Ilo and Brazil Team Up

¶ … ILO and Brazil team up to assist countries coping with social and natural disasters." As can be told in the title, the purpose of this is to help countries that don't have a disaster prevention or relief plan in place. I really didn't see anything within the article that surprised me because I know that other countries do what they can to help. I did find it nice to read about another country doing something however. Again, I know that they have helped, but all I ever hear about is what the United States does, so it was nice to hear about another country's plan.

On a side note, I also think that it is great to provide this kind of training to other countries. By helping to train a country have a disaster prevention/plan in place; it helps to relieve some of the help that they might need when the time arises.

Certainly, the U.S. has always been the primary source of global relief, particularly since the end of World War II. On one hand, this is admirable because it does reflect an element of sincere benevolence. However, it is also true that this was originally part of an ideological approach to prosecuting the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Specifically, the U.S. strategy during the Cold War era was to use economic aid to support foreign nations as a specific means of undermining the spread of Communism. Today, that is no longer the case and it seems that U.S. And other wealthier nations are indeed genuinely concerned about global welfare.

Discussion 2

I believe to be successful in international business, a manager must have superior communications skills, empathy, social graces, and must be adaptable, in addition to the standard qualities of management like strong organizational skills, analytical skills, and able to multi-task.

It is clear one must have social skills and either already have familiarity with the country your business is engaged in or be able to learn and adapt quickly to a new set of social expectations and general business practices. They must be able to work with all different personalities in a way where they can represent your business standards and know when it is appropriate to conform to local business practices.

I agree completely that social and communication skills are essential in modern business. That is especially true in connection with a global international society. In many instances, different cultures have such different social expectations that failure to respect and adhere to those social and cultural norms could easily make the difference between success and failure with respect to collaboration with foreign nationals.

Discussion 3