Last week we saw the documentary “The Corporation” and we were supposed to talk about how corporations are behaving nowadays. We can note that this giants are currently abusing of some benefits they have, and the people behind them doesn’t take responsibilities for them.
Corporations have several benefits, since they operate as a complete different being than their shareholders, it can act as a complete functional being (judicially speaking) but it really doesn’t exist, just as paperwork; this benefits their shareholders because they can act through it for financial purposes, and if they incur in an illegal action they are not the ones blamed, but the corporation, giving them some kind of immunity. So it might bring some benefits when business are being done, but another concern rises: the ethical accountability of these corporations, and their responsibility.
An important discussion is about entitling the same rights to corporations and people, I believe that this should not be done in total equality, I agree that corporations need some advantages to prosper and bring earnings to their stakeholders but, the line has to be drawn a human being has obviously more rights and freedoms than a paper institution as a company or corporation, so they need to report a lot to the corresponding authorities, and shall not be entitled so many freedoms as they have nowadays, since we can observe that this benefits has made them an uncontrollable profit oriented monster, they need to be more social responsible and people behind them also should be accountable for those actions, because if we try to control them we need that the people commanding this giants be accountable for the actions of they made, this will limit those unethical practices up to some extent.
Some of the ways to prevent this aggressions by corporations to human beings should include transparency clauses in the creation of them, the accountability of some actions of the corporations to the managers and shareholders so they limit their actions fearing some reprisal towards them.
Finally I would like to share with you an old cartoon called “The Bear That Wasn’t” that shows how big and complex can be a corporation, and how they become bureaucratic institutions, but doesn’t take care of the people they work for it.
The Bear That Wasn't
Cargado por bluebird1111. - Programas de ayer por la noche y clásicos de TV, online.
Bibliography:
Big Picture Media Corporation (Producer) & Achbar, M. Abbott, J. (Directors) (2003) “The Corporation” USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (producer) & Jones, C. Noble, M. (directors) (1967) “The bear that wasn’t” USA retrieved from: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4mta9_the-bear-that-wasnt_shortfilms
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
/IOM
The IOM (initials for International Organization for Migration) as stated in it webpage (2010) “is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners [...] currently it has 127 members and it works in:
• Migration and development
• Facilitating migration
• Regulating migration
• Forced migration.”
After this short explanation of the IOM we can focus on the aspect that concern us in the blog task of this week, what are the International Organization for Migration is taking for improving the conditions for women migrant workers.
This women are mainly head of family, and have low wage jobs, a big percentage of the women that the IOM works with are illegal immigrants, which worsens their conditions in the host country, and the situation in their home countries are not stable enough for them to come back, so they rather stay as second class citizens, with lower wages than the required minimum (since they are illegal and cannot ask for the same conditions as a legal resident) than to go back to their home country, where maybe the disemployment, insecurity and instability rates are higher. Another common characteristic in migrants is the flow of remittances, so they not only maintain themselves and their close ones in the host country, but also they maintain some of their family circle back at home with those remittances, in the Colombian case those are so important that they account for the double of the coffee exports.
The IOM helps migrant of all kind, but in this case we are focusing on women, some of the main actions and programs are oriented toward migrant rights, health and quantifying the migration flows. One special case is in Bangladesh, where the IOM is training women in some basic work skills so they can have the opportunity to get a decent job and avoid prostitution, or other illegal actions; as Rabab Fatima (IOM Regional Representative for South Asia) says: “This kind of training to improve social and professional skills, and provide internationally acceptable certification, will improve the marketability of Bangladeshi migrant workers abroad – particularly women”
We can note that the main task that the IOM is currently doing is trying to improve the conditions of migrants, or future migrants. They only quantify and provide guarantees but does not condemn or take direct action towards illegal migrations, their main concern is trying to provide a decent quality of living in the host country.
Bibliography:
International Organization for Migration (2010) About IOM, Retrieved from: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/about-iom/lang/en
International Organization for Migration (2009) IOM Backs Training for Bangladesh’s Women Migrant Workers, Retrieved from: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAS/cache/offonce?entryId=25848
Ps: in class we had a discussion, about the same topic but in a different direction, about exclusion of migrants in western Europe and in the United States, so I wanted to show a music video that, up to some extent, speaks of the exclusion of the migrants, specially in France, and how this kind of exclusion has lead to repression, anger and finally how groups of young people becoming gangs, full of anger, and committing violent acts.
The video is from the song Stress, by the French electronic duo Justice, and directed by Romain-Gavras, hopefully you will enjoy it.
- 75 (Producer) & Romain-Gavras (Director) (2008) Justice - Stress [Music Video] Available at: http://www.vimeo.com/9518258
• Migration and development
• Facilitating migration
• Regulating migration
• Forced migration.”
After this short explanation of the IOM we can focus on the aspect that concern us in the blog task of this week, what are the International Organization for Migration is taking for improving the conditions for women migrant workers.
This women are mainly head of family, and have low wage jobs, a big percentage of the women that the IOM works with are illegal immigrants, which worsens their conditions in the host country, and the situation in their home countries are not stable enough for them to come back, so they rather stay as second class citizens, with lower wages than the required minimum (since they are illegal and cannot ask for the same conditions as a legal resident) than to go back to their home country, where maybe the disemployment, insecurity and instability rates are higher. Another common characteristic in migrants is the flow of remittances, so they not only maintain themselves and their close ones in the host country, but also they maintain some of their family circle back at home with those remittances, in the Colombian case those are so important that they account for the double of the coffee exports.
The IOM helps migrant of all kind, but in this case we are focusing on women, some of the main actions and programs are oriented toward migrant rights, health and quantifying the migration flows. One special case is in Bangladesh, where the IOM is training women in some basic work skills so they can have the opportunity to get a decent job and avoid prostitution, or other illegal actions; as Rabab Fatima (IOM Regional Representative for South Asia) says: “This kind of training to improve social and professional skills, and provide internationally acceptable certification, will improve the marketability of Bangladeshi migrant workers abroad – particularly women”
We can note that the main task that the IOM is currently doing is trying to improve the conditions of migrants, or future migrants. They only quantify and provide guarantees but does not condemn or take direct action towards illegal migrations, their main concern is trying to provide a decent quality of living in the host country.
Bibliography:
International Organization for Migration (2010) About IOM, Retrieved from: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/about-iom/lang/en
International Organization for Migration (2009) IOM Backs Training for Bangladesh’s Women Migrant Workers, Retrieved from: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAS/cache/offonce?entryId=25848
Ps: in class we had a discussion, about the same topic but in a different direction, about exclusion of migrants in western Europe and in the United States, so I wanted to show a music video that, up to some extent, speaks of the exclusion of the migrants, specially in France, and how this kind of exclusion has lead to repression, anger and finally how groups of young people becoming gangs, full of anger, and committing violent acts.
The video is from the song Stress, by the French electronic duo Justice, and directed by Romain-Gavras, hopefully you will enjoy it.
Jus†ice, Stress from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.
- 75 (Producer) & Romain-Gavras (Director) (2008) Justice - Stress [Music Video] Available at: http://www.vimeo.com/9518258
Thursday, September 30, 2010
/Ubuntu Task
When going abroad into a different country you have to take into account that it is necessary to be aware of several cultural beliefs, we can take note the Ubuntu in South Africa, which is really important for the organizational culture. Some of the main aspects that ubuntu has are:
- Human interdependence, which is really good at maintaining work groups, also how they can be close together and stay for a longer period of time in a company.
- Kindness: the respect between each others is really important because a fair treatment is vital for making business in south Africa, being tender and not coercive manager will lead to more loyal and better performing employees.
- Communication is vital for South African employees, having close relations with their boss might be reflected in better performance.
- Use of time: Ubuntu explains that time is not a barrier, but instead is a tool because time will heal everything, also is way to reflect about what happened. So a foreign manager has to understand that they have to deal with people that are not willing to rush, but take more time to conclude a task.
- Equity and Seniority: the South African culture has a strong hierarchical structure, where the seniors are highly respected and it is not well seen to receive orders from a younger person, so a foreign manager has to take into account that an older manager will be well seen in a higher level.
Finally we can see a clear example of a future entrance to the South African Market in this new york times article, were Wal-Mart wants to acquire a South African supermarket to enter in the continent; in order to success they have to understand the Ubuntu philosophy, so they need to maintain the elder managers, don’t try to rush their processes in the country and some other basic Ubuntu statements to enter properly in the South African Market
Bibliography:
Clifford, S. (2010, September 27) “Wal-Mart Bids for Massmart to Expand Into Africa” The New York Times, Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/business/global/28walmart.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
- Human interdependence, which is really good at maintaining work groups, also how they can be close together and stay for a longer period of time in a company.
- Kindness: the respect between each others is really important because a fair treatment is vital for making business in south Africa, being tender and not coercive manager will lead to more loyal and better performing employees.
- Communication is vital for South African employees, having close relations with their boss might be reflected in better performance.
- Use of time: Ubuntu explains that time is not a barrier, but instead is a tool because time will heal everything, also is way to reflect about what happened. So a foreign manager has to understand that they have to deal with people that are not willing to rush, but take more time to conclude a task.
- Equity and Seniority: the South African culture has a strong hierarchical structure, where the seniors are highly respected and it is not well seen to receive orders from a younger person, so a foreign manager has to take into account that an older manager will be well seen in a higher level.
Finally we can see a clear example of a future entrance to the South African Market in this new york times article, were Wal-Mart wants to acquire a South African supermarket to enter in the continent; in order to success they have to understand the Ubuntu philosophy, so they need to maintain the elder managers, don’t try to rush their processes in the country and some other basic Ubuntu statements to enter properly in the South African Market
Bibliography:
Clifford, S. (2010, September 27) “Wal-Mart Bids for Massmart to Expand Into Africa” The New York Times, Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/business/global/28walmart.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Sunday, September 5, 2010
/Metaphors (#6
Using metaphors is widely known in the promotion industry, one clear example of the use of those is found in the country, with the government strategy to promote tourism “Colombia es Pasion” which has being the brand of the country to foreign and locals. The use of the metaphor is clear, they were looking for something that portrayed the Colombian spirit and characteristics, after a search the creators found “the passion is the force that move us everyday, is the source were our extraordinary tenacity arise, without a doubt passion is the best raw material of our citizens”(1)
We can see a video(2) of how this brand uses metaphors to show the wide characteristics of the country and in that order of ideas promote tourism of nationals and foreigners in it.
After we saw a clear example, we can get to the main task of the week, which was the creation of a metaphor to promote something that was clearly Colombian and unknown by foreigners. I have decided to use the “parrandas vallenatas” a clearly folkloric tradition that is evolving nowadays (not saying that I’m a fan of them) and which is really common in our country but almost unknown by people from outside it. The metaphor used to describe it could be joy. A short word that tries to describe an emotion so complex that might not fit even in a thousand words. Some of the tactics could be promoting them side by side with the example above of “Colombia is Passion” since it is really close to the customs and characteristics of the Colombian culture. Another strategy can be promoting festivals of Vallenato in other cultures, like in the states or Europe. Also it can be explained how this traditional musical activity bring so much joy to the people that listen to them, it could be hard in the beginning because foreigners are not used to this tropical sounds, but it’s matter of creating the idea in their minds, so they can relate joy to “Parrandas Vallenatas” also is a great cultural exporting tool.
References:
1. Colombia is Passion. “¿Porque Colombia es Pasion?” retrieved from: http://www.colombiaespasion.com/es/colombia-es-pasion/ipor-que-colombia-es-pasion
2. Colombia is Passion (2009) “A Colombian’s Heart” Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2FncG2Dkrs
We can see a video(2) of how this brand uses metaphors to show the wide characteristics of the country and in that order of ideas promote tourism of nationals and foreigners in it.
After we saw a clear example, we can get to the main task of the week, which was the creation of a metaphor to promote something that was clearly Colombian and unknown by foreigners. I have decided to use the “parrandas vallenatas” a clearly folkloric tradition that is evolving nowadays (not saying that I’m a fan of them) and which is really common in our country but almost unknown by people from outside it. The metaphor used to describe it could be joy. A short word that tries to describe an emotion so complex that might not fit even in a thousand words. Some of the tactics could be promoting them side by side with the example above of “Colombia is Passion” since it is really close to the customs and characteristics of the Colombian culture. Another strategy can be promoting festivals of Vallenato in other cultures, like in the states or Europe. Also it can be explained how this traditional musical activity bring so much joy to the people that listen to them, it could be hard in the beginning because foreigners are not used to this tropical sounds, but it’s matter of creating the idea in their minds, so they can relate joy to “Parrandas Vallenatas” also is a great cultural exporting tool.
References:
1. Colombia is Passion. “¿Porque Colombia es Pasion?” retrieved from: http://www.colombiaespasion.com/es/colombia-es-pasion/ipor-que-colombia-es-pasion
2. Colombia is Passion (2009) “A Colombian’s Heart” Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2FncG2Dkrs
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
/trolling
as part of the task 4 we were supposed to comment (troll in some cases) colleague blogs'
and i started by commenting in blogs of close friends and people i know and has something to say (a characteristic that is hardly found nowadays)
i signed as "pabs" just for some internet security reasons in these blogs
John Henry's
Karen Pereira's
Juan Fernando's
Luz Maria's
Carlos Roldan's
and i started by commenting in blogs of close friends and people i know and has something to say (a characteristic that is hardly found nowadays)
i signed as "pabs" just for some internet security reasons in these blogs
John Henry's
Karen Pereira's
Juan Fernando's
Luz Maria's
Carlos Roldan's
/Pygmalion Effect
The task for this week was looking, or create a case where the Pygmalion effect was present.
Before start discussing a case is better to have some basis of what is the Pygmalion effect. I have found an interesting video that explain in a broad basis the Pygmalion effect, this theory explains that the performance of someone is higher when the leader, boss, teacher, and some others put high expectations on them.
This effect is broadly seen nowadays specially when new people with high degrees of education or a lot of experience come into a company, their bosses and coworkers have high expectations on them, so they feel the pressure of those groups and tend to work harder in order to give the results desired.
Another case I might have found is in this article of the new york times where Italian farmers decided to engage civil disobedience and planted genetically modified seeds of corn, that might help them eradicate a plague that destroys their fields; the Pygmalion effect could be that the farmers will tend to see greater changes with the usage of this new seed, even if the results are not so evident, and blame the government for not allowing them to use this modified crop before.
On the other hand we can observe that the Pygmalion effect can bias our point of view, thinking that a discrete increase in the performance is the change we were waiting for. So those issues like the Pygmalion, and some other self-fulfilling prophecies can mislead the study of someone performance.
Bibliography:
- CRM Learning (2008) “Pygmalion Effect: Managing the Power of Expectations, 3rd Ed” available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wl_MZc1cTU&NR=1
- Takao Inamori, Farhad Analoui, "Beyond Pygmalion effect: the role of managerial perception", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 29 Iss: 4, pp.306 – 321.
- Rosenthal, E. (2010, August 23) “In the fields of italy, a conflict over corn”. The new york times, Online edition avaliable at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/world/europe/24modify.html?_r=1&ref=world
Before start discussing a case is better to have some basis of what is the Pygmalion effect. I have found an interesting video that explain in a broad basis the Pygmalion effect, this theory explains that the performance of someone is higher when the leader, boss, teacher, and some others put high expectations on them.
This effect is broadly seen nowadays specially when new people with high degrees of education or a lot of experience come into a company, their bosses and coworkers have high expectations on them, so they feel the pressure of those groups and tend to work harder in order to give the results desired.
Another case I might have found is in this article of the new york times where Italian farmers decided to engage civil disobedience and planted genetically modified seeds of corn, that might help them eradicate a plague that destroys their fields; the Pygmalion effect could be that the farmers will tend to see greater changes with the usage of this new seed, even if the results are not so evident, and blame the government for not allowing them to use this modified crop before.
On the other hand we can observe that the Pygmalion effect can bias our point of view, thinking that a discrete increase in the performance is the change we were waiting for. So those issues like the Pygmalion, and some other self-fulfilling prophecies can mislead the study of someone performance.
Bibliography:
- CRM Learning (2008) “Pygmalion Effect: Managing the Power of Expectations, 3rd Ed” available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wl_MZc1cTU&NR=1
- Takao Inamori, Farhad Analoui, "Beyond Pygmalion effect: the role of managerial perception", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 29 Iss: 4, pp.306 – 321.
- Rosenthal, E. (2010, August 23) “In the fields of italy, a conflict over corn”. The new york times, Online edition avaliable at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/world/europe/24modify.html?_r=1&ref=world
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
/Assignment 2.
Organizational Behavior and International Business Managers
With regard to Organizational behavior, describe the main role that international business managers may play in the negotiation arena and the importance of developing cross cultural management skills.
Managers nowadays find themselves in a new business order and hierarchy, the national borders are becoming lighter everyday, but still in this globalized days the profession requires some expertise regarding cross cultural management, there are some aspects in the negotiation that still deals, in everyday bases, with the culture, specially since cross cultural negotiations are being done more currently.
A small previous research about culture might be enriching to the negotiation process, mainly because some cultures tend more to use some negotiation approaches, this doesn’t happens in every occasion, but if it does it will gave the negotiator a huge advantage in the table.
A clear example of culture in negotiations are the Chinese way of doing business, probably you have heard about the Guanxi, Business men in China rather get to know the other party’s interests, and get closer to the other negotiator(s) in the firsts rounds of negotiating, which usually happens in informal scenarios, than to get straight to business. Those small details might seem non important to us, but when you want to have a cross cultural negotiation you better start re-evaluating your perspective.
The manager needs to study previously the culture they’re engaging with, a previous study and knowing the other party’s background ensures a more balanced negotiation, and less intercultural difficulties, another recommendation that is made really often is the discretion, the negotiators need to think about what they’re about to say or do, those words, or gestures might compromise the outcome.
Another culture is critic in the negotiating table, the organizational culture; the negotiator has to be an ambassador of the company overseas, they need to reflect what the company stands for, they’re the company’s face, so everything that comes out from the negotiator is previously evaluated, not only what information he holds, the way he speaks, but also the looks, the gestures and the social behavior has to be taken into account.
Those are just small tips that are taken into account at the time to deal with different cultures, maybe there are hundreds of them, but those are crucial, and comprehend some others.
Image taken from:
http://www.mftrou.com/image-files/conflict-management2.gif
Bibliography:
Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.
With regard to Organizational behavior, describe the main role that international business managers may play in the negotiation arena and the importance of developing cross cultural management skills.
Managers nowadays find themselves in a new business order and hierarchy, the national borders are becoming lighter everyday, but still in this globalized days the profession requires some expertise regarding cross cultural management, there are some aspects in the negotiation that still deals, in everyday bases, with the culture, specially since cross cultural negotiations are being done more currently.
A small previous research about culture might be enriching to the negotiation process, mainly because some cultures tend more to use some negotiation approaches, this doesn’t happens in every occasion, but if it does it will gave the negotiator a huge advantage in the table.
A clear example of culture in negotiations are the Chinese way of doing business, probably you have heard about the Guanxi, Business men in China rather get to know the other party’s interests, and get closer to the other negotiator(s) in the firsts rounds of negotiating, which usually happens in informal scenarios, than to get straight to business. Those small details might seem non important to us, but when you want to have a cross cultural negotiation you better start re-evaluating your perspective.
The manager needs to study previously the culture they’re engaging with, a previous study and knowing the other party’s background ensures a more balanced negotiation, and less intercultural difficulties, another recommendation that is made really often is the discretion, the negotiators need to think about what they’re about to say or do, those words, or gestures might compromise the outcome.
Another culture is critic in the negotiating table, the organizational culture; the negotiator has to be an ambassador of the company overseas, they need to reflect what the company stands for, they’re the company’s face, so everything that comes out from the negotiator is previously evaluated, not only what information he holds, the way he speaks, but also the looks, the gestures and the social behavior has to be taken into account.
Those are just small tips that are taken into account at the time to deal with different cultures, maybe there are hundreds of them, but those are crucial, and comprehend some others.
Image taken from:
http://www.mftrou.com/image-files/conflict-management2.gif
Bibliography:
Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.
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