Posted: December 5th, 2014

International Management;Assignment 1: Portfolio

International Management;Assignment 1: Portfolio

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Portfolio 3
Question 1
The increase in criticism against MNCs can be attributed to the advent of new media due to technological advancements (Pavitt 2012). The society is able to review the social performance of the MNCs; whether they have or have not upheld its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR is defined as the society expecting the MNCs to contribute towards the improvement of the standard of living, infrastructures and environment of the host communities.
One of the most criticized examples Is MNCs’ ill-treatment of workers and human rights violation issues. Lucas, Kang, and Li (2013) has illustrated Foxconn for its profit-oriented culture and disregard for the Chinese workers’ welfare. Emphasis was placed on Foxconn’s inhumane management of the employees. Under the concept of CSR, Foxconn is expected to improve the well-beings of the workers. Yet, Foxconn administered tight controls even on the workers’ basic rights. Their actions are akin to treatments in total institutions such as those of imprisonment or concentration camps.
On the contrary, MNCs such as Foxconn can rebuke that they have provided employment opportunities and economic growth for the host countries. Mack (2011) stated that Foxconn has employed approximately over a million workers in China. Foxconn has satisfied the workers by providing a source of income and housing needs. In addition, they have facilitated a transfer of technology and provided a source of revenue in the form of taxation for the host countries’ government.

Question 2
The role that MNCs play in Human rights is a frequently debated issue. However, it is widely accepted that MNCs must have moral obligations towards basic human rights; not limiting to its employees, but also to other stakeholders such as the livelihood of the local communities, concerns raised by the non-governmental organizations as well as laws regarding human rights and manpower regulations of the host country (Fasterling and Demuijnck 2013).
EICC (2013), Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition Code of Conduct has listed out some of the major human rights concerns such as: forced employments, child labor, unsafe working environment and excessive working hours.
Foxconn, the major manufacturer for Apple products has been in the news focus for violating human rights. According to SACOM 2010, quoted in Lucas, Kang, and Li (2013), the workers are forced to work for excessive hours with no rights to decline. Leung (2012) further added that hired children as young as 14. Foxconn’s actions are in direct violation of China’s labor laws.
The introduction of corporate code of conduct will set standard to regulate the well-beings of the workers. On the global stage, MNCs can coordinate their efforts to further improve the quality of workers’ welfare. For instance, Toys ‘R’ Us has joined with ‘The Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency’ to formulate the ‘Social Accountability 8000’ for MNCs to conform towards a uniform set of labor standard (Thaler-Carter 1999). This action will uncover many MNCs with inappropriate labor practices. Those who do not take initiatives to correct their practices will be condemned by the society.

Question 3
Deresky (2008, 36) introduced three levels of moral standards that MNCs can implement; ‘Moral Universalism’, ‘Ethnocentric Approach’ and ‘Ethical Relativism’.
Moral Universalism is the fundamental moral standard that all civil, common and religious law can accept. For instance, theft is a crime in Australia as well as other societies. An example of Moral Universalism is the United Nations’ Declaration of Universal Human Rights in 1948. However, this should not be the highest priority because everyone has a different belief. Hence, it is impossible to achieve a universal-agreeable moral standard.
Ethnocentric Approach is observed when Australian MNCs apply the moral standards of Australia to all the subsidiaries. This should not be prioritized especially when Australian MNCs are operating in countries with high psychic distance from Australia. Fletcher and Crawford (2011, 80) described psychic distance as a difference of environmental factors between the home and foreign ground. For instance, Australians may find Muslim women wearing hijab as unnecessary in a hot weather, but it is a modesty dressing under the Islamic law (Nisar Mohammad Bin 2011)
Ethical Relativism is defined when MNCs adopt the moral standards of the host country. In this context of Australian MNCs operating beyond the borders of Australia, the focus will be on the business ethics on an international scale. Therefore it is advisable for Australian corporation to prioritize ethical relativism. It allows the local law to determine the business ethics of the Australian MNCs. In turn, it fosters job autonomy for the locals because they are more familiar with the local regulations.

(Word Count: 748)

References:
Deresky, Helen. 2008. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
EICC. 2013.  Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition.  Accessed 14/12/2013, http://www.eicc.info/documents/EICCCodeofConductEnglish.pdf.
Fasterling, Björn, and Geert Demuijnck. 2013. “Human Rights in the Void? Due Diligence in the Un Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.” Journal of Business Ethics 116 (4): 799-814. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1822-z.
Fletcher, Richard, and Heather Crawford. 2011. International Marketing: An Asia-Pacific Perspective. 5th ed. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia.
Leung, Isaac. 2012. “Foxconn Admits to Child Labour.” Electronics News. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1125151274?accountid=10382.
Lucas, Kristen, Dongjing Kang, and Zhou Li. 2013. “Workplace Dignity in a Total Institution: Examining the Experiences of Foxconn’s Migrant Workforce.” Journal of Business Ethics 114 (1): 91-106. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1328-0.
Mack, Eric. 2011.  Just How Big Is Foxconn? CNET News. Accessed 14/12/2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20067246-1/just-how-big-is-foxconn/.
Nisar Mohammad Bin, Ahmad. 2011. “”The Islamic and International Human Rights Law Perspectives of Headscarf: The Case of Europe”.” International Journal of Business and Social Science 2 (16). http://search.proquest.com/docview/904521823?accountid=10382.
Pavitt, Heather. 2012. “No Place to Hide: New Technological Advances in Web 2.0 and Social Media May Force Organisations to Improve Their Corporate Social Responsibility.” Social Alternatives 31 (2): 22-26. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1442368134?accountid=10382.
Thaler-Carter, Ruth E. 1999. “Social Accountability 8000.” HRMagazine 44 (6): 106-112. http://search.proquest.com/docview/205222148?accountid=10382.

Portfolio 4
Question 1
The Internet is a series of interconnected networks that allows users to communicate and access information resources. Culture is the differentiation of lifestyle between the social groups; it influences variables such as language, time, values and routinely norms.
The Internet is the catalyst of integrating different cultural values. For instance, YouTube, an online video sharing platform has propagated the worldwide spread of Korean Pop culture (K-Pop). The most noteworthy is Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ that was ranked first in YouTube’s popularity (Oh 2013). Since YouTube garners viewership from across the globe, it has spread K-Pop to locations as far as the United States (Bora 2013). This has led to the phenomena of Americans going hype about K-Pop rather than their own culture.
On the contrary, there are countries with strong attitude of enforcing high data privacy and media censorship. Such cultures will impede the developments of the Internet. For example, China has restricted the access of YouTube from mainland China (Helft 2009). The Chinese government’s action has reduced the information flow and communication through the Internet.
Nevertheless, the Internet has influenced many cultures due to its fundamental programming language – Alphabets and Numerals. As English is the most commonly used language in websites (w3techs 2011), members of all cultures need to have a minimal understanding of English so as to utilize the Internet. Therefore, the usage of Internet has internationalized and enhanced the usage of English. The adoption of English has also diffused the Western culture internationally.

Question 2
The concept of ‘Time’ has varied widely across cultures. Abbasi and Hollman (1993) illustrated a difference of attitudes between Americans and Arabs towards time. Americans highly value time, often quoting ‘time is money’. On another hand, Arabs consider that time is determined by God and important tasks should not be rushed. Without cultural empathy for each party, Americans will feel frustrated at Arabs’ inability to meet deadlines. On another hand, Arabs will feel offended due to the lack of respect.
The notion of ‘Change’ is different between Western and Asian culture. The Japanese is a conservative society due to emphasis on conformity (Yamada 1991). On the contrary, Americans are more open-minded. For instance, certain states of U.S. have already legalized same-sex marriage (McFADDEN 2013). The sharp contrast will affect how American and Japanese view issues differently. Americans are open to debates whereas Japanese conform towards societal norms.
Singaporean has demonstrated the behavior of ‘Kiasu’ with the literal meaning of ‘Afraid to lose’ (Durai 2012). Due to such attribution, Singaporean advocates the pursuit for materialism. Oppositely for the Indians, spiritual cultivation is the highest priority (Banerjee 2008). Conflicts occur as both parties have a different set of goals in life.
According to Deresky (2008, 102), Hofstede 5 Value Dimensions illustrated United States among the highest for Individualism and China for collectivism. The main difference is American emphasize on individual’s success – focus on ‘I’, while the Chinese prioritize the achievement of the group – focus on ‘We’. This results in the conflicting priority of for self or for team.

Question 3
Stereotyping is defined as a process of thinking by categorization, where a person apply character traits based on another person’s associated social group (McShane, Travaglione, and Olekalns 2010, 92).
Australia’s most common animal is Kangaroo. This notion came about because Kangaroo is the iconic as well as the native animal of Australia (dfat 2008).
Australian’s lifestyle has been associated with relaxes (“Tourists Like Our Laidback Style”  2012). This can be due to majority of Australia’s visitors are on leisure tours; and Australian’s spending time with family is of higher importance than work.
A ‘Convict’ nation; Hill (1984) traces this back to 18th century during the British colonization era where the British was forced to send convicts to Australia due to overpopulated prisons.
Strong wildlife conservation efforts: This could be due to the death and posthumous glorification of the iconic ‘Crocodile Hunter’ – Steve Irwin (Callinan 2006).
Australians are beach fanatics. Heathcote (2013) illustrated that Australia National Day has been associated with beach parties as well.
As a Singaporean, we hold several stereotypes of other cultures. For instances, we view female Indonesians in Singapore as maids. Male Bangladeshis are considered as constructions workers. We also attribute the Indians as IT professionals and the French as artistic individuals. There are also mindsets that Japanese are ‘shorty’. Overall, Singaporean tend to view people from developed countries such as United States, Australia and Japan as highly educated individuals while people from less developed countries such as Bangladesh are seem to be lowly educated.

(Word Count: 749)

References:
Abbasi, Sami M., and Kenneth W. Hollman. 1993. “Business Success in the Middle East.” Management Decision 31 (1): 55. http://search.proquest.com/docview/212099440?accountid=10382.
Banerjee, Saikat. 2008. “Dimensions of Indian Culture, Core Cultural Values and Marketing Implications.” Cross Cultural Management 15 (4): 367-378. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13527600810914157.
Bora, Kukil. 2013.  New Year’s Eve 2013 Times Square Photos: Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style,’ Ryan Seacrest and Thousands of Colorful New Yorkers. International Business Times. Accessed 15/12/2013, http://www.ibtimes.com/new-years-eve-2013-times-square-photos-psys-gangnam-style-ryan-seacrest-thousands-colorful-new.
Callinan, Rory. 2006.  Death of a Crocodile Hunter. Time Word. Accessed 16/12/2013, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1531446,00.html.
Deresky, Helen. 2008. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
dfat. 2008.  Kangaroos. Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Accessed 16/12/2013, http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/kangaroos.html.
Durai, Jennani. 2012. “Being Kiasu Isn’t All Bad, Say Experts.” The Straits Times, 2012 Aug 25. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1034948425?accountid=10382.
Heathcote, Caitlin. 2013. “Celebration of Culture at Beach.” Advocate, 2013 Jan 16. 11 http://search.proquest.com/docview/1269507398?accountid=10382.
Helft, Miguel. 2009. “Youtube Blocked in China, Google Says.” New York Times, 2009 Mar 25. http://search.proquest.com/docview/434055939?accountid=10382.
Hill, H. Constance. 1984. “Australia Unlocks Door to Nation’s Convict Roots.” The Globe and Mail, 1984 Jan 21. 0 http://search.proquest.com/docview/386460331?accountid=10382.
McFADDEN, GUDEON &. 2013.  Same-Sex Marriage and Spousal Visas.  Accessed 15/12/2013, http://www.usvisalawyers.co.uk/article23.html.
McShane, Steven Lattimore, A. Travaglione, and Mara Olekalns. 2010. Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. 3rd edition. ed. North Ryde, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill.
Oh, Ingyu. 2013. “The Globalization of K-Pop: Korea’s Place in the Global Music Industry.” Korea Observer 44 (3): 389-409. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1445776737?accountid=10382.
“Tourists Like Our Laidback Style.” 2012. The Morning Bulletin, 2012 Dec 10. 3 http://search.proquest.com/docview/1223679496?accountid=10382.
w3techs. 2011.  Usage of Content Languages for Websites.  Accessed 15/12/2013, http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_language/all.
Yamada, Kiyotaka. 1991. “Creativity in Japan.” Leadership & Organization Development Journal 12 (6): 11. http://search.proquest.com/docview/226914028?accountid=10382.

Portfolio 5
Question 1
Communication in the global business context is the process of transmitting and receiving message from stakeholders of the business across the globe. The social media’s role in the global business communication, acts as a flexible medium and communication tools that matches us, human-beings’ social capability to be more communicative (Persuit 2013, 8). As 21st Century is a technological era; social media has taken form of communications through the Internet.
Pavitt (2012) described that the rise of social media has enabled the society to criticize businesses. The society is the businesses’ stakeholders such as consumers and non-governmental organizations. Companies are expected to be transparent and ethical; otherwise the ease of information flow in the internet will enable the stakeholders to criticize companies easily. Davies (2013) demonstrated it is simply easy to take out one’s smartphone and post a complaint via Facebook or Twitter. Social media has taken customer service to the next level; it is no longer restricted by front-counter or telephone engagements.
From a marketing perspective, businesses can also reach out to consumers easily through the social media. Qualman (2012, 24-26) added that social media enhances the ‘Words of Mouth’ marketing. Through global connectivity, social media made it possible for an individual to advertise a company’s products on the global stage, yet at a minimum cost. For instance, advertising on Facebook and Twitter cost only a meagre of internet and electricity bills, as compared to spending thousands to advertise on traditional platforms such as commercial ads on television.

Question 2
Language is the fundamental system for human to understand, transmit and receive comprehensible meaning. Methods of communication include speaking and writing. Culture is the differentiation of lifestyle between different social groups that affects variable such as language.
Language and culture are intertwined. Culture will influence language, and the usage of language will convey culture. For instance, English and Mandarin are unique because both originated from different cultures. Seargeant and Swann (2013, 81-82) suggested that modern English is influenced by old westernized cultures such as the Germanic dialects. As a result, today’s English are written in alphabets and demonstrates similarity to other western languages such as French.  On another hand, Mandarin uses characters that literally illustrate the shape of an object. For example, ‘Door’ in Chinese is written as ‘?’ (mén), portrayed by the rectangular shape. As we utilize different languages, the unique cultural background of each language is being showcased.
Miscommunications from the same language are often due to the lack of understanding for the culture. For instance, Japanese have honorifics that must be strictly observed when addressing one another (Kaiser et al. 2013, 13-20). There are several types of honorifics for different people. For acquaintance, ‘san’ is usually used as it is the equivalent of ‘Mister or Miss’ in our context i.e. Haruto-san. However, ‘sama’ should be in used in retrospect for a person of higher authority or deserving of greater respect i.e. Haruto-sama. These honorifics should be used with prudence. Usage error will result in miscommunication and disrespect for others.

Question 3
Deresky (2008, 132) defined non-verbal communication as ‘behavior that communicates without words’. Body language is considered as a subset of kinesics behavior, referred as ‘communication through body movements’. Kinesics behavior is one of the many forms of non-verbal communication.
Teodorescu (2013) gave several examples of different interpretations of body language. For instance, eye contact during communications varies across countries. On one end, Australians prefer strong eye contact; Americans appreciate mild eye contact but Japanese feels uncomfortable doing so.
The idea of touching also has different meaning across cultures. Japanese views patting a child’s head as an affection or encouragement, however it is offensive to do so in Thailand as they believe the forehead is where the soul lies. In Greece, hug and kisses are common greetings. Yet in USA, females have the rights to sue for sexual harassments for attempts to touch them.
Without a prior understanding of various non-verbal communications, cultural noise or attributions will develop. This will lead to an increase in interference during communication, eventually deteriorating business relationship. This is especially important between cultures of high context and low context.
High context cultures include Japanese and Arabs. They are not expressive with their thoughts and feelings, and they usually place high emphasis on relationship. Low context cultures include Germans and Americans where they tend to be straightforward and direct, usually separates business and personal relationships. A lack of understanding between cultures will hinder communication, and conflict may develop.

(Word Count: 745)
References:
Davies, Laura. 2013. “Got a Complaint? Take to Social Media.” South Wales Evening Post, 2013 Nov 08. 28 http://search.proquest.com/docview/1449378665?accountid=10382.
Deresky, Helen. 2008. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Kaiser, Stefan, Yasuko Ichikawa, Noriko Kobayashi, and Hilofumi Yamamoto. 2013. Japanese: A Comprehensive Grammar. 2 ed. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.  http://CURTIN.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1114712.
Pavitt, Heather. 2012. “No Place to Hide: New Technological Advances in Web 2.0 and Social Media May Force Organisations to Improve Their Corporate Social Responsibility.” Social Alternatives 31 (2): 22-26. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1442368134?accountid=10382.
Persuit, Jeanne M. 2013. Social Media and Integrated Marketing Communication : A Rhetorical Approach. Lanham: Lexington Books.  http://CURTIN.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1318917.
Qualman, Erik. 2012. Socialnomics : How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. 2 ed. Hoboken: Wiley.  http://CURTIN.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=822032.
Seargeant, Philip, and Joan Swann. 2013. English in the World : History, Diversity, Change. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.  http://CURTIN.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=957700.
Teodorescu, Adriana. 2013. “Non-Verbal Communication in Intercultural Business Negotiations.” Calitatea 14 (2): 259-262. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1366367112?accountid=10382

Portfolio 6
Question 1
Nonverbal behaviors are described to be illusive and sophisticated  (Deresky 2011, 168). Nonverbal cues are not intended to be part of the communication process. However, culture affects an individual’s way of living i.e. daily habits. Therefore during negotiations, a negotiator will often demonstrate such habits that may not be appropriate to another person of different cultural background.
Silent Period
The study of silent period between the Americans and Japanese is illustrated in detail by Clair (n.d.). Americans generally believe in active communication, whereby communication should always be verbal and free-flowing. Silence is seemed as awkward. On the contrary, silence has three meanings for Japanese in different context. Firstly, silence is a form of self-reflection. Secondly, remaining silent is to show respect for others. Lastly, silence can be used to demonstrate legitimate power or authority (McShane, Travaglione, and Olekalns 2010, 390).
Interruption
Interruption is subjective between the Asian and Latin Americas (i.e. Brazil). Brazilian consider interruption during communication as a norm (Kwintessential n.d.). However, it is rude to interrupt for the Chinese and it shows disrespect for the speaker.
Contact Culture (Eye Contact & Physical Interactions)
The contact cultures of the Japanese and Arabs are complete opposite. Japanese avoids strong eye contact, preferring to bow slightly in respect. Physical touch is also inappropriate. On another hand, Arabs are likely to maintain eye contact with the speaker and embrace physical interactions during conversations.
If mutual parties lacked cultural empathy, it will result in situations of conveying the wrong intention or misunderstanding.

Question 2
Risk tolerance is closely related to the level of uncertainty avoidance in the Hofstede’s value dimensions. Deresky (2011, 112-113) defined uncertainty avoidance as how receptive the society is towards enigmatic scenarios.  From the perspective of risk propensity in corporate decision making process, a manager from a low uncertainty avoidance culture will tend to have a higher risk tolerance and vice versa.
For instance, nations such as Denmark, has low uncertainty avoidance, hence high risk tolerance. Jensen and Beckmann (2009) illustrated that innovations and creativity have always been a core concept in Danish companies. This demonstrated that the Danish managers are unafraid to attempt uncharted waters in search for new revelation, illustrating their high tolerance for risk and acceptance for failure.
On another hand, Japan has exceptionally high uncertainty avoidance. Correspondingly, the tolerance for risk is low. Beldona, Inkpen, and Phatak (1998) explained that Japanese managers tend to make long term plans, so as to ensure steady profit growth and sustainability for the company. By embracing highest level of predictability, Japanese seek to avoid unexpected scenarios by implementing countermeasures early.
In both scenarios, the role of risk propensity affects the managers’ rationality (Nooraie 2012). The difference in rationality eventually influences how managers define the issues, consider various alternative countermeasures and decision making process (Deresky 2011, 184). Low risk tolerance eventually results in conservative managers who make decisions that align with stability. High risk tolerance will equate to liberal managers who tends to make quick and decisive decisions.

Question 3
According to Deresky (2011, 171) and The_Hofstede_Centre (n.d.), Americans tend to be insensitive towards emotions and straightforward with their negotiation. There is no need to ‘beat around the bush’ and can get into the intended topic immediately. This is due to their profit-oriented culture of ‘Time is Money’. When negotiating with Americans, we can expect them to make decisive yet short-term oriented decisions. However, bear in mind that it is profit and not relationship that they are seeking. This can be attributed to the concept of meritocracy.
In the face of conflicts, Americans can become highly contentious. They emphasize on legal actions as opposed to alternative dispute resolution. Nevertheless, Americans tend to be distinctive between corporate goal and personal interests. Therefore, any feud related personal relationship should not be intermixed with business negotiation.
Americans prioritize cost-to-benefits analysis as opposed to the need for face-saving or any long term relationship commitments. As individualist, decision making is always for the benefit of self. For instance, a successful negotiation will be dependent on their needs or personal goal of corporate promotion, sales commissions or salary raise etc.
Accurate documentations and contract is a must. As negotiator, we should ensure a systematic administration to handle various paper works. This is related to legitimacy of contracts because under the viewpoint of litigation, there is a strong emphasis for ‘black and white’ proofs and evidences.
Lastly, Informal communication with Americans is also expected. If they address via first name and/or without honorifics, they mean no disrespect.

Word Count: 745

References:
Beldona, Sam, Andrew C. Inkpen, and Arvind Phatak. 1998. “Are Japanese Managers More Long-Term Oriented Than United States Managers?” Management International Review 38 (3): 239-256. http://search.proquest.com/docview/202722691?accountid=10382.
Clair, Robert N. St. n.d.  The Social and Cultural Construction of Silence. University of Louisville. Accessed 7/1/2014, http://www.uri.edu/iaics/content/2003v12n3/08%20Robert%20N.%20St.%20Clair.pdf.
Deresky, Helen. 2011. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Jensen, Morten Bach, and Suzanne C. Beckmann. 2009. “Determinants of Innovation and Creativity in Corporate Branding: Findings from Denmark.” Journal of Brand Management 16 (7): 468-479. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2550138.
Kwintessential. n.d.  Brazil – Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette.  Accessed 7/1/2014, http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/brazil-country-profile.html.
McShane, Steven Lattimore, A. Travaglione, and Mara Olekalns. 2010. Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. 3rd edition. ed. North Ryde, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill.
Nooraie, Mahmood. 2012. “Manager’s Risk Propensity and Strategic Decision-Making Processes.” Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Approach 2 (11): 11043-11055. http://www.textroad.com/pdf/JBASR/J.%20Basic.%20Appl.%20Sci.%20Res.,%202(11)11043-11055,%202012.pdf.
The_Hofstede_Centre. n.d.  United States.  Accessed 7/1/2014, http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html.

Portfolio 7
Question 1
Exporting is defined as the sales of products or services in an overseas market i.e. Toyota automobiles. It is a low-risk investment as there is no need to commit long-term assets or large funds, allowing for the ease of entry or withdrawal from foreign markets. Exporting also benefits SMEs, due to their insufficient capitals and brand awareness on the global markets (Deresky 2011, 229). Pyo (2010) suggested that MNCs utilize exports to complement with their FDIs, so as to achieve economies of scale.
Offshoring is defined as the transfer of operational process from their country of origin to the host country i.e. manufacturing of Boeing aircraft’s components. Offshoring allows MNCs to take advantage of the lower cost of productions in foreign markets, while avoiding trade barriers (Deresky 2011, 230-231). Offshoring is also a short-term commitment (Rothenberg, Hira, and Tang 2008).
Turnkey Projects are defined as a product that is specifically constructed for buyers and eventually sold to them upon completion. If FDIs are restricted in a country, turnkey companies can ‘sell’ their expertise and technology by completing the local government’s projects (Deresky 2011, 232). The China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park is an example of large-scale turnkey project (Tai-Chee and Goldblum 2000).
Wholly-owned subsidiaries are the full control of all its operations through the acquisition of other companies or green field operations. Corporations can leverage on global economies of scale, direct control and coordination, obtain technological advantage and full revenues. For example, Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM PC division (Deresky 2011, 233).

Question 2
Corporations should develop a Strategic International Plan (SIP) when moving their operations from domestic to global. SIP is a long-term oriented planning process that encompasses seven stages of global strategy developments (Deresky 2011, 214-215). It includes PESTEL and SWOT analysis that firms can identify their opportunities and threats.
Opportunities
Economies of scale are an advantage to MNCs that require high levels of output at minimal cost. For instance, Toyota’s manufacturing plants are located worldwide that each produce individual components, allowing Toyota to achieve various scale economies (Husan 1997).
Corporations seek growth and new market shares in emerging economies. For instance, Bentley motors can sell their luxury automobiles beyond their domestic market (United Kingdom) to the highly affluent Chinese (Durvasula and Lysonski 2010).
MNCs can gain access to valuable resources that are unavailable in their home country. For instance, Petrochina has purchased oil sand (bituminous sands) at Alberta, Canada (Anonymous 2009). While oil sand is an unconventional source of petroleum as compared to oil wells; if technology improves the extraction process for oil sand, Petrochina can tap into a new source of petroleum,
Governments of host countries may introduce incentives that ease FDIs by reducing cost of operations. For instance, Shanghai entices MNCs to setup regional headquarter at their country by providing subsidies (Lee 2012). MNCs can take advantage of this opportunity to expand internationally at a lower cost.
Threats
Deresky (2011, 217) shared several possible threats to corporations such as political instability. Thailand’s political turmoil in 2013 (Srilert 2013), is a risk to FDIs in Thailand because riots can hinder business operations. For example, productions in manufacturing-based businesses will be halted due to shortage of manpower.

Question 3
Ethnocentrism and nationalism are the major reasons why ‘Koreans buy Korean-made’. Ethnocentrism is the belief of one’s home country is the center of attention and everything is scaled in reference to it (Sumner 1906, quoted in Ha 1998). Complemented with Korean’s nationalistic behavior, they believed that Korean-made cars are superior to foreign cars and they also have the duty to purchase domestically-manufactured car (Ha 1998).
Foreign corporations tend to take a self-reference criterion when doing businesses in Korea. Self-reference criterion is the instinctive manner that firms apply their home country’s culture as a reference point (Deresky 2011, 107). Min (2004) demonstrated that Korean have a unique goods distribution systems that go through family-oriented retail stores as compared to the typical westernized hyper-marts.
An international joint-venture will be viable to enter Korea’s culturally-closed market. For instance, United States’ Cummins formed a joint-venture with Korea’s Hyundai to manufacture engines for Korea’s market (China_Weekly_News 2012). The advantage of joint-venture in a culturally-closed market provides Cummins with the opportunity to tap into Hyundai’s cultural knowledge of the Koreans. Hyundai’s strategic distribution networks in Korea can complement the sales of Cummins’ engine. Moreover, Cummins can avoid Koreans’ strong ethnocentric and nationalistic consumption behaviors because Hyundai also has an equal share in the manufacturing of engines. There will be a co-branding of Cummins and Hyundai on the engines.

Word Count: 749
References:
Anonymous. 2009. “Petrochina Buying 60 Percent of Oil Sands Projects.” The Provost News, 2009 Sep 09. 8 http://search.proquest.com/docview/442526621?accountid=10382.
China_Weekly_News. 2012. “Cummins Inc.; Hyundai and Cummins Announce Joint Venture Partnership to Build Midrange Engines in South Korea.” China Weekly News: 78. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1041022334?accountid=10382.
Deresky, Helen. 2011. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Durvasula, Srinivas, and Steven Lysonski. 2010. “Money, Money, Money – How Do Attitudes toward Money Impact Vanity and Materialism? – the Case of Young Chinese Consumers.” The Journal of Consumer Marketing 27 (2): 169-179. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07363761011027268.
Ha, Choong Lyong. 1998. “The Influence of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Product Characteristic on Country of Origin Effects: A Comparison between United States Consumers and Korean Consumers.” Ph.D., The University of Texas at Arlington, Ann Arbor. http://search.proquest.com/docview/304491829?accountid=10382.
Husan, Rumy. 1997. “The Continuing Importance of Economies of Scale in the Automotive Industry.” European Business Review 97 (1): 38-42. http://search.proquest.com/docview/225423113?accountid=10382.
Lee, Ashley. 2012. “Shanghai’s Mnc Policy Reveals Rmb Convertibility Plans.” International Financial Law Review. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1143843908?accountid=10382.
Min, Hokey. 2004. “The Korean Distribution System: An Overview with Implications for Korean Market Entry.” Journal of Marketing Channels 12 (2): 5-25. http://search.proquest.com/docview/204429850?accountid=10382.
Pyo, Min-Chan. 2010. “Why Firms Provide Goods to Foreign Markets Using a Combination of Entry Modes: Foreign Direct Investment and Export.” Seoul Journal of Business 16 (2): 67-93. http://search.proquest.com/docview/869070148?accountid=10382.
Rothenberg, Sandra, Ron Hira, and Zhi Tang. 2008. “Printing Industry Offshoring: Perspectives from Us Based Printers.” Strategic Outsourcing: an International Journal 1 (1): 50-63. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17538290810857475.
Srilert, Nakarin. 2013.  Political Turmoil Affecting Thailand’s Global Position. The Nation. Accessed 8/1/2014, http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Political-turmoil-affecting-Thailands-global-posit-30222074.html.
Tai-Chee, Wong, and Charles Goldblum. 2000. “The China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park: A Turnkey Product of Singapore?” Geographical Review 90 (1): 112-122. http://search.proquest.com/docview/225335464?accountid=10382.

Portfolio 8
Question 1
Merger and Acquisition (M&A) is a form of strategic alliance where two or more corporations pursue their mutual goals by combining their resource and core competencies. In a M&A-strategic alliance, both parties seek improvement in their financial,  managerial, technological and competitive advantage in the global market (Deresky 2011, 245).
Under financial advantage, corporations seek increased capital and equity flow. For instance, OCBC purchased ING Asia Private Bank from ING Group (Or and Venkat 2009). This acquisition allows ING Group to repay the loan from Netherlands government.
M&A enables the recruitment of the best managerial-capable and knowledgeable individuals. Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed includes ‘acqui-hiring’ their talented staffs such as Bret Taylor, who would eventually serve as Facebook’s Chief Technological Officer (Vascellaro 2009).
Technological knowledge can be obtained via M&A. Microsoft acquired Forethought to develop ‘Microsoft PowerPoint’ which almost every users are utilizing for their presentations in today’s world (Redmond 1987).
Corporations can compete more effectively on the global market by focusing on their competitive advantage by adding value-added services. For instance, Google has continuously acquired other businesses such as Orion (Anonymous 2006), Metaweb (Hendric 2010) and Apture (Haseeb 2011) to further optimize their core product – ‘Google Search’.
The energy industry will be subjected to M&A. Energy is the fundamental force that drives the world. Adam Smith‘s ‘Invisible Hand’ dictates that the energy’s value will rise, as the supply of non-renewable energy depletes. Corporations will seek to acquire the remaining reserves of non-renewable energy or to undertake R&D for alternative fuel.

Question 2
Cross-border alliances are global strategic alliances where two or more companies form partnership across national and/or geographical boundaries. Global strategic alliances can consist of corporate as well as government entities (Deresky 2011, 247).
Zineldin and Bredenlow (2003) illustrated the issues of strategic planning. For instance, US firms focus their strategy on profits and market shares. However, Japanese firms evaluate performance based on their operational stability and manpower skill sets. The different forms of corporate governance may result in dissolution of alliance.
In addition, leadership styles also differ between the US and non-US corporations. US firms usually aim to be the major decision-maker by owning 51% of the overall shares; despite they are collaborating with firms of the host countries (Zineldin and Bredenlow 2003). These often result in alliance failure due to eventual takeover by the US firms due to unequal distribution of power.
Fear and mistrust also undermine the effectiveness of an alliance (Deresky 2011, 250). For instance, numerous American companies have formed alliance with Chinese companies, allowing diffusion of technologies. However, the Americans are worried that the Chinese’s audio/video standard, ‘EVD’ may become a potential competitor for the commonly-known ‘DVD’ standard (Lohr 2004).
Zineldin and Bredenlow (2003) suggested the focus of building corporation-synergy and relationship. It includes mutually-agreeable moral and ethical standards that each party should not exploit the alliance at the expense of long-term cooperation. In addition, there is also need to re-interpret each partner’s intentions, demonstrates empathy and understanding for their corporate cultures and leadership styles.

Question 3
Strategic implementation requires the involvement of corporations’ financial, technological and most importantly, managerial (human resource) competencies (Deresky 2011, 259-261). Culture is a contrast of lifestyles between two social groups. As such, a culturally-empathetic approach is necessary to reconcile the cultural differences of the two corporations’ managerial employees.
James (2006), quoted in Deresky (2011, 262-263) coined the idea of “Old Continental European Tradition” that opposed the merger of Mittal Steel and Arcelor. James (2006) has illiterate that Arcelor is a European family-owned enterprise. Thus, it goes against the tradition of allowing foreign intervention i.e. Mittal Steel, in its corporate management. Similarly, Paul and Eric (2006), quoted in Deresky (2011, 262-263) related similar scenario for Mittal Steel; the Marwari’s rule states that they should maintain family-ownership.
The above scenarios have demonstrated that the traditional European and Indian cultures are barriers to strategic implementation. Nevertheless, Mr. Mittal is said to have abandoned the cultural legacy of the Marwari traditions to embrace global strategic alliance. This resulted in the eventual merger and formation of ArcelorMittal.
However, Mr. Mittal has demonstrated cultural empathy in the most subtle manner. Mr. Rahul Bajaj, a Marwari, claimed that in spite of Mr. Mittal relinquishing his share ownership of the firm, he still retained approximately 45% of the merged firms’ shares  (Paul and Eric 2006). In comparison with other shareholders, Mr. Mittal is considered the major shareholder. From such perspective, Mr. Mittal is still abiding to the Marwari’s rule, by retaining the ownership of the business.

(Word Count: 745)

References:
Anonymous. 2006. “Google Buys Israeli’s Search Technology.” Canadian Jewish News, 2006 Apr 21. 2 http://search.proquest.com/docview/351490668?accountid=10382.
Deresky, Helen. 2011. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Haseeb, Ali. 2011. “Google Buys More Startups.” SNL Kagan Media & Communications Report. http://search.proquest.com/docview/904431252?accountid=10382.
Hendric, Dave. 2010. “Google Buys Metaweb.” SNL Kagan Media & Communications Report. http://search.proquest.com/docview/869746787?accountid=10382.
James, Harold. 2006. “Europe Rediscovers the Tradition of Family Capitalism Harold James.” Financial Times, 2006 Jul 04. 17 http://search.proquest.com/docview/249925689?accountid=10382.
Lohr, Steve. 2004.  Fast Gaining in Technology, China Poses Trade Worries. The New York Times. Accessed 13/1/2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/business/fast-gaining-in-technology-china-poses-trade-worries.html?src=pm.
Or, Amy, and P. R. Venkat. 2009. “Ocbc Wins Ing Assets in Asia — Singaporean Lender Will Pay $1.46 Billion in Private-Bank Deal.” The Wall Street Journal Asia, 2009 Oct 16. http://search.proquest.com/docview/315589248?accountid=10382.
Paul, Glader, and Bellman Eric. 2006. “Breaking the Marwari Rules; Mittal’s Bid for Arcelor Shows How Growth Brings Indians into Conflict with Traditions.” Wall Street Journal, 2006 Jul 10. http://search.proquest.com/docview/398969788?accountid=10382.
Redmond. 1987. “Microsoft Corp. Buys Forethought Inc., Forms Graphics Unit.” Wall Street Journal, 1987 Jul 31. 1 http://search.proquest.com/docview/398055729?accountid=10382.
Vascellaro, Jessica E. 2009. “Facebook Acquires Start-up Friendfeed.” Wall Street Journal, 2009 Aug 11. http://search.proquest.com/docview/399086007?accountid=10382.
Zineldin, Mosad, and Torbjorn Bredenlow. 2003. “Strategic Alliance: Synergies and Challenges: A Case of Strategic Outsourcing Relationship “Sour”.” International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 33 (5): 449-464. http://search.proquest.com/docview/232592889?accountid=10382.

Portfolio 9
Question 1
According to Noverita (2007), ‘be global and act local’ is the manner how multinational corporations formulate strategy to operate internationally, yet also adapting towards the varying local markets’ environments.
Through Begley and Boyd (2003)’s ‘Global Consistency/Local Responsiveness’ Grid, the model illustrated that corporations need to optimise the balance between ‘global’ and ‘local’, by knowing how to position itself on the global market. This enables corporations to achieve both economies of scale (global) and efficiency (local). For instance, enterprises need to go global because the domestic market is insufficient to sustain small enterprises (Naguib 2011). On another hand, enterprises have to maintain responsiveness towards local culture (Noverita 2007).

For MNCs to be ‘Glocal’, MNCs should amend their organisational structure appropriately to ensure suitability between the corporation’s strategy and structure. Therefore, enabling corporations to identify different markets, as well as streamlining and adapting to those of similar environments (Deresky 2011, 269-270).
For instance, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has adopted a global product structure (P&G n.d.). In a global product structure, P&G has grouped their products to the respective divisions (Deresky 2011, 271-272). For P&G to ‘be global’, their ‘Global Business Units’ (each division line) aim to build global brands awareness by establishing strong brandings for each product lines, i.e. Cosmetics – SK-II.
Notwithstanding the above, P&G also ‘thinks local’ by adopting a hybrid global product structure that includes a ‘Market Development Organisation’. This hybridised division aims to cater for the varying conditions of different geographical regions i.e. Asia and Middle-East. This facilitates interactions with the local customers, enhancing P&G’s local responsiveness.
Question 2
In question one, ‘restructuring’ is necessary when corporations adopt a change in strategy or goal i.e. Glocal. However, firms also require restructuring when they encounter organisational conflicts or inefficiencies (Deresky 2011, 283-284). This is akin to the contingency theory, where researchers believe that there is no perfect structure; hence companies should continuously seek a strategic fit through necessary restructuring (Drazin and Van De Ven 1985).
For instance, if my firm has a long chain of command and it hinders the efficiency of the front-line employees due to the need to seek approval from many hierarchical layers, it would be necessary for me to restructure the company by reducing the numbers of middle-managers. This is similar to Abetti (2006)’s illustration of Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric (GE) 1981-2001, who orchestrated a revamp of the old GE’s bureaucratic structure to improve GE’s profitability and efficiency.
Direct and indirect monitoring systems are control strategies utilised by firms to monitor the performance and orientation of expenditure. Direct monitoring aims to set the foundation of supervision for overseas subsidiaries, while indirect monitoring is usually a summary of progressions that comes in the forms of sales/financial report (Deresky 2011, 286).
For instance, McDonald’s direct monitoring systems include global quality assurance teams who constantly perform audits and inspections at McDonald’s supply-chain and franchise outlets (Vignali 2001). In corresponds, McDonald’s indirect monitoring systems consist of those typical annual reports that illustrated McDonald’s global sales growth, shares earning, various accounting and financial statements (McDonalds n.d.).
Question 3
Transnational corporations (TNCs) are firms that have the capabilities to manage their strategies on cross-national frontiers (Ietto-Gillies 2012, 11-12). In addition, Ietto-Gillies (2012, 12) indicated that for firms to be considered truly transnational, TNCs should have direct operations and ownership of the subsidiaries in the overseas nations.
TNCs are usually complex and difficult to operate because they are truly Glocal corporations that think globally to achieve economies of scale; yet act local to enhance local responsiveness. On top of having global headquarters, regional/national headquarters also exist to streamline local decision-making processes (Ietto-Gillies 2012, 13-14). Hence, TNCs adopt a matrix structure to develop a hybridised method of combining the strengths of regional support and employees’ skills and competencies, to create solutions to various issues.
Coca-Cola’s organisational structure is an example of a matrix as illustrated below (TheOfficialBoard n.d.). It features an overlapping of Coca-Cola’s functional (i.e. administration), regional (i.e. Americas) and product (i.e. Refreshment) divisions.

Effective communication is an issue when working in TNCs. McShane, Travaglione, and Olekalns (2010, 344) defined effective communication as the transmission of intended meaning and not just sounds or symbols. However, in TNCs where structures are complicated, it is difficult to achieve effective communication due to the possibility of employees communicating in their own language or unique dialects. For instance, as a Singaporean, I’m well-versed in English and Mandarin. However, I would not understand the conversation, my Indonesian colleagues decided to converse in Bahasa Melayu. This could be a potential source of inter-employees communication breakdown in TNCs.

(Word Count: 756)

References:
Abetti, Pier A. 2006. “Case Study: Jack Welch’s Creative Revolutionary Transformation of General Electric and the Thermidorean Reaction (1981–2004).” Creativity & Innovation Management 15 (1): 74-84. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8691.2006.00370.x.
Begley, Thomas M., and David P. Boyd. 2003. “The Need for a Corporate Global Mind-Set.” MIT Sloan Management Review 44 (2): 25-32. http://search.proquest.com/docview/224963743?accountid=10382.
Deresky, Helen. 2011. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Drazin, Robert, and Andrew H. Van De Ven. 1985. “Alternative Forms of Fit in Contingency Theory.” Administrative Science Quarterly 30 (4): 514-539. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=4013921&site=ehost-live.
Ietto-Gillies, Grazia. 2012. Transnational Corporations and International Production : Concepts, Theories and Effects. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.  http://CURTIN.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=866985.
McDonalds. n.d.  Annual Reports. McDonald. Accessed 18/1/2014, http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/investors/annual_reports.html.
McShane, Steven Lattimore, A. Travaglione, and Mara Olekalns. 2010. Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. 3rd edition. ed. North Ryde, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill.
Naguib, Ramez P. E. 2011. “Why Go International.” ASHRAE Journal 53 (1): 66-67. http://search.proquest.com/docview/889217376?accountid=10382.
Noverita, Dilla. 2007. “An Analysis of Think Globally-Act Locally Strategy Implementation in Developing Relationship of Headquarters and Subsidiaries.” Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business 9 (1): 101-123. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=25931380&site=ehost-live.
P&G. n.d.  Corporate Structure – Strength in Structure.  Accessed 18/1/2014, http://www.pg.com/en_US/company/global_structure_operations/corporate_structure.shtml.
TheOfficialBoard. n.d.  Coca-Cola Organisational Structure.  Accessed 22/1/2014, http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/coca-cola.
Vignali, Claudio. 2001. “Mcdonald’s: “Think Global, Act Local” – the Marketing Mix.” British Food Journal 103 (2): 97-111. http://search.proquest.com/docview/225127715?accountid=10382.

Portfolio 10
Question 1
International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is defined as the management of human resource on the global level that requires MNCs to employ staffs of the right competencies and expertise for their international operations (Schuler, Budhwar, and Florkowski 2002).
The complexity of IHRM is closely tied in to an organisation’s structure. When corporations perform restructuring to ensure that the corporate structure fits their strategy, managers are also re-shuffled in accordance to the new structure (Deresky 2011, 285). Corporations will require different types of manager at various stages of decision-making:
Tactical

Strategic    National Managers:    Perform tactical decision-making processes i.e. adjusting the local price of products and services.
International Managers:    Develop corporate strategies that allow corporation to gain new resources and/or competitive advantages.
Multinational Managers:    Coordinate the overall operations in a specific geographical region.
Transnational Managers:    Implement strategic planning; i.e. controlling the flow of information and technology across the corporation.

Schuler, Budhwar, and Florkowski (2002) support the above-mentioned, because IHRM affects the staffing of capable managers, which in turn affect the skilfulness and potentiality of the ‘decision’ made. This is of high importance to corporations because it affects the competitive advantage, local responsiveness, flexibility and adaptability of the firm.
For instance, McDonald demonstrated their IHRM prowess through a polycentric staffing of local managers that enhanced their competitive advantage – fantastic customer service and local responsive ‘local knows local best’ logic. Similarly, the polycentric staffing approach also complements McDonald’s capability to demonstrate cultural empathy towards the local markets’ cultures (Solomon 1997).
Question 2
It is a myopic view to consider expatriate failure as plainly a premature return of expatriation. Expatriate who underperforms in their overseas assignment is also expatriate failure (Hung-Wen 2007).
Hung-Wen (2007) suggests the following reasons of expatriate failure:
•    Cross-cultural knowledge:
Failure to demonstrate cultural empathy for cultural differences; i.e. High masculinity nations such as Japanese and Arabs, tend not to respect female representatives during negotiations.
•    Issues with family dependants:
Can the spouse and children adapt to the new environment? For instance, job opportunities for spouse and availability of education for children.
•    Insufficient training:
Training is required for to understand the local cultures, language training and familiarisation with the local living conditions.
•    Expatriate compensation package:
Is there sufficient reimbursement for additional expenses? i.e. Expatriate benefits and housing expenses.
•    Selection based on technical competencies:
Corporations over-emphasize on technical competencies rather than relational abilities and/or emotional intelligence (EI).
In order to resolve the above-mentioned issues, a holistic approach of training and compensation is necessary before expatriation (Deresky 2011, 348-352).
Expatriate trainings and developments are necessary to equip employees with the abilities to understand the key cultural differences between their home and the host country. A brief induction program is required for employees to gain a first-hand experience of living and working overseas. If employees are unable to adapt, corporations can reselect eligible employees, based on their EI/relational ability or those who do not have family dependents. Lastly, an adequate monetary reimbursement is required to ensure that expatriates stay monetarily-satisfied with their lifestyle.

Question 3
A good expatriate is often determined by several criteria as follows (Hung-Wen 2007) and (Deresky 2011, 345-346):
Job-related knowledge:    Expertise, competencies and technical qualifications of the expatriates
Relational abilities:    The ability to adjust and adapt to foreign environment
Cultural sensitivity:    Level of prepared to experience different cultural differences and lifestyle. Linguistic ability.
Family-related issues:    Marriage status and family dependents.
Motivations and ability to face challenges:    Whether the expatriates are keen to work overseas; their key driving force and their ability to overcome adversity.

Job-related knowledge
Previously, I have worked as an administrative and manpower officer for approximately two years. Concurrently, I’m a project coordinator for a SME. While I may possess competencies for related job scopes i.e. administration, manpower and project management for local small enterprises, I may lack sufficient competencies to embark on MNCs’ international-scale operations.
Relational abilities and cultural sensitivity
Thus far, my job scopes have enabled me to travel to several Asian countries i.e. Malaysia, R.O.C Taiwan, Mainland China and Japan. However, I have yet to work in foreign grounds such as America and Europe. Based on Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions, our Asian culture differs greatly as compared to the Western’s cultural dimension. Hence, I may experience cultural shock if I’m sent on an expatriation to western nations.
Family-related issues
Currently, I’m single and available. Both my parents are still in good health and financially-stable. However, based on Asian’s collectivist culture, it is inevitable that I will eventually settle down with a family and take care of my aging parents. This do affect my decision to become an expatriate.
Motivation and ability to face challenges
While the path of an expatriate has potential adversities, however as a generational-Y (Kapoor and Solomon 2011), I do seek challenges over stability. Such challenges can become a eustress that enables me to develop my character.

Word Count: 799
References:
Deresky, Helen. 2011. International Management : Managing across Borders and Cultures : Text and Cases. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Hung-Wen, Lee. 2007. “Factors That Influence Expatriate Failure: An Interview Study.” International Journal of Management 24 (3): 403-413,619. http://search.proquest.com/docview/233230269?accountid=10382.
Kapoor, Camille, and Nicole Solomon. 2011. “Understanding and Managing Generational Differences in the Workplace.” Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes 3 (4): 308-318. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17554211111162435.
Schuler, Randall S., Pawan S. Budhwar, and Gary W. Florkowski. 2002. “International Human Resource Management: Review and Critique.” International Journal of Management Reviews 4 (1): 41. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=6639491&site=ehost-live.
Solomon, Charlene Marmer 1997. “Mcdonald’s Serves up Hr Success … in 91 Countries around the World.” Management Development Review 10 (1): 42-43. doi: 10.1108/EUM0000000004355.

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