Explore and discuss how the national and organisational culture from the head office location affect how business is conducted when encountering the regional cultures that are present in each of its locations.

International Management

Part 1: Group PowerPoint Presentation and Individual Report

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit an International Management group PowerPoint presentation and individual report. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Assignment Brief

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Understand the role of culture in international business including knowledge of the major policies.
2. Develop knowledge of key organisational and national cultural characteristics in order to manage successfully in diverse contexts.
3. Evaluate the challenge and opportunity of managing a diverse global workforce to create value and achieve organisational goals.
4. Understand the factors that contribute to the notion of a globalised economy demonstrating an awareness of ethically sound and accountable international policies
5. Work effectively as a member of a global virtual team with practical application of cultural awareness, including team working skills.

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and a word count; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in Harvard format. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

Maximum word count: 2000 words

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a reduction in grade by the same percentage that the word count is exceeded.

Assignment Tasks

This assignment is worth 50% of the total marks for the module. Background

Group PowerPoint presentation (equivalent to 1,000 words) and individual 1000-word written assignment.

You are part of a global consulting company that has offices in Japan, Brazil and Germany. The head office is in the UK and the predominant organisational culture stems from there.

Task 1

Explore and discuss how the national and organisational culture from the head office location affect how business is conducted when encountering the regional cultures that are present in each of its locations.

Use the group dynamics to explore the four countries and draw upon the external resources made available during the module and your own extended reading.

Present your findings as one group MS PowerPoint with narration, using no more than 10 slides. An 11th slide can be added containing your references.

(Guidance on PowerPoint narration is provided) (LOs 1, 2 & 5)

(1000-word equivalent)

Task 2

Individually write up your own conclusions as to the key effects of regional cultural issues on the corporate organisational culture of this multinational company as it conducts its business internationally. (LOs 1 & 2)

(1000 words)

Guidelines

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the Harvard system. The My Study Skills Area contains the following useful resources:

Additional notes:

Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment. The word count excludes the title page, executive summary, tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference list and appendices. Where assessment questions have been reprinted from the assessment brief these will also be excluded from the word count. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count. See ‘Word Count Policy’ on the homepage of this module for more information

Part 2:

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit an International Management assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Understand the role of culture in international business including knowledge of the major policies.
2. Develop knowledge of key organisational and national cultural characteristics in order to manage successfully in diverse contexts.
3. Evaluate the challenge and opportunity of managing a diverse global workforce to create value and achieve organisational goals.
4. Understand the factors that contribute to the notion of a globalised economy demonstrating an awareness of ethically sound and accountable international policies
5. Work effectively as a member of a global virtual team with practical application of cultural awareness, including team working skills.

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and a word count; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in Harvard format. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

Maximum word count: 2000 words

Background:

The management of international human resources is increasingly being acknowledged as a major determinant of success or failure in international business (Chew, 2004). For renowned and established multinational corporations (MNCs), failure to be able to communicate and coordinate their activities in international business has the potential to plunge them into a crisis. The crises confronting MNCs include failed assignments due to premature return of expatriates (Pokharel 2016, p311).

Sources: Chew, J., 2004. Managing MNC Expatriates through Crises: A Challenge for International Human Resource Management. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management. 12 (2).1-30 Pokharel, B., 2016.

Triumph over Failure of Expatriate in an International Assignments from the International Human Resource Management Perspective. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 11 (5) 310 – 314

Task:

a) Prepare a report that critically discusses the evidence about expatriate failure, especially with regard to cultural adjustment and consider the factors that maximise expatriate success. In answering this question, you should engage with key concepts and research signposted in module material and your own extensive reading. You should also consider the extent to which culture shock of the expatriate and / or their families can be overcome.

(LO3)

(1000 words)

b) Within the report also discuss the factors that contribute to the notion of a globalised economy demonstrating an awareness of ethically sound and accountable international policies.

(LO4)

(1000 words)

Your considerations need to be backed up by extended reading of academic scholarly work and must not be based upon your opinion.

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the Harvard system. The My Study Skills Area contains the following useful resources:

Guidelines

You must use the Harvard Referencing method in your assignment.