The rapid growth of globalization has created a boundary less organization

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ABSTRACT

The rapid growth of globalization has created a boundary less organization. To manage such an organization, there is a need for a global manager, one who manages across distances, countries and cultures. Considered by some authors to be a myth, wider research, readings and understanding suggest its existence. There are certain criteria which define a global manager, which are truly essential to successful manage in the international context. These managers are invaluable to the organization as they provide the competitive edge. However, there has been shortage of such global managers due to the recruitment of such managers only from the home country of the organization. This is created a limited pool of next generation managers. With the changing trend, organizations have been emphasizing on the recruitment of managers from home country and third nation country. Women, too, are being considered. The major challenge facing global organizations is attract and retain such global managers.

In view of some authors, such as, Christopher A Barlett and Sumantra Ghoshal1, "there is no such thing as a 'universal' global manager, rather there are 3 groups of specialists: business managers, country managers, and functional managers and there are top executives at corporate headquarters, who manage the complex interactions between the 3." According to Yehuda Baruch2, there is "no such thing as a global manager", because "the examination of a wide possible characteristics indicates that there seems to be no distinct set of individual qualities that constitute such a manager."

With globalization becoming a basic economic reality, national boundaries have become insignificant. As a result, companies worldwide have shifted their focus from domestic to an international or global arena by extending operations into different parts of the world. As companies become more global minded, the need for managers with global perspective, international experience and skills that translate well to broader global context has increased. These new breed of managers, known as global managers, are those who manage across multiple time zones, country infrastructures, and cultural expectations.

A major challenge facing many multinational firms to successfully compete and grow in worldwide markets is the recruitment and development of a cadre of good managers with a global mindset who can succeed in the international market place. Various studies have been conducted in order to come up with the criteria that constitute a global manager, based on skills, capabilities and knowledge.

A recent research conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), a nonprofit educational institution, identified some essential managing capabilities to successfully manage the challenges of the global business environment. These managerial capabilities are similar but different when applied in a global setting and include decision making, planning, managing people, motivating others, leadership, managing action and information, stress management, and having business knowledge.

In addition to these managerial capabilities, the research identified four pivotal capabilities uniquely related to effective global managers. The first one being the superior knowledge of how business is carried out in different countries with different cultures. As a global manager, knowledge of a country's history, laws, culture, and political, economic, financial conditions are essential for carrying out the responsibilities in a different country. International business knowledge even means knowing how to leverage an organization's core business, within each country, where it has members, customers, staff, vendors, resources, and various operations.

Next, in order to be effective in this world of cultural diversity, global managers must effectively adapt themselves to different cultures. This requires in depth knowledge and understanding of various cultures and the differences amongst them, in order to interact affectively with them. Global managers must take into account the complex interactions of norms, beliefs, values and attitudes of different culture groups. They must address multiple and differing expectations about how people do business. This complex role, therefore, demands a contingency approach to dynamic environments.
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Thirdly, global managers should represent perspective-taking, which is essentially cultural empathy. A global manager must have the ability to appreciate and respect beliefs, values, behaviors, and business practices of individuals and groups of other cultures. Such managers should think outside their culture, by looking at issues through the keys of others and recognizing different viewpoints. For a global marketing manager, empathizing with customer's culture is paramount.

Global managers should possess the skill of innovation. Innovative global managers can, through their international business knowledge, understanding of cultural differences, and ability to embrace the perspectives of others, create and ...

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