Speech Symposium Dear Today You

Speech Symposium

Dear

Today you are about to embark on a mission -- a mission to take our democratic and free America to other countries where you will come across cultures, laws and ethics that are totally different from what you are used to in the United States. There are cultural, political and social differences from the U.S. way of life in which you have been brought up. Some of you would be posted at South East Asia, which comprise of many of our stations and even company offices and corporate centers. Then there is Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Australia. Though the Australia and UK may come closer to our way of life and you may not have much problems in these countries, there are bound to be a lot of adjustments required from you in the course of your sojourn in the place of your posting.

Our country has had different forms of approaches to various countries with the progress of time. For example during the cold war we forged some alliances which were dictated during those times by issues of political necessity. Now that the globalization has created more interludes we have changed our outlook and our approaches with regard to dealing with various countries, for example with India and China. The fact however that is there are still differences at the political level -- with regard to U.S. relations with India and China. Both these countries are emerging powers of Asia. You have to therefore understand the political, social, and historical setting of the place of work where you are posted and understand your role and what is expected of you from the angle of the political and international relations.

Primarily with regard to Asia I hope you must be aware of our presence in Iraq and our issues with that of Iran. Likewise I hope the situation in Afghanistan would be also known to you and I need not elaborate on the situation as you have been briefed by news and the media. However I wish to make one thing clear, we want to see peace in all these countries and the American interests protected, both civilian and military. The companies who have invested and employed you or perhaps the offices of the missions that have taken you in need not only your diligent work but also timely and proper intervention in the affairs that affect us.

There are situations wherein for long we have not found possible solutions even though we have given our best to do all we can. For example from the time of the peace process in 1993, the economic situation in Gaza is worsening and by 1999 was raising unemployment and poverty. The constraints in the Palestinian-Israeli agreements have constrained the workers ability to "travel to, work in, and trade with Israel. Increased difficulties in business operations and heightened uncertainty regarding the feasibility of a permanent settlement have stifled private investment." (Diwan; Shaban, 1999) From then to now we have challenges in the Middle East concerning Israel. There are other political considerations too. China has political agendas that are evident in its conduct in the AESAN. These commitments have no place in the TAC and its stand towards Taiwan is not clear. While observing other countries it is clear about what these countries want, namely peace and amity, China seems to have a different agenda. (Weatherbee; Emmers, 2005)

India is another country that has become powerful in the ASEAN block, with its economic reforms and its leading participation roles in the regional economic forums. Indian interests are opposed to our erstwhile ally Pakistan. However both the countries are fighting terrorism present in each of their countries. (Onn, 2008)

China and India will rise as the next economic super powers. (Onn, 2008) We have to admit that politically. We have not shown much interest in the Asian affairs for a long time and that is one of the reasons why our influence has been eroded. Our policy hitherto was to show short-term responses to crisis as they occurred without a long-term policy towards these countries. (Kerrey; Manning, 2001) You will find that this past attitude of ours will tend to influence you while dealing with these countries. If you have been given the opportunity to work in these countries you have to understand the new economic developments which is prevalent in these countries and try not to bring our past attitudes while working in these countries.

There will be need for lot of diplomacy and understanding the various cultures and work atmospheres where you would be working and may have to assimilate some of the local lifestyles into your daily working patterns. This calls for patience, perseverance, fortitude and most of all leadership skills. The term leadership has wide connotations. There are many definitions of leadership that could be fitted to a particular context such as political leadership, social and so on. The definitions of leadership in the industry or business are different slightly from the social types. The need for integration, control, and encouraging learning and creativity calls for persons with leadership qualities. You would be called to exhibit your leadership skills. Yes, let me remind you that you would be asked to take major decisions, and exhibit leadership qualities that the situation demands, and that many of your colleagues and new friends in these countries may depend upon you for leadership and direction, be it in dealing with the day-to-day affairs. (Briscoe; Schuler, 2004)

The fundamental requisites, such as motivation and inspiration are common to all forms of leadership. In the business environment it calls for qualities that could accommodate transitions and transformations. Considering the company in the context of multiple countries, and culture create a very complex organizational design that is as complex as the global economy itself. When applied across national borders in the highly complex global economy make the problems of organizational design especially difficult. (Briscoe; Schuler, 2004) Multinational organizations have adapted to the new market structures and have ushered in new technologies and new management practices. One of the fundamental requirements of a corporate system is the flexibility in adjusting to changing scenarios in the world markets. (Henderson, 1996)

The personnel of the company are the key factors to the company's success. Likewise you must remember that you are a major role player. Thus human resources of any organization are its greatest asset, and thus the need for human resource planning and re-engineering is a very important aspect in the overall success of the company. These factors and the need to have leadership from the base of the hierarchal pyramid make it imperative to study the issue in detail.

One important fact that as a leader you have to understand is that you will be dealing with issues of diversity which you may not have come across while living in the U.S. One has to remember that where there is diversity, there will not only be difference of opinions, but also these differences show up as contrast and it can be seen that there are national differences in work-related attitudes and values. These could be between 15 and 63% of the variance in individual responses. (Chemers, 1997)

The key to understanding these cultural and socio political differences is to define the relationships as reciprocal exchanges wherein the leaders and the groups create a transaction that is mutually satisfying. Departments and units evolve subcultures that are either conducive to the main culture or could be hostile and deviant. The deviant or counter culture could be useful for surveillance and information processing on the actual path taken in the evolving corporate structure. There are several successes that companies spread, which becomes the norm of behavior and the inspiration for others to achieve. These stories of success then become a part of the legend and benchmark for achievement. The corporate culture essentially is composed of the corporate value system. This system of values is conceived and created at the apex, flowing down from the CEO to the executives scattered down to each unit of the enterprise. (Fairholm, 2001)

This means that the corporate values are a result of the forces that are created by the individual's internal and personal values and standards. These features of personality affect the functioning and perceptions more than externally imposed goals and principles. Thus the inner self of the individual must be in tandem with the corporate mission. What applies to the corporation also applies to all departments that are functioning outside and this implies to your work too. Leaders ensure that these core values are imbibed by the personnel in such a way that they make it a part of their personality. (Starks, 2009)

That is a big task and therefore you have to look at your work with a greater responsibility and maturity. You are aware that there is diversity in the Federal workplace in the U.S. And to a great extent this will be seen abroad too. However being used to work with issues of diversity at home is slightly different from the problems and issues abroad. The federal workforce, U.S. federal government agency workforces are based on equal opportunity and promotions are on merit principles. (Starks, 2009) Thus we have Asians and Pacific Islanders well-represented in private sector professional positions (8.9%) and in government positions (4.8%) considering they made up 3.7% of the general population." (Starks, 2009)

Another issue you are going to face is the gender issues. In the U.S. too it was an issue and we see the first U.S. female secretary only during the Clinton administration - Madeline Albright followed by Rice and now Hillary Clinton. Outside the race and sex issues are very important. In Islamic countries the situation of women are not very positive and this if interfered with is going to cause ill will. Like wise you may have to encounter hostile feelings in countries wherein women have a long history of discrimination that was meted out to them. (Henderson, 1994)

While on the one hand the issues that we confront at home may also be found at the new place, I have to remind you that the racism of dividing mankind into four races -- white, yellow, brown, and black caused further problems, both at home and elsewhere and this will also dog you in your new worplace. All managers are trained by the culture and the background of culture prejudices continue into the workplace. Thus it can be argued that behaviors, not attitudes, of people that create problems for diversity at the workplace. We have to agree that still there is "prejudice against women, older workers, individuals with disabilities, foreign workers, and white workers -- all the people who comprise the labor force." (Henderson, 1994) This will also be found abroad, but much in a different setting. You are bound to be looked upon with some misgivings which need to be overcome with ingenuinity.

Take a valuable example from management systems. In management systems, the basis of management is to motivate the employees or mass of persons apply efforts which is then directed to achieve the goals and aims. Leaders thus motivate the employees in lending their maximum effort. To achieve this aim the leader must be able to influence people by leading them in multiple ways. It involves accurate communications, decision making, motivational activities, and likewise careful selection of personnel who suit the job. The need for the changes in the role models are necessitated in leadership and leadership development is reflective of the current environment of business.

One of the answers to the problems of diversity is trying to have an integration approach that respects the other culture. Thus integrating with the people where you work and live is very essential because it helps create the work culture which is the basis of progress. Individual values could be based on professional ethics and needs, organizational values, community values, and the social values that change from country to country and place to place. The tapping of inner values and thus creating a leader from the worker whose vision also encompasses the core belief of the corporate entity is the success of the leader, and the core values are important for the successful management of the business which can be achieved without conflict.

The issue involves developing strategies to create and manage a diverse workforce which means that there ought to be a model for managing females, immigrants, and minorities, Hispanic, and Asian origins. In order to understand the problem you have to remember that the terms culture, ethnicity & race are the three terms which are frequently used interchangeably in everyday interactions. Most of these interactions are reflected in the work place ethics and also in the consideration of personnel to upper echelons of the management oath. Thus "central to an understanding of diversity issues is the definition of culture. The cultural roots and the feelings that supervisors and mangers have with the employees plays a crucial part in harassment. We cannot remove the prejudice completely but we can prevent discrimination at the work place. You have to remember that the federal service maintains that equal opportunity is the key to enhance efficiency of the federal workplace, wherein opportunities are given irrespective of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or disability. (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2003)

This shows that as an American you have learned how to overcome prejudices and this would be a model for the host countries that follow American precedents, and secondly it would further change the way the government servants perceive their work and relations with their colleagues, superiors and supervisors. In terms of a global presence, the absence of discrimination will help get better quality workers both at home and abroad. The problem of immigrants and role of marginalized communities and their increased participation in the government and its agencies will change the nature in which the governance and international relations are perceived.

At this point I have to mention that there are many types of models that you will encounter that may be used to overcome limitations in interactions. There are many technical theories on leadership and I am not going to elaborate them here. However I mention that the transactional and charismatic model of leadership finds favor today with the business community. You could use this model too. This leads to the fact that leadership training is and must be an integral part of the management of the company. Leadership concepts hitherto have always been concerned with the individual. The link with business purpose and outcomes ought to be understood, as this leads to training and creating leadership at the workplace. Models are not entire in the sense that the analysis does not encompass the entire gamut of the issue. For example Fiedler's contingency model did not analyze if the motivational orientation of the leader affects group processes and outcomes. Thus leadership can be directly measured on the impact it has on motivation and satisfaction. These theories of motivation predicted that certain behaviors would provide the desired outcomes. The "path-goal" instrumentality model postulated that the behavior was a function of the product of the person's perception of the state of affairs. (Chemers, 1997) Though the individual contribution is the basis of all work and transactions, you have to remember that in most situations no one accomplishes anything alone and thus we have to depend on others, and that is where the team comes in.

While you bring about your leadership qualities into on your working patterns, do bear in mind that your leadership also requires the cooperation of your colleagues, and the public if you have to interact with them. That again leads us to the discussion of cooperation -- or in other words 'team work.' Teams help create a work culture that is centered on providing emotional support, goal accomplishment and provide for social interaction. The teams operate better when the tasks are clear, and there is a shared work which all members are motivated to accomplish. The team forming strategies like forming, storming, norming and performing with appraisal and adjournments are regular in the evolution of goal-based groups. Teams and employee involvement have a direct relation with the active participation of employees who influence decisions. Team work is the key for support and quick achievement of what we set out to do. America especially the corporate America has progressed with team work and cooperation. (Burke; Cooper, 2004)

Team and team work have been used in America to achieve organizational objectives and purposes. For example today teams are now much embedded in corporate America. Most organizations now have teams. The international functioning of the motor Giant Toyota Teams for example can be a model for you. In the U.S. And in their home country and elsewhere team work has been symbolized with the way the team leaders and all members of the team contribute to the production and problem solving. Today all organizations have this team building as part of the human resource management. Thus organizations often employ multiple team structures concurrently. The benefits of team work improve customer satisfaction, service and product quality, and productivity. It makes the company responsive to changes. Further it is known that the team building can always create an environment which can be able to boost the morale of the employee and give better job satisfaction, and a feeling of a strong link between performance, pay and contribution.

Teams could be top-down that closely follow the system of hierarchy and are based on the strategic necessities of the Company. These concepts that evolved over time in the world's market place have always been the part of the Japanese work culture. That is why it is important for you to understand the work culture and the way the indigenous population work as a team and you have the daunting task of integrating the American personnel to these alien teams. Thus for example if you analyze the Japanese work and their function models and their attitudes to the development of personnel and the concepts of management, you will find that Japanese companies like Toyota, Honda, Nissan and so on have the Japanese model of management as the base of their work culture which have proved to be a success. Though the team work was an integral part of America's business culture also, there are vast differences in the Japanese and the American models and there are a lot of adjustments required. This is also true for all countries, especially Asian countries, whose models may be alien to you.