Final Paper

Thought May 4, 2011 Dr. Ronald Berman Introduction Over the last ten years or more, there has been an increase in the attention given to leadership in the global work environment. The relative newness is evident when examining the literature that supports the field of study of collaborative work place which is both global and virtual. Evidence is also demonstrated by the assimilation of the European money into one systematic form of money, the Euro. The direction of the world is headed towards a one world government system.

I began to develop a strong interest in reading various literatures regarding research that have been completed in foreign countries, because I have strong interest in becoming a part of the global leadership. As a former Peace Corps volunteer, I feel confident that I have the necessary skills and training that an expatriate will need to be a successful leader. Therefore, I reviewed three research leadership literatures in a foreign country or involved a foreign country. I will be discussing: (1) Trust of the direct leader in an organization(supervisors) and the trust of top management in the organization(CEO. 2) International banking business in Tanzania East Africa, skills used to effectively manage their organizational systems and relationship-building, through the use of human resource management strategies. (3) To review literature on the cross-cultural training on different facets of expatriate managers who have or have not adjusted in Nigeria. Research Study 1: Revisiting the relationship of supervisor trust and CEO trust to turnover intentions: A three-country comparative study. (Costigan, R, Insinga, R, Berman J. Kranas, G. & Kureshov, V. (2011). This research aims to look at the trust factor of leaders in an nternational setting, the three countries involved in the research were, United States, Russia, and Poland. The research focused on two trust factors: 1) If the employee’s trust of the supervisor has a stronger association with the employees turnover intentions. 2) If the employee’s trust of the CEO (top management) has a stronger association with the employees turnover intentions, The research study had 320 participants, and the participants were made up of 86 Russian participants, 113 from the Polish participants working in firm in Warsaw and 121 from the U. S. firms located in Rochester, New York.

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All of the participants had college education or were currently attending a University. The tools used in this study were questionnaires provided to the participants. These questionnaires had questions which addressed trust items and intention to leave employment items. The participant had to return the questionnaires in person or by mail and all questionnaires were completed anonymously. One of the difficulties in this research is that the questionnaires had to be translated into Russian and Polish languages and then translated back into English by one interpreter for each country.

The questions asked in this research study are: If the association between CEO/top management trust and turnover intentions is stronger than the association between trust of the supervisor and turnover intentions in a low in-group collectivism culture. In this study collectivism culture refers to the degree to which a culture values individual self-interests versus the collective interests within the society. I will be focusing on the cross-culture impending factors of individuals leaders who work in foreign counties. This research outcome will be compared to the next two research reviews, which also focus on cross-culture impending factors.

Does it hurt the company? What is needed to improve the problem with the impending culture factors in foreign companies? Research Study 2: Human resource strategies for managing back-office employees in subsidiary operations: The case of two investment multinational banks in Tanzania. Newenham-Kahindi, A. (2011). As compared to study 1, this study examines the cross culture success in a bank setting in Tanzania East Africa. Observation took place on two MNC banks to understand how they systematically rationalized and internalized their organizational systems. The specific forms of technology to prefer tasks and their management and he values, rules from other countries. The participants for this study were expatriate, leaders sent to work in Tanzania from their country. The expatriate sample was taken from two banks, 22 from the American bank and 25 from the South African bank. The banks were located throughout Tanzania, in three commercial cities of Arusha, Dar EsSalaam and Mwanza and later in Mbeya. The method tools used in this study were: • qualitative • observation • documents • semi-structured interviews with bank and branch representatives expatriates from the two banks and local employees.

This study uses more tools then study 1 or 3 for the method process of the study. Study 1 and 3 only used questionnaires. The questions to be asked in this study are: (A) if the internal organizational systems and the practice of managing human resource strategies in multinational corporations interacted with and influenced the host nations’ environment? (B) Did this affect the managing of the human resource strategies in multinational corporations? (C) Did the culture of the country-Tanzania, affect the success of the research and human resource strategies?

In this research study I will continue to review the similarities and differences to study 1, 2 and 3. Placing my focus on how the cross-culture global issues affected the research. To established some recommended education and training in needed for this rising complicated problem of the integration of cultures in the global work milieu. Research Study 3: Cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment: A study of western expatriates in Nigeria. Okpara, J. , & Kabong, J. (2011). My final research literature review, study 3, will deal directly on cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment in the global operations.

This will support research study 1 and 2 because this deals directly with cross-cultural research in the global work milieu. I pulled the information from the data results of study 1 and 2 collected regarding the cross-cultural complications. The aim of this research study was to find out why so many expatriates are returned home premature from a job assignment in a foreign country. This study investigates the impact of a cross-cultural training provided to expatriate managers, if this helps to decrease the premature return to home issue.

The method used in this study was 226 expatriate managers who were expatriates managers from the U. S. , UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They were each working in Abuja, Lagos, Warri, or Port-Harcourt in Nigeria. Each expatriate manager had been working in one of the cities in Nigeria for one year. The cities were selected because they had the largest concentration of multinational corporations and would facilitate data distribution and collection process. The stratified sampling techniques were used to select the expatriates surveyed for the research.

The stratified sampling is a technique sometimes used by researchers because it allows them to obtain a greater degree of representativeness, reducing the probable sampling error. It is also used to ensure that different groups of a population are adequately represented in the sample. Each expatriate was stratified according to their nationality or home country. The tool used was questionnaire distributions and collections, the questionnaires were delivered by hand to the addresses of the companies identified for the study. The questionnaires were then collected by hand on a scheduled pick-up date.

A total of 181 questionnaires were returned out of 226 questionnaires given out. This represented only an 80% response rate. In comparison to study 1 and 2 this study indicated the sex agenda in the study. This study had 67 women in the sample and 159 men in the sample group. The questions to be considered in study 3 are: A) What is the base problem of the cross-culture issues? B) Do the expatriate need cross-cultural training prior to a work assignment and will this be affected? C) What type of cross-cultural training needs to be provided? Comparison and Contrast of the research studies 1, 2 and 3

The first defenses in the research presented, is where it was taken from. Study 2 and 3 were both conducted in Africa, and study one was conducted in three countries. I think study 2 and 3 provides a better picture of what’s needed in-regards to educational training needs developed for the expatriates working in the global organizations environment or network. The sample populations of study 2 and 3 expatriates are working in countries that are not the home they were born in. In study 1 the study group is from their own country working in a virtual type connection in the global work environment.

In studies 2 and 3, it was found that the managers all had complications with the following: • Isolation, if they were an expatriate working in another country other than their own. • Confusion, due to a variety of culture differences, values, rules and regulations. • The language barriers, ensuring things are communicated effetely between the expatriates and the natives of the county. • Family members adjusting to the new culture The first study cross-cultural research looked at the in-group, out group relationships. The in-groups were typically formed around family and close friends.

In-group collectivism indicates the person’s pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness within the family and within a small group of close friends both in and outside of the organization in which they work. The out-group members where individualist societies that clearly distinguish between in-group and out-group members where individualist societies do so to a lesser extent. It was found that an individualist’s allegiance and favor is more equally distributed across family, close friends, acquaintances, and even relative strangers. Costigan, Robert D. Insinga, Berman, Kranas ; Kureshow (2011). In comparison to study 2 we are dealing with the HR policy and the overall corporate culture as integrated components. The HR researching training and developing HRM managers and expatriates for overseas responsibilities. They did find a need to bring about more cross-cultural management practices. Study 2 fits closely to study 3, because study 3 also bases is of the study coming from a cultural perspective, with the effects of HR policy integrated as one of the components of the research.

The emphasis study 2 placed on observation as a method was a very valuable component, it was the only which implemented this component in the research method. This component would have been valuable due to the culture observations needed in research study 2 and 3. Each study findings included cross-culture training was something that was impending the success of the global organization success. That due to the increase in globalization, more employees and being use as expatriates in other countries. Here in Wisconsin the company GE, is currently employing a large group of employees from India.

Wisconsin famous beer company, Miller’s was taken over by a South African company on May 30, 2002 SAB (South African Breweries Limited). Some of the American employees of the company were laid off and workers from South Africa were brought into the company to fill various positions. Miller Brewing was acquired from Philip Morris for $3. 6 billion worth of stock and $2 billion in debt, with Philip Morris retaining a 36% share at that time. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2008). When personally speaking to individuals in companies from other countries, they had the most difficulties adapting to the host-country’s culture.

Missing their friends, family, food, culture values and rules. This was the same complications noted in research study 3, Okpara, J. ; Kabongo, J. (2011) Early research reveals why expatriate failure occurs, the main reasons are the inability of a manager to adjust, the inability of a spouse and children, to adjust, plus a host of other issues. Future Research Possibilities In each study, it’s indicated that the research in global leadership is new. The territory has so many components that need to be researched.

For example in study 1, problems occurred with internal consistency, problem with participant’s recruitment, and problem found with cross-cultural comparison. It involved only three countries, one of which served as the sole representative of a low in-group collectivist country. In study 1, because of the shortcomings the cultural moderator variable was actually the U. S. In study 2, the cross-cultural embracing of elements of social local values would mere collaboration between MNC’s and /African institutions into substantive responsive and transformational engagement process.

This study failed to take into consideration all of the impending cross-culture issues that came up during the research. Study 3 focused on research regarding cross-cultural issues in a global work environment. However, there were still some things left uncompleted or was found out after the fact, with could lead to another research study. One of the things this study indicated was the t avoid bias by tapping data sources from the expatriates and also from spouses, family members, and colleagues and bosses. The study recommends to looking at and research the importance of family on expatriate performance.

Therefore, with the limitations in each study, I would focus on a research study that was a longitudinal study. From the three studies I reviewed, I saw this as a strong weakness, it was primarily due to the company resistance to strangers coming into their company collecting information. My method would be targeted at expatriates working in foreign countries. I would use the training tools developed from the most recent research completed on cross-culture training for expatriates. I would implement this training to the company expatriates prior to assignment in the foreign country.

I would then evaluate it after they completed one year of work in the foreign county. My main goal will be to find out if the cross-culture training resulted in the success of the expatriates work performance and emotional state while in an unfamiliar country. This would have to be a longitudinal study because I would take data prior to the expatriate assignment and then data upon their return. I would have to be contacted as soon as an individual used in the sample group returns. This can be from 1 year to five years, it would depend on the work assessment. I would target expatriates whose assignment is no longer than three years.

So this study would be about four years long, the first year of the expatriates receiving the cross-culture training and leaving to work in the selected country and then the follow up upon their return. The focus on the questionnaire upon their return will be to find out how successful the pre-cross-culture training was for them, did it help them to maintain their stay in the country and work efficiency in the organization they were working in. In conclusion all three studies are recent studies, study 1 (2002), study 2 (2011) and study 3 (2011). I found it to be very interesting that all of the research studies were so young.

However, each study indicated that due to the increase in global work, the attention is now being focused on global leadership issues in relation to successful outcome of the organizations globally. In addition, only one research study indicated women as participate. I would like to see a study completed on expatriate gender success in the global work milieu. References Costigan, R, Insinga, R. , Berman, J. , Kranas, G. , ; Kureshov, V. (2011). Revisiting the relationship of supervisor trust and CEO trust to turnover intentions: A three-country comparative study. Journal of World Business, 46(1), 74-83.

Doi: 10. 1016/jjwb. 2010. 05. 019 Newenham-Kahindi, A. (2011). Human resource strategies for managing back-office employees in subsidiary operations: The case of two investment multinational banks in Tanzania . Journal of World Business, 46(1), 13-21. Doi: 10. 1016/j. jw. b2010. 05. 013 Okpara, J. , ; Kabongo, J. (2011). Cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment: A study of western expatriates in Nigeria. Journal of World Business. 46(1), 22-30. Doi: 10. 10161j. jwb. 2010. 05. 014 Wikipedia, the Free encyclopedia (2008). Miller Brewing SAB. Retrieved from http://www. millerbrewing. com