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.