International Organizational Behavior

Running head: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 1

International Organizational Behavior:

Student Name:

Institution Affiliation:

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 2

Introduction

International organizational behavior is an element that helps understand the current

world regarding business and interaction between people. In line with understanding the global

organizational behavior, it is of the essence to note that globalization anchors it. In that, the

context of international behavior substantially associates to globalization or coming together of

the world aspects. Managers need to be conversant with how business and people integration in

the modern era affects behavior and the issue that arose therein. It is in this context that the

changes brought in by globalization give raise various critical issues that affect businesses and

the stakeholders to a particular business. The paper will discuss various aspects signifying the

essence of understanding international dimensions of organizational behavior in ethical decision

making.

In line with this, it is important to know the meaning of the following.

Ethics identifies as a basis in which an action is judged as either right or wrong. Hence,

carrying out ethical decisions would mean analyzing a particular decision in line with the moral

repercussions.

Business ethics identifies as the principles under which employees and corporations

operate in ethical, legal and affair manner. In this context, business ethics are an important

context that means bringing together businesses, employees and the society (Ferrell, &

Fraedrich, 2015).

Globalization and organizational behavior

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 3

Globalization is connected with the tremendous increase in information and knowledge

sharing among people from different countries. It is the cause of multinational corporations all

over the world. Consequently, the world has witnessed an increase in technological and

infrastructure progress. The world is characterized by cultural aspects that are widely spread and

shared among the people it is right to note that the increased level of businesses going global

there has been a significant increase in the ethical issues. Unlike a case where a company only

deals with the national borders globalization means being an international concern. In the

international context if a business does an activity which is considered unethical it is likely to

significantly affect the business (Osland, Devine, & Turner, 2001). Some of the ethical cases that

have benefit witnessed over time are that of Volkswagen Motors and Nike sweatshops scandals.

Currently, businesses are operating in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic environment. It means

that the businesses environment directly affects the business conduct. To make proper and ethical

decisions managers require having sufficient knowledge on the dimensions of organization

behavior.

International dimensions of organizational behavior entail the following

The challenges and changes in the multinational management

It is right to note that subject to multinationals spreading across the globe; business

competition has significantly heightened. As a result of competition, businesses are faced with

challenges on the proper way to produce and remain competitive in the market. Due to this,

organizations are in need of managers with critical abilities and skills that will guide an

organization in making the proper decision. The decision areas that a manager will require

focusing on include.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 4

 Employee polarization

A manager understanding the organization behavior knows that the increased competition

has resulted in squeezing of skilled middle jobs. It is a case where organizations have to move

most of their employees for fixed employment to variable employment contracts (Punnett, 2015).

It is a matter that affects the employee wages and benefits. The challenging decisions that the

managers will encounter in this context would be to choose among the employees those that are

to be moved to the variable employment bracket. Also, there is the challenge of deciding on the

proper way to attract and retain employees while still upholding the downward pressure.

 Decision on efficiency

Managers have to come up with the appropriate ways to improve their businesses

activities. In this context, managers have to implement aspects as the employees training and

development. The decision in this regard involves the right employees to be trained. An

organization may concentrate on training only the middle and upper-level employees while

leaving the low-level employees. Developing the appropriate decision n this context will

contribute positively or negatively to the business.

 Decision on quality

Employee’s skills and competitiveness is targeted at ensuring that employees are in a

position to produce quality goods and services. In the course of time, various businesses have

been faced with scandals involving their production decision and the quality of the products

produced. Most recently was the case of Samsung where it had to recall its products. In

connection with this, it means that managers require being highly conscious of the decisions that

they make on production decisions.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 5

 Decision on profit or revenue maximization

It is noted that in all areas businesses are subjected to stiff competition. Performance in

some cases becomes a challenge to the management and the business. On the other hand,

shareholders pressure management to enhance the performance of the entire organization,

improve profits or raise dividends. In this case, managers may be challenged on the right

decisions to make to attain the shareholder's desire. There have been cases of creative

accounting, fraudulent business or production of poor quality goods with the intention of cutting

the operation costs. The issue of profit and revenue maximization raises ethical concern on the

possible decisions that a manager may make.

Besides the above-noted challenges understanding the international dimensions of

organizational behavior helps in the following way.

a. It helps in learning the best practices and applications on how to appropriately manage

people within the global context.

In this dimension, it means that the manager is conversant on how people are likely to

react towards individual decisions made by the management. In particular, the manager estimates

the way that employees, shareholders or clients would respond if he or she undertakes an

individual decision (Kuntz et al. 2013). It is an area that provides managers with proper analysis

skills on the possible situations involving a decision. It is noted that making decisions such as the

employee training and development would call for good analysis of the situation. There is the

case of multiculturalism and is a crucial element related to the issue of globalization. In line with

this, it is noted that globalization raises cases where an employee with different cultural

background comes together. It poses a condition where there is a need for uniform culture in the

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 6

organization. Making such decision on how the organization will accommodate different cultural

and religious backgrounds would require ethical consideration.

b. Through knowledge of capability to recognize critical elements of socio-cultural diversity

A manager will make an ethical decision that may affect people if they understand the

socio-cultural elements evident in society. Subject to globalization businesses are occupying

environments characterized by people with varying customs, believe and values (Adler, &

Gundersen, 2007). In such a case where an American business expands to China, for example,

Apple, a manager will need to know the Chinese values for them to make proper decisions. It is

noted that while the Americans are individualists, the Chinese are collectivists. In China,

continued mistreatment of employees may lead to all of them refusing to come to work on a

single day. In other case, businesses are expanding to such areas as Africa where values and

cultural elements vary from that of the Americans. Having knowledge of the cultural background

of the people would be vital in not only anticipating their reactions to a decision but also to

choose a decision that the society considers ethical.

c. It is a basis for learning the attributes of organizational and personal value system

concerning global business environment.

The global environment in line with global management it calls for a unique

understanding of the personal values and the organization values. While making an organization

decision, a manager will need to consider how it will also affect the people values (Williams,

2013). For example, such country as Apple has a high reputation in the production of quality

goods and services. A management decision to produce cheaper goods would affect the quality

of its products and services. As a result, it will affect the consumer’s values and how they

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 7

perceive the products. Hence, the need to have a proper understanding that would assist one to

make the correct decision.

An effective global manager

Understanding the international dimensions of organization behavior contributes in

making one an effective global manager. An effective manager in the global context will be

characterized by the following aspects.

a) One can learn and analyze the challenges faced in the global context.

The knowledge on the possible challenges that a business is likely to face in the market is

crucial to making various decisions. An active manager is well equipped with knowledge, skills,

and techniques that will help him steer the organization to a competitive position in the market.

For example, the information systems and technology associated with various challenges, as

system failure or hacking elements. It is right to note that information systems and technology

are aimed at boosting efficiency in business activities and improving responsiveness to

customers (Chhokar, Brodbeck, & House, 2013). Also, the manager will be in a position to deal

with such challenge as efficiency and quality of the goods and services provided. It is noted that

effectiveness in production and the quality of goods and products are key competitive

advantages.

b) It helps encompass aspects involved in the human resource as the training and

development, teams, leadership, and behavior.

An effective international manager must be in a position to focus on the human resources

elements in the international business context. In that, it will facilitate in understanding the forces

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 8

that affecting employees productivity. Also, while making the training and development

decision, the manager will be in a position to know the proper skills to be applied in the business

and the global levels (Griffin, 2013). For example, an active manager will facilitate in adopting

proper training and development programs that will enable an organization to have the best sales

and marketing personnel who will suitably advertise the company at the international level.

c) Provides knowledge on consumer behavior

As an international manager, one ought to be properly equipped with the information

concerning consumer behavior. It is crucial in setting the proper strategy that a business can

adopt. It is because decisions related to product quality; price, differentiation and quantity will be

suitably made with a good understanding of the consumer behavior. In connection to this,

learning the dimensions of international organizational behavior would mean that one correctly

understands how different customers would react to the production decision made (Wagner III,

& Hollenbeck, 2014). It is a context that facilitates in making other decisions. For example, an

active manager will be in a position to determine if the organization engages in corporate social

responsibility how will t affect the customer’s behavior to the company products.

d) It associates with the capability to create a tranquil, ethical and healthy environment for

the business.

A manager can only be able to create a business environment characterized by the noted

aspects if they properly understand the international dimensions of organizational behavior. It is

important to note that in the case of multinational corporation’s decisions made in one country or

ethical issues made in one country are likely to affect an entity globally. It occurs mostly in the

cases where a business is involved in unethical decisions or decisions that contribute in

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 9

tarnishing the corporate reputation. An effective manager understands that the modern social

media is capable of spreading information concerning a certain business within a short period.

There are cases where an organization is faced with a challenging event likely to cause a

significant problem to the business. A competent manager would handle the issue in a way that

he or she manages to build trust with the consumers. An example of such case is the general

motors’ scandal. The GM motors company CEO openly agreed that people died in their cars. As

a result, the company decided to pay more $900m to end the case (BBC homepage, 2015). The

manager went ahead and sent condolence messages to people who lost their families.

Conclusion

The concept of international organizational behavior is crucial for an entity to do well in

the market. It is a basis for making an effective manager in meeting the managerial roles. As

noted global business environment is highly dynamic, thus, there is a need for managers to be

conversant with the dimensions of the behavioral changes likely to occur. In any element of

change or challenge the way in which a manager handles a situation will determine how the

company is perceived by the stakeholders and the community.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 10

References

Adler, N. J. (2006). International dimensions of organizational behavior. The International

Executive, 28(1), 31-32.

Adler, N. J., & Gundersen, A. (2007). International dimensions of organizational behavior.

Cengage Learning.

BBC homepage (17th September 2015).GM agrees a $900m settlement for faulty ignition

switches. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34276419

Chhokar, J. S., Brodbeck, F. C., & House, R. J. (Eds.). (2013). Culture and leadership across the

world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge.

Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business Ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson

Education.

Griffin, R. W. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Cengage Learning.

Kuntz, J. R. C., Kuntz, J. R., Elenkov, D., & Nabirukhina, A. (2013). Characterizing ethical

cases: A cross-cultural investigation of individual differences, organizational climate, and

leadership on ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(2), 317-331.

Osland, J., Devine, K., & Turner, M. (2001). Organizational behavior. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Punnett, B. J. (2015). International perspectives on organizational behavior and human resource

management. Routledge.

Wagner III, J. A., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (2014). Organizational Behavior: Securing competitive

advantage. Routledge.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 11

Williams, C. (2013). Principles of management. South-Western/Cengage Learning.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."