Four-Step approach for international assignment trainings

            It is important for international firms to educate their assignees before sending them to foreign nations. However, only a few companies actually provide systematic selection and training for oversea assignments. One firm specializing in such programs suggests a four step approach.

            Level1 training is the familiarization of cultural differences and their impact on business outcome. Cultural misconception can lead to misunderstanding between both parties. It can leak outside the organization through foreign nation’s media and ruin company’s reputation. It may lead to boycotts, or it may result in low motivation/productivity in the branch.      

            Level 2 is the behavioral training that aims at getting participants to understand how attitudes are formed and how they affect behavior. For example prejudice against a certain group can negatively influence a manager’s behavior toward that group.

            Level3 training provides factual knowledge about the target country. That can include the demography of the country, laws and regulations, terrain, economy, politics, deceases and health concerns, history, sports and leisure, arts and music, costume, food and beverage, weather, wild life, risks, and relevant suggestions and restrictions.

Level 4 provides linguistic and adaptation skills. Even though there might be local and contractor interpreters on sight, it will be useful to learn the basics of the target language. It can have a survival value or basically help building stronger rapport with locals. Adjustment and adaptation skills can be learned even though they are partially instinctive.

            Globalization is an unavoidable fact in 21^st century and American organizations find new international frontiers every year. Terrible things have happened in international business and military affairs due to insufficient training of assignees. More systematic trainings can help build cohesive international business relations that could lead to prosperity.    

Reference:

Dessler Gary. Human Resource Management. Pearson prentice hall .Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: 11^th Edition. 

The Seven Traits Associated With Leadership

Throughout 20^th century multiple researches were conducted in order to identify leadership traits. The aim was to find characteristics that would differentiate leaders from non-leaders. One research identified seven traits associated with effective leadership that are described below.

The first trait is the drive. Leaders are ambitious, energetic, they demonstrate high effort level, they are passionate, persistent, and they show initiative. The Second trait is the desire to lead. Leaders are not afraid of taking responsibility. They have a strong desire to influence others and lead the way. The third trait is honesty and integrity. Leaders are trustworthy and they show consistency between their words and their deeds. They know it is important to build trusting relationship with subordinates.

Self-Confidence is the fourth trait associated with leadership. Leaders must show self-confidence in what they say, in what they do, and in what they decide so the followers feel that they are stepping on a solid ground. The fifth trait is intelligence. Leaders must be ready to multi task and solve multiple problems at once. They should process and interpret vast amount of information and make correct decisions.

It is typical of an engineer to complain about a manager who set unreachable objectives without knowing the technical obstacles. Job-relevant knowledge is the sixth trait of leadership. Effective leaders have a high degree of knowledge about the company, industry, and technical matters. A leader who has slim knowledge about his/her department often loses his/her self-confidence and drive as well. The seventh trait of leadership is extroversion. Leaders are rarely silent or passive. They are often full of energy, sociable, assertive, and good communicators.

Jobs can fall into three categories. Jobs that deal with things, jobs that deal with people, and jobs that deal with ideas. Generally top managers would deal with ideas and people, middle managers would deal with people and ideas, and supervisors would deal with people and things. However an Ideal leader is someone who have sufficient experience in each single category and inherited the seven traits of leadership.  

      

Resource:

Robbins Stephen P, Coulter Mary; Management. Pearson prentice hall .Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: 10^th Edition.

Modernity as a shaping force in nineteenth-century.

Europe and North America started to prosper during the age of industry (1850-1910). They entered a new age of material production and commodities. Rural areas and small towns turn to big cities, and utilitarianism philosophy spread across the west. Despite economical/technological advancement many artists and philosophers started to criticize this new era, addressing problems such as unfair social stratification, human alienation, and spiritual costs of materialism.

Evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin changed the biblical view of creation and were used as a confirmation to the Victorians creed of social progress. Paintings evolved from realism to impressionism and then to variations of post impressionism and Art Nouveau. Music gradually transformed from majestic operas of Verdi and Wagner to atonal and dream-like symphonies of Debussy. Urban planning and building defined the spirit of modernity. New cities were built from scratch, and old cities went through infrastructural changes. Architectural designs were changed drastically in order to serve the new urban images. The new steel cage skyscrapers of Chicago became popular in New York City and still industry went booming.

  The dark side of modernity was its unfair social stratification. Novelists such as Dickens and Flaubert depicted the injustice and hypocrisy of middle class society and desperate lives of ordinary citizens in their novels. Dramatists such as Ibsen and Chekhov exposed the alienation of middle class society and the complexity of human character using the devices of realism. Dostoyevsky in his novels implored moral freedom through darkness of materialism whereas Nietzsche rejected traditional morality and declared the freedom of self-defining ‘superman’.

Some philosophers believe that the agricultural revolution was the worst mistake in the history of human race because it created social stratification and epidemic diseases. Similarly, industrial revolution and modernity have been criticized for they changed traditional morality and caused alienation for ordinary citizens. However it is fair to acknowledge that we could never reach where we are today but going through industrial revolution and modernity.

Resource: Bishop Philip E. Adventures in the Human Spirit prentice Hall, Pearson .Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: 5^th Edition.

Litigation public relations, and its pro and cons.

                Litigation public relations (LPR) is the profession of influencing events surrounding legal cases, using mass communication techniques. LPR specially comes to play when a case becomes popular and extends beyond the courthouse to the people of the street. LPR uses public relations practices such as focus groups, surveys, and court room exhibit preparation.

Involvement and influence of pervasive media on public opinion and court cases has its pro and cons. This conflict can also be traced in the US constitution. The first amendment guarantees freedom of speech and press whereas the sixth amendment guarantees fair and open trials. Some states have more strict laws on pretrial public communications. Most of these regulations derived from rule 3.6 of the ABA’s model rules of professional conduct.

Public relations practitioners who are assigned for LPR tasks, work for attorneys and aid them in pretrial concerns. The aid includes using public opinion polls and focus groups, coaching lawyers and clients in dealing with media, and most controversially, influencing the jury pool before the trial takes place.   

Whether LPR is a good or bad practice remains controversial. This controversy can even be found in the constitution; as guarantees of freedom of press do not necessarily accommodate the guarantees of fair trial. LPR can be beneficial because it gives the person/organizations a chance to preserve their reputation in the court of public opinion. The drawback of the LPR remains its nature of influencing court proceedings by expressing extrajudicial statements and by stirring up public opinion.       

Resource: Guth David W, Marsh Charles. Public Relations A value-driven approach, Pearson: 4^th Edition.

How Organizations Determine Future Human Resource Needs

Upon determination of organization’s goal/mission, managers begin HR planning. The first step is to take inventory of the current employees. After reviewing the job analysis, HR managers take a query from the company planning program (PeopleMatch for example) and determine whether the company has enough qualified candidates to fill the open positions. If the company is understaffed, new employees will need to be recruited.

Demand for employees results from demand for the organization’s products or services. Let’s think of a supply store that is planning to open a furniture department. In order to fulfill its goal, the store will probably need to buy or rent delivery trucks and hire truck drivers. When demand for products or services dynamically changes in an organization, more job opportunities are created. This will cause more job rotation within the organization and more hiring.

Managers must predict the future needs of the organization and assess current capabilities in order to estimate HR needs. They can then estimate areas in which the organization will be understaffed or overstaffed. For example an organization may realize the need to work on its information system infrastructure. The managers may have to assess the IS department and see if it is capable of doing the planned infrastructure. There might be a need to work with an outside contractor, beside the organization may need to hire new employees who are expert in utilizing the new system. 

            Businesses are becoming more and more dynamic with the force of competition, and with the development of information/communication technologies. Few businesses can afford to resist today’s dynamic market and stick with their old routines. Successful businesses would try to lead the comparative advantage by predicting the future, strengthening the research and development department, creating new jobs, and attracting talents after determining future human resource needs.

Resource:

Robbins Stephen P, Coulter Mary; Management. Pearson prentice hall .Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: 10^th Edition.

Advantages and Disadvantages Between Controlled Media and Uncontrolled Media

            Public relation practitioners deliver their messages through controlled and uncontrolled media. Controlled media are the kind that can be created and controlled by the firm such as advertisement, speeches, paid programs, and employee newsletters. Uncontrolled media are the kind that cannot be controlled by the firm such as television, radio, and newspapers. Controlled and uncontrolled media each have their advantages and disadvantages.

            The advantages of controlled media include the ability to program the channel subjectively by selecting the exact words and images that get sent and also by controlling when and how often the message is repeated. Disadvantages of controlled media include lack of credibility, and cost. When listening to an advertisement or a promotional speech, receivers know that you’re controlling the message so they may not be convinced easily due to lack of credibility.

            Uncontrolled media have lesser problem with credibility and costs. Uncontrolled media broadcast their message to a large scope of people and receivers know that the message is not controlled by the subject. Using uncontrolled media is significantly less expensive but still the firm may need to provide news releases or meet with reporters frequently. News media can provide a third party endorsement or independent endorsement of a news story. The disadvantage of uncontrolled media is that they are not controllable. Public relation practitioners may be able to influence the media but cannot directly control the words and images.

Controlled and uncontrolled media each have their advantages and disadvantages. A combination of the two is generally used in public relation campaigns. Controlled media provide precise messages that would lead to reaching company’s objectives; uncontrolled media offer stronger credibility and are less expensive.

 Resource: Guth David W, Marsh Charles. Public Relations A value-driven approach, Pearson: 4^th Edition. 

Romanticism the era of sensibility

            Romanticism first appeared in England and Germany and then in France and North America around 1800 to 1850. In this era, feeling and imagination were placed above reason, and powers of creative genius were prized. This era was shaped by series of revolutions, influence of heroic/genius men and women, and a sensibility that responded to social and historical circumstances. Thus romanticism was the era of artistic and philosophical concerns, not a unified movement or style.

            Romanticism in its beginning was thrilled by American and French revolutions and affected by industrial revolution especially in the towns of England. Desperate scenes of urban oppression can be seen in the early poetry of William Blake. He believed that he “must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s”. Another significant writer was Mary Wollstonecraft author of the first feminist manifesto. Her words were echoed by later generations of feminists.       

             Nature assumed a new significance, as western societies became more urbanized. Poets and writers of this era such as John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau often depicted imaginations of nature in their poems and writings. John Constable was one of the greatest painters of this era. His paintings skillfully depicts nature scene of commonplaces. Joseph Mallord William Turner, and Thomas Cole are other significant painters of this era whose paintings deliver improvised imagination of nature.

            Another element of romantic era is the romantic escapes. In this era western artists, architect, musician, and poets started to borrow ideas and concepts from the past and from the east. Some examples are: Gothic decoration of gigantic houses of parliament in London, Gothic style towers of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, Islamic and Asian design of John Nash Royal Pavilion in Brighton England, and the Turkish Bath painting of Jean Auguste Dominique.

            A great number of romantic works contain evil and demonic settings (Gothic Novel). American author Edgar Allan Poe for example created spectacular Gothic atmospheres in his The Pit and the Pendulum and The Fall of the House of Usher. Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is the best known Gothic novel today which combine Gothic atmosphere with the romantic themes of genius and the noble savage.

            As we study elements of romanticism, we realize there is no set pattern or uniform style for this era. Geniuses like Beethoven created a bridge to romanticism by breaking set classical rules. Artistic rules and regulations were loosened up in this era and as the result we see more diversity in art, music, and literature as oppose to a unified style. 

Resource: Bishop Philip E. Adventures in the Human Spirit prentice Hall, Pearson .Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: 5^th Edition.