managing across borders

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HI5013
managing across borders
final assessmeNt

Trimester 2, 2021

Assessment Weight: 50 total marks

Instructions:

All questions must be answered by using the answer boxes provided in this paper.

Completed answers must be submitted to Blackboard by the published due date and time.

Submission instructions are at the end of this paper.

Purpose:
This assessment consists of six (6) questions and is designed to assess your level of knowledge of the key topics covered in this unit

Question 1 ( 7 marks)

Scenario: You are recently employed as a manager in the head office of a Western fast-food chain multinational enterprise, which is looking to expand into new markets in developing countries and take market share away from the competitors. You have recently been included as a member of a high-level strategic planning committee, which will play a key role in developing the company’s future strategy and direction. You have been invited to offer your considered opinions at the next meeting.

In the context of strategic planning, discuss the strategic options you will present at the meeting. Answer this question in not more than 400 words.

ANSWER: ** Answer box will enlarge as you type

As a manager for the western food chain, the following strategic options shall help in expanding the business in developing Markets-

Leverage mobile experience for Fast Food

Availing the consumer’s effectiveness of weaving menus, checking special earning rewards and ease of payment from mobile-based services will cater to the Desire for convenience increasing the customer base (Bala and Verma, 2018, p 331(1)).

Creating a website

An efficient work website can make proper use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tools and appear in the search results of the customers (Bala and Verma, 2018, p 329(2)). The website can also provide additional details about the opening and closing hours, website, contact number and so forth.

Email marketing

Email marketing remains a constant strategy to attract customers’ personalized emails. Customers can be notified regarding the discounts and offer and regarding any changes in the menu or the inclusion of any special items (Bala and Verma, 2018, p 321(4)).

Strong online presence

Social media marketing will provide effective results due to the large number of people engaged in social media. Paid advertisements of social media platforms reach out to the targeted customer (Bala and Verma, 2018, p 330(2)). Collaboration with food bloggers, vloggers and influencers to gain positive reviews eliminate any negative feedback about the business. Social media marketing will also act as a platform to reply to queries and complaints about the business.

Partnering with food delivery applications

Considering the current scenario where social distancing is a crucial part, food delivery applications can help the fast-food enterprise reach the desired audience. Popular delivery mobile applications will also help customers know the business better.

Question 2 (7 marks)

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of entering a foreign market for an organisation with examples? Explain the Uppsala Model and its function in the context of internationalization. Answer this question in not more than 400 words.

ANSWER:

The organization can experience the following advantages and disadvantages while entering into a foreign market:

Advantages

While intermediaries may choose short-term sales, in this manner the organisation can go for the long term (Didonet, Fearne, & Simmons, 2020, p 95(3)).

The consumers will take them more remarkably if the firm possesses a regional base. This is especially valid if the products compel specialist after-sales service.

It furnishes a chance to broaden the registrations and rights of intellectual property into other markets.

Disadvantages

The company will be required to comprehend corporate, tax and employment law in the new region, and utilize regional consultants for the development of business.

The firm may be required to rebrand the company to entice particular awareness or if the prevailing name of the product or business possesses a distinct implication in the new region.

Expenses will be elevated if aspects are mistaken.

Uppsala model

According to (Dow, Liesch, and Welch,2018, p 471(2)), Swedish researchers (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Johanson and Vahlne, 1977) from Uppsala University in Sweden had proposed enormous theories criticism during that time, which elucidated international engagement and concentrated primarily on the domestic setting. This theory, the Uppsala model, is one of the theories interpreting the internationalization process of companies and the issues experienced by the organisation in performing that. The model asserts that businesses foremost select available markets with low market obligation. This model differentiates between the association chain about the internationalization pattern and the distance chain of psychics, encompassing the acknowledgement of culture and markets. They determine that businesses commence to accumulate and expand in the home market before they begin to broaden their business in other niches. The central notion of this theory is the step-by-step advancement upheld by the organisation throughout the upscaling process. In their viewpoint, the rationale why corporations do not broaden in the inception is due to the absence of knowledge regarding foreign nations, their culture and the inclination to avert risk and hazard similar to the inadequate resources.

Question 3 (11 marks)

Scenario: As the expatriate manager of a local subsidiary of a western multi-national enterprise, located in Southeast Asia, you have just been given some disappointing news. Based on recent sales revenue results reported by head office, your business unit will be closed and your team will be disbanded unless you can demonstrate a 30% improvement in sales over the next twelve (12) months. As a popular leader and respected manager, you want to prevent the closure of your business unit.

What motivation and leadership strategies and techniques are required from you to prevent the closure of your business unit? In your response, discuss the likely cultural variables and the relevant motivational theories you will need to consider. Answer this question in not more than 700 words.

ANSWER:

Motivational and leadership strategies

To prevent the closure of the company and improve at least 30% of the sales over the following twelve months, the leaders of the organization need to adopt the following strategies to motivate their employees:

Setting goals and creating meaning: The goal-setting provides meaning to the workers in their regular roles (Butkēviča et al., 2018, p 133(2)). To motivate the employees, the organization must formulate what is anticipated from them and must aid them to visualize what accomplishment in the performance looks like.

Trusting the people: It is the most crucial component in any culture of the firm. For establishing a touring culture, leaders or managers are required to trust their workers to perform the task adequately without constant monitoring, and the workers of the firm are compelled to trust that the leader possesses their best interest at the core. This will help to improve the performance, and thus automatically enhance the overall sales of the firm.

Showing them the big picture: Showing the big picture of the company is another key to keeping employees motivated and achieving its wider goals. The leaders of the firms must thoroughly explain the organizational objectives and how the tasks of each individual contribute to them. By comprehending their role value, the organization can encourage its workers to perform as they know precisely what their tireless performance will accomplish.

Cultural variables

The predominant component influencing culture is the individual functioning with the company. The workers in their manner contribute to the workplace culture. The psyches, behaviours, concerns, understanding and even the workers’ thought processes influence the organizational culture. The administration and its technique of dealing with the workers additionally influence the workplace culture. There are specific companies in which the administration enables the workers to formulate their judgments and allow them to contribute to the formulation of strategy (Thani, and Obeidat, 2020, p 309, (3)). In this culture, workers get fastened to their administration and anticipate a long term alliance with the firm. The leaders and managers require the workers to avert a culture in which the workers solely operate for the money.

Motivational theories

The organization can consider several motivational theories, such as ERG theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and henceforth, to motivate their employees and improve the performance of the organization. The ERG theory of Alderfer implies that there are three categories of core requirements (Diep et al., 2019, p 240(1)). These include existence (E), relatedness (R), and growth (G); thus the abbreviation ERG. Alderfer formulated that when a specific classification of necessities is not being fulfilled, individuals will redouble their undertakings to satisfy necessities at a lower level. Moreover, in another theory named as “Maslow hierarchy of needs”, it is suggested that motivation is the outcome of an individual’s endeavour at accomplishing five fundamental needs (Guo et al., 2019, p 227(2)). These are physiological, social, self-actualization, safety and esteem. Maslow, in his theory, asserted that these needs can establish internal burdens that can include the behaviour of the individuals.

Question 4 (11 marks)

Scenario: As a newly appointed Human Resources Director of a large multinational enterprise, you have been asked to prepare a new human resource management (HRM) policy for the whole organisation. Some senior managers and other colleagues have criticized the current human resources and employment policy as “too ethnocentric”.

Discuss the possible alternatives to the “ethnocentric approach” to HRM and state which approach you would recommend to be adopted in the new global HRM policy. Answer this question in not more than 700 words.

ANSWER:

In contemplation of the criticism of the current HR and Employment policies to access ethnocentric the following alternative can be adopted-

Polycentric approach

The polycentric approach will be an alternative to the ethnocentric approach since it will allow the company to adopt the strategy of limiting the recruitment of the local people who are nationals of the host country. The approach will decrease the cost of foreign operations eventually (Lakshman, Lakshman and Estay, 2017, p 242(4)). Switching to polycentric from ethnocentric will serve the purpose of handing over the top management to the nationals of the host country that can ensure that the organisation apprehends the local market condition, legal and cultural requirements and political scenario. The company will have a localised Human Resource Department that can manage the company in that country (Muthamia, 2019, p 35(2).

Geocentric approach

This approach will help in eliminating the excess positioning of people in the top management of the parent companies country. The approach enforces the company to adopt a strategy of recruiting people who are most suitable for the position irrespective of the country they belong to (Lakshman, Lakshman and Estay, 2017, p 237(2)). A truly Global company can adopt this to make successful utilisation of globally integrated business. It will remove the monotony of the people of the parent company making the best available manager in the business irrespective of the country of origin. This can be efficiently utilised if the company develops an internal database for employees.

Regiocentric approach

This approach is used by managers from different countries within the specified Geographic region of the company. However the managers function independently in the region, they are generally not shifted to the company headquarters. This approach integrates the expertise of all the domains (Muthamia, 2019, p 21(1)). In need of regional expertise, natives of the region are used for better functioning. In the case of product knowledge requirements, the best executives from the parent country are brought in due to their already access to corporate sources of data.

Suggestion

Considering the criticism of the senior managers and colleagues, the regio centric approach would be helpful in eliminating the criticism of the human resource and employment policies to be too ethnocentric. The regio centric approach will be extremely adaptable to the organisation and product strategies. Incorporation of this approach in the new human resource management policy for the entire organisation will help in hiring the best experts available for the task. It will also eliminate the probable monotony of the people of the home country (Muthamia, 2019, p 21(3)). The approach will also be a cultural fit and the managers of the host country from the same region may not witness the issue of Cultural respect and language barrier. The cost of hiring will also be reduced since the natives of the host country will be tired. Moreover, the nationals of the host country will have a better influence and understanding of the decision-making of managers at the headquarters subject to the entire region. Further, the manager can operate appropriately in all the neighbouring countries as given within the Geographic region of the company.

Question 5 (7 marks)

Assume Boost Juice intends to expand their business to Asian market and Thailand is their first target market. Using your own knowledge and experience, please determine:

Which factors does Boost Juice need to consider/analyse before they formulate their strategy?

Which strategy should they develop in order to succeed in this market?

Please use arguments and examples based on relevant theories. Answer this question in not more than 400 words.

ANSWER:

While intending to expand the business in Asian and Thailand markets, the Boost Juice needs to prepare an analysis of market segmentation for determining that the product that will be sold by the company would best suited to the new customers of the markets. It is also important to analyse the product cap against existing products; this will help Boost Juice to understand the current demands and how much satisfaction the local companies are providing (Bose and Hussain, 2020 p.2(1)). An SWOT Analysis would be perfect to understand the threats and opportunities and thus the company would be able to position the company in the new markets.

Boost Juice first needs to develop cross-cultural communication within the workplace so that they can easily thrive in the Asian and Thailand markets. Furthermore, the company needs to understand the unique supply and demand challenges of the markets. Integration of cross-cultural and flexible working strategies within the organisation can easily succeed in the Asian and Thailand markets (Bose and Hussain, 2020 p. 2(2)). Also, the company needs to be customer-oriented since Asian companies focus on their customers more which help them to meet the demands of the customers.

Question 6 (7 marks)

Hofstede’s study provides a framework for understanding the underlying values in an organisation. Please explain Hofstede’s model in detail and give examples. Answer this question in not more than 400 words.

ANSWER:

In order to compare the countries on cultural differences and similarities one of the best-known frameworks is Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. There are 6 culture dimensions are as follows:

Fig. “Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions”

Source- (Huang and Crotts, 2019)

Power distance

This dimension conveys the level to which the list of powerful individuals of the community expect and accept that Power is divided unequally. Those people in societies that display a larger level of the dimension approve of the hierarchical order through which every person has different places. Saudi Arabia and China are the countries that have an orientation power distance index (Huang and Crotts, 2019 p.3(2)).

Individualism/ Collectivism

The high side of the dimension is known as individualism the lower side of this dimension is known as collectivism. In the case of individualism, the people in societies can take care of themselves and their families while collectivism fortifies preference for the people in a society where they can expect to look after them in exchange for loyalty. The USA is considered to be an individualistic country within the world.

Masculinity/Femininity

The masculine side of this dimension portrays the difference in the community for heroism, achievement, assertiveness and material rewards for gaining success. While the feminine side of this dimension defines the preference of modesty, caring for others and quality of life. In the context of enterprise masculinity versus femininity is also related to the tender versus tough working cultures. For instance, Japan is considered to be a masculine country while Sweden and Norway are considered to be feminine countries.

Uncertainty avoidance

This dimension depicts the level of feeling uncomfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. Those countries that have high uncertainty avoidance have strict codes of behaviour and beliefs whereas the countries where the uncertainty avoidance is low maintain the flexible walking practice. For instance, the South American countries like Peru, Chile and Argentina have high uncertainty avoidance (Huang and Crotts, 2019 p.4(1)).

Long term/Short term orientation

For this dimension, society needs to maintain some connection with fast while it needs to deal with the challenges of the present and the future. There are countries that have low scores for this dimension prefer to maintain traditions that are time-honoured. Whereas the countries that score high on this dimension are more future-oriented. For instance, Japan and China are considered for their long term orientation while Morocco is considered to have short term orientation.

Restraint/Indulgence

This dimension depicts that individuals try to control there in pulses and desires on the basis of the way they were brought up. Indulgence depicts enjoying life and having fun while restraint depicts society is suppressed and the needs of the peoples are being regulated by societal norms (Huang and Crotts, 2019 p. 5(1)).

References

Al Thani, F.B.H. and Obeidat, A.M., 2020. The impact of strategic leadership on crisis management. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 10(6), pp.307-326. https://archive.aessweb.com/index.php/5007/article/view/3188

Bala, M. and Verma, D., 2018. A critical review of digital marketing. M. Bala, D. Verma (2018). A Critical Review of Digital Marketing. International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering, 8(10), pp.321-339. https://www.academia.edu/download/57617823/IJMRA-14610.pdf

Bose, I. and Hussain, A., 2020. How to Enter Ethiopian Market: A Strategic Case Study. Journal of Applied Management and Investments, 9(1), pp.1-11. http://www.jami.org.ua/Papers/JAMI_9_1_2020_1-11.pdf

Butkēviča, A., Zandbergs, U., Namsone, D., & Briķe, S. (2018, May). Exploring the input of competence assessment to goal-setting in various types of organizations. In SOCIETY. INTEGRATION. EDUCATION. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference (Vol. 6, pp. 130-141). http://journals.ru.lv/index.php/SIE/article/view/3280

Diep, A.N., Zhu, C., Cocquyt, C., De Greef, M., Vo, M.H. and Vanwing, T., 2019. Adult learners’ needs in online and blended learning. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 59(2), pp.223-253. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.592385127057281

Didonet, S. R., Fearne, A., & Simmons, G. (2020). Determining the presence of a long-term/short-term dilemma for SMEs when adopting strategic orientation to improve performance. International Small Business Journal, 38(2), 90-110. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0266242619879369

Dow, D., Liesch, P. and Welch, L., 2018. Inertia and managerial intentionality: Extending the Uppsala model. Management International Review, 58(3), pp.465-493. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11575-017-0340-0

Guo, J., Weng, D., Zhang, Z., Jiang, H., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., & Duh, H. B. L. (2019, October). Mixed reality office system based on maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Towards the long-term immersion in virtual environments. In 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) (pp. 224-235). IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8943608/

Huang, S.S. and Crotts, J., 2019. Relationships between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and tourist satisfaction: A cross-country cross-sample examination. Tourism management, 72, pp.232-241. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517718303054

Muthamia, R., 2019. Influence of Strategic Orientation on Performance of Fintech Companies in Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, United States International University-Africa). http://41.204.183.105/bitstream/handle/11732/4649/ROY%20MUTHAMIA%20MBA%202019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Lakshman, S., Lakshman, C. and Estay, C., 2017. The relationship between MNCs’ strategies and executive staffing. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-10-2015-0913

END OF FINAL ASSESSMENT

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