen, the attitude to have is to be proactive and these characteristics are vital: Adaptiveness, Flexibility, and Responsiveness.


Change creates Conflict by: breaking the "status quo", bringing new issues, problems, etc. And Change such as Conflict comes out with positive and negative things:

• New ideas, creativity, improvement.
• Waste of resources, bad environment of work, might generate violence.

UBUNTU: Understanding and respecting local cultures. It helps avoid conflict and goes toward collectivism.

Do you (or would you want to) work in an autocratic, democratic, or consultative work environment? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of each?

I really think that all three options have good and bad thinks, but the one I like the most is the democratic one for different reasons:

• In a democratic environment your opinion is taked into account, and it makes you worth as a person. 
• In a really democratic environment, the most important thing is the mayority, so it is supposed to be good for most of the people and not just for a few that hold the power.
• The democratic environment is based on debates, and those debates promotes better results because it brings more issues and it moves toward the better.

However, there are some disadvantages:

• Desision making is more complex because its more difficult to reach a consensus.
• The mayority is not always right

Leadership & Management Styles: Convergence and Differentiation

I would like to quote a very nice phrase from the slides:

“Management is responsible for maintaining order; leadership is responsible for producing change or movement.” (Kotter, 1990)

In my personal way of seeing the difference of both is their focus, in one hand, management tends to drive the way through an spesific goal within a team and on the other hand leadership comes to guide masses into a different course, to get people influenced by their thoughts and beliefs. This can be seen in their processes, where in the management process, creates more stability and improvements within an organization. Where in the leadership process is quite the opposite, creates uncertainity, and promoves change.


Behavioral Theories

• Authoritarian: Power and desision making relies on one person: people are expected to obey and receive orders.
• Consultative: More participation of other people involved in the specific task
• Democratic: Divided power, shared desision making.
• Laissez-Faire: The theory applyed to economics where it is regulated by itselfs. Little or no intervention from managers

Leadership Grid: Explains very well whether what the leader cares more about. We can see 5 different approuches. 

                                             Retreived from: http://maaw.info/ManagerialGrid.htm


There are different types of leaders: 

• Transformational
• Charismatic
• Authentic

How can organizations effectively manage both risk taking and escalation of commitment in the decision-making behavior of employees?

I think that the management of risk taking and escalation of commitment depends on the organization`s values and influence the employees in the direction they want them to be and also the type of organization and the type of tasks that are given to the employees.

Decision making & Ethical behavior in international business

Decision Making:
It is the process of choosing a spesific direction motivated by different factors.

• Programmed (simpe) o non-programmed (complex)?
• Models of decision making: Rational, bounded rationality and garbage can.
• Risk: avoid or take?
• Escalation of Commitment
• Individual factors: creativity and intuition
• Individualist or collective decision making?
• Group decision making: brainstorms, nominal group technique, delphi technique, devil’s advocacy, and dialectical inquiry.

Ethics: Some definitions are:

1. "Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong."
2. "Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs."
3. "Being ethical is doing what the law requires."
4. "Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts."

From: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html

In those 4 definitions are involved: Morals, Ethics and Social Responsability.

Ethical Theories:

• Consequential Theory
• Rule-based Theory
• Character Theory
• Individual/Organizational Model: ifluencing an "ethical behaviour"
• Machiavellianism: end justify means?

One of the criticisms in the movie is “without externalities, no manufacturing industry is sustainable”. Do you agree? What could be done in this phenomenon?

I think that at this time, sustainability is something very dificult to reach, but it is posible. The problem is that making a change would be very expensive, and maybe not that productive at the begining and corporations are not willing to make that effort because their religion is to "maximize profits and reduce cost". An example of this is working for new technologies to make transportation not harmful for the environment, I am sure that technology already exist, but what would happen to the oil producers?, It would not be that profitable so that is why that technology have not been put in practice.
Even if sustainability was imposible, that fact does not mean that corporations can go arround the law and explote people creating a world of misery in the most of the countries and just some few holding all the money.

The rise of multinational corporations (The Corporation)

In this topic, we saw some definitions applied in a documentary called "The Corporation" by Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky. These two persons are known by their critics of the capitalism where the corporations play a big role.
This film makes people re-think the way we see the world today were a few people control what we understand as "democracy" and the aspects hidden in this important actor of the world economy as the corporation which gave a lot of power to the people that hold the money making the world every day more unfair as it was showed with different cases.
Also is important to mention the next concepts that are vital to understand this topic:

• Capitalism
• Psychopath
• Legal institution
• Externalities
• Limited liability

To conclude, is important to say that about this film we have also to be critics and not take all as a total truth because might not be it.

In multicultural organizational contexts what could be a good strategy to keep people motivated towards a common task?

I think the motivation in any environment has to be treated the same way, if its on a working, or students, or family environment, it is the same and having multicultural organizations its a good challenge because of misuderstandings.
Taking into account this, I think a really good strategy would have to include the following aspects:

• Have clear rules and give clear instructions 
• Set the benefits that the people is going to get by going the tasks 
• Recompense people by their efforts, trying to be fair

Motivation

Motivation: 

"The arousal, direction, and persistence of behavior." Franken (1994)

 Developed Theories:

• Internal: The most Important internal theory is the Maslow´s hierarchy of needs:

1. What this theory suposes is that a person is driven by the priority of the need, starting from bottom to top, and by satisfying the first, then it goes to the next one up. And it also says that the last need will never by satisfied.
2. From this theory, there is another called "Theory X and Theory Y" which basically there are two types of people, the X and the Y. An X person is driven by the most basic needs, and the Y person is driven by higher needs such as social ones.

(http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs.asp)

• Process

1. Expectancy theory: Connection between the employees´motivation and the certitude of their expectancies. Results of performance are means to satisfy a need. The important factors that explains the individual motivation are: Effort, Performance, and Reward.
2. Stacy Adam’s theory of inequity: "People are motivated when they see themselves in risk, or in a position they believe is unfair."

• External

1. Two-factor theory: Motivation factors (psychological growth) and Hygiene factors(avoidance of pain).

(http://cgda.nic.in/rt/rtcblr/website/Training%20Material/H%20R%20D/Motivation.htm)

Using the ABC model of an attitude, analyze what Yasuko´s comments about JICA reveal about her attitudes.

From the speech that Yasuko gave us about her experiences, I would explain the different attitudes I saw applying the ABC model:

• Affect: I sensed that she is very passioned about her job and it seems that she really likes it and enjoy traveling arroung the world.
• Behavioural Intentions: At the begining I think she wanted to go other place rather than Colombia, but being here she changed her mind about this country and even did not wanted to leave.
• Cognition: She really beliefs helping others and that working for the planet, in this case, the education. Also I think she beliefs that the cultural exchange help to be better people.

Personality, Perception and Attribution & Attitudes and Values

Personality: It is a set of different characteristics that shape a person´s behaviour.
About the personality there are various theories trying to explain the different angles of personalities:

• Trait Theory: The “Big Five” Personality Traits
• Integrative Approach
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Instrument
• Core self-evaluation (CSE): involves: Locus of control, Self-esteem, Generalized self-efficacy, and Emotional stability

Perception: How we interpret the others behaviour. 

• Key aspects: Our perspective, their characteristics and the environment.
• Barriers: Selective perception, Stereotyping, First-impression error, The false-consensus effect, and Self-fulfilling prophecies.
• Impression management: Self-enhancing, Other-enhancing, and Social identity-based 

Attribution: A responsability or a cause for the individual behaviour.

• Internal: Success?
• External: Failures?

Attitude: The personal response for the situations 

• ABC Model: Affect, behaviural intensions and cognition
• Work attitudes: Job Satisfaction, and Organizational commitment (Affective commitment, Continuance commitment, and Normative commitment)

Values:

 "Enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence." (Rokeach, 1973, p. 5).

• Work Values: Achievement, Concern for others, Honesty, Fairness, etc.
   

Discussion: In what departments/classes are a range of cultures represented? What cultures are represented?

From my personal experience, talking about the EAFIT organization, I have seen different cultures represented in clasess and groups:

• Starting that our teacher of this course is from China (Sin Kit I).
• There are always exchange students from different regions of Colombia and different countries.
• Teachers from the university have had different cultures experiences that help us students to learn more about each one.

Nevertheless, I found that the majority of the students are from Medellin or the cities arrond like Pereira, Manizales and Armenia. Then a small group are from the coast cities like Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta and that is not a bad thing but it would be better if at the University we could have more cultural exchange in order to be more open minded and learn.

Organizational Behavior & National and Organizational Culture

We defined an organization as a group of individuals with a same goal in which, each individual has responsabilities in order to reach the goal.
There are two different types of organization:

1.  Formal: Those organizations that have different set of rules and a defined authority structure. for example companies, intergovernmental organizations such as the UN, etc.
2. Informal: Those organizations in which individuals share common values and beliefs and set social norms. for example: Family, group of friends, etc.

So, Organizational Behavior is defined as:

"The study of individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations" Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. 2010. Organisational Behavior –Science, the Real World, and You. South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, USA. Chapter 1 and 2.

And it has influences from different diciplines such as sociology and anthropology. And it is very important because in this globalized world we depend on each other, and in order for individuals to cooperate within an organization this subject is vital for example analyzing the internal and external factors influencing people. As it was explained in class,  in the 3 different levels: Individual, Group, and Orgtanizational.


National & Organizational Culture is very important in business because people from other countries do not see life as we do, and so business and we can see that differences not just in countries but between companies, families, and all kind of organizations. We must be aware of the others customs, beliefs, traditions, values and everything that shapes an organization or a person.