Culture Leadership and Organizations

Assume that you are the CEO of a multi-national company. What is the first thing you consider when selecting a model to use in an upcoming cross-cultural merger, joint venture, or acquisition? Why? How will this consideration assist you in selecting the best model for the situation?

Being the CEO of a multi-national company, the primary thing I would first and foremost take into consideration when choosing a model in a forthcoming cross-cultural merger is the cultural aloofness that exists between my organization's culture and the other company. The fundamental reason for doing so is because in instances of a merger, joint venture or acquisition, more often than not, the players from one end of the merging organization hold dissimilar perspectives, beliefs and points of view of the organizational culture (Graen, 2006). Therefore, by getting into a joint venture, merger or acquisition devoid of comprehensively integrating the differing cultural views, then the chances of having a successful merger or acquisition become minimal (Denison et al., 2011).

This consideration will help me as the CEO of the company in selecting the most ideal model for the situation. This is in the sense that in instances where there is minimal cultural dissimilarity amongst the two organizations, the model utilized in the course of the cross-cultural joint venture, merger, or acquisition will solely consider how the major organization will espouse and embrace the other organizational culture. On the other hand, if there are significant cultural differences between the two organizations, the model selected will encompass profound evaluation of cultural diversity not only at an organizational level but also at a personal level. This takes into account assessing whether there is individual awareness and understanding of differences and eccentricities (Denison et al., 2011). In addition, if the company develops growth in attitude culture, the individuals, various stakeholders and the organization as a whole, will successfully be part of the joint venture, merging or acquisition process (Petkovic et al., 2014).

When leading a culturally diverse organization as an inclusive leader, which negotiation strategies are most successful? Why?

An organization that has diversity and inclusivity augments the effectives of tasks undertaken by every member, interactive relationships, and individual efficiency to attain their best. When leading a culturally diverse organization as an inclusive leader, one of the most successful negotiation strategies to utilize is ascertaining the conflicting and contradictory standpoints. The reason for this is to understand the extent to which these parties are divergent in terms of their views. The subsequent approach is to recognize and accept the diversity in thinking and embracing the varying perspectives. Thereafter, as an inclusive leader, the next phase is to commence to congregate and unite considerations in order to come to an inclusive process of decision making (Naude et al., 2015).

These meeting and sittings should be designed in a manner in which every individual is given a voice, the different aspects of disparity and agreement are delineated, and thereafter shifting to discussing and negotiating resolutions to the areas of disparity. As an inclusive leader, the main purpose of my strategies should be to facilitate shifting of the groups from a point of extensive disagreement to a point of union and togetherness. It should also make the most of all perspectives, giving rise to strong dedication to the future direction (Prewitt et al., 2011). To achieve this, as a leader, I should offer guidelines to the group, ranging from outlining the topic, assessing perspectives and alternatives, and thereafter selecting a course, forming a solution, and in conclusion, expounding the result. In addition, this encompasses including empathy in the negotiation sittings as this will increase the level of inclusivity, causing the groups to have a sense of responsibility towards the result provided (Prewitt et al., 2011).

As the global economy creates increasing levels of interdependence, will the return on investment from inclusive leadership continue to increase as well? Why or why not? What other effects do you anticipate from increasing interdependence and inclusive decision making?

Interdependence leadership cultures takes into account the aspect that leadership is a combined and joint activity that necessitates mutual examination and learning. As the global economy increases levels of interdependence, the return on investment from inclusive leadership will continue to increase as well. This is because through inclusivity, diverse individuals are taken into consideration and through mutual cooperation, the benefits can only get better and accrue. The return on investment will include the mesh of various perspectives, ideas, and conceptions. The advantage of this is that it will increase the level of creativity, innovation and progression within the organizations (Pattigrew, 2014). There will also be the advantage of extensive use of dialogue, cooperation, having horizontal rather than vertical networks, valuing any variances, and laying emphasis on learning and gaining more knowledge. For instance, according to a research study undertaken by Trade Arabia (2013), the advantage is that benefits of interdependence and inclusive leadership are innovation and idea generation, leading to gender diversity, increased employee engagement, and advancement of women personnel. I also anticipate other effects from increasing interdependence and inclusive decision making. This consists of an increased capacity to work efficaciously across organizational borders, sincerity and truthfulness, multi-faceted canons of attainment and synergies being generated throughout the entity. Taking this into consideration, there will be increased employee retention and decreased turnover. This will also give rise to improved individual and organizational performance, which will be a significant return on investment (Pettigrew, 2014).

References

Graen, G. B. (2006). In the eye of the beholder: Cross-cultural lesson in leadership from project GLOBE: A response viewed from the Third Culture Bonding (TCB) model of cross-cultural leadership. Academy Of Management Perspectives, 20(4), 95-101. doi:10.5465/AMP.2006.23270309

Naude, S., Stanley, M., & Ratcliffe, V. (2015). Inclusive leadership matters top performance. Human Resources Magazine, 20(4), 16-17.

Petkovic, M., Miric, A. A., & Cudanov, M. (2014). Designing a learning network organization. Management (1820-0222), (73), 17-24. doi:10.7595/management.fon.2014.0029

Pettigrew, A. M. (2014). The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge.

Prewitt, J., Weil, R., & McClure, A. (2011). Developing leadership in global and multi-cultural organizations. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(13).

Trade Arabia. (2013). Innovation tops gains from inclusive leadership. Retrieved from: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/REAL_232949.html

Denison, D. R., Adkins, B., & Guidroz, A. M. (2011). Managing cultural integration in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Advances in global leadership, 6, 95-115.