Developing the Global Mindset from Understanding Cultural Perspectives

The global mindset is important for managing organizations across a wide spectrum of cultures as well as working effectively within particular cultures. A study by Masakowski, et. al. (2013) discusses the concept of the global mindset and how a sample of military veterans was able to improve upon cultural intelligence, metacognitive/cognitive strategies, and their effective/motivational resources for learning. The study helps to highlight some of the factors in developing global managers.

Business education is beginning to incorporate the global mindset into their curriculum in an effort to create stronger global strategic decision-making. This mindset is fostered through multi-cultural interactions within classrooms (Rhinesmith, 1992). It may also be fostered in companies through cross collaborative projects and service oriented learning.

The global mindset can be used in business organizations, military units, or geographical dispersed projects. Global leadership skills are created by enhancing the global mind-set, cultural intelligence, and intercultural competence (Pless, et. al., 2011).  Development typically comes from tacit and implicit knowledge of other cultures that is built into an appropriate mental framework.

One can think of the global mindset as the development of the “software of the mind” (Hoftstead, 1991). It is a way of processing cultural information across boundaries using a method that makes logical sense to the user. It is a broad perspective that synthesizes information into a usable model that understands the impact of decisions across multiple cultures. It is a type of broad and wide strategic analysis.

According to Rhinesmith (1992, pg. 10) the global mindset is a “a predisposition to see the world in a particular way that sets boundaries and provides explanations for why things are the way they are. A mindset is a filter through which we look at the world.” As a unique perspective it offers the opportunity to understand and synthesize information on a global or universal scale.

Let us try and see this in a more concise perspective. Exposure to various cultures offers an opportunity to see different vantage points and ways of living unique to each culture. When multiple cultural perspectives are understood it is possible to take a wider perspective of life and synthesize that into conclusions that apply across cultures. It is something akin to the commonalities of life.

The study focused on veterans and others who seek to be entrepreneurs. The participants engaged in 2-3 weeks of online education followed by an intensive 9-day boot camp. They found that the metacognitive learning that leads to a global mindset is difficult to train and is something that is unintentional and unique to the individual. Global knowledge is concise pieces of information while the global perspective is a broader methodology of viewing the world. There were a number of factors that seem to have some influence:

Metacognitive/cognitive: The cognitive strategies that a person uses to understand other cultures and the strategies enacted to understand specific cultures (learning how to learn).

Affective/Motivational: People must be motivated to learn about other cultures to develop cultural intelligence.

Behavioral: The ability of a person to adjust their behavior to fit within a particular culture.

Hofstede, G. 1991. Cultures and organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mosakowski, E. et. al. (2013). Cultures as learning laboratories: what makes some more effective than others? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12 (3).

Pless, N. M., Maak, T., & Stahl, G. K. 2011. Developing responsible global leaders through international service-learning programs: The Ulysses experience. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 10: 237–260.

Rhinesmith, S. H. 1992. Global mindsets for global managers. Training & Development, 46(10): 63–69.

Including Investment and Labor Movement in Global Management Assessments

In today’s world, international business is a mainstay of everyday commerce and policy.  Products move across the globe and make their way into homes and lives of individuals and families at different places on the planet. Most statistics include the hard goods and services that traverse across borders but may be missing other tangible value. Dr. Predrag Bjelić discusses the inclusion of direct foreign investment and labor flow as important components of economic calculations. 

Even though 2006 IMF data indicated that 75% of international trade is measured in goods the liberalization of trade has also brought with it services, investment and human capital. The latter two being something more difficult to concretely assess but should be included in the overall assessment. Understanding the flow of information along with the intellectual capital encourages a greater conception of global commerce and the antecedents to that commerce.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important method of pushing up the employment economy. FDI can be defined as “an investment involving a long-term relationship and reflecting a lasting interest and control by a resident entity in one economy (investor or parent enterprise) in an enterprise resident in an economy other than that of the investor (FDI enterprise or affiliate enterprise or foreign affiliate)”(UNCTAD 2007, 245). 

In the past, emerging markets grew from turning investment income into productive output sold on the global market. To be effective in this growth, human capital will also need to develop adequately to use that investment capital to its maximum growth potential. Countries that have excess labor skill inadvertently lose some of that labor skill to countries that provide employment opportunities. 

The author determines that multi-national companies have changed traditional calculations of international commerce. In many cases large firms provide direct foreign investment and emerging economies export skilled labor in a type of loose exchange. New calculations should take into account the flow of investment and the movement of labor across the borders to get a better perspective of global exchange.

UNCTAD. 2007. World Investment Report 2007:Transnational Corporations, Extractive Industries and Development. Geneva.

Bjelic, P. (2013). New approach in international trade analysis due to international factor movements. Zbornik Radova Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Istocnom Sarajevu, 7

Can Better Marketing Data Lead to Stronger Performance?

Data can lead to confusion or clarity. As the market becomes more versatile companies will need betters ways of measuring.  Research by Homburg et. al. (2012) delves into what makes successful marketing data management and what doesn’t. They use a more complex contingency-based model that studies the association between market performance and data through the concepts of breadth, strategy fit, and cause & affect. 

There are many examples of data systems that include dashboards and balanced score cards. The right kind of data can lead to conclusions about cause and effect and this can have great benefits for organizations seeking a path to navigate. Data management is a method of drawing key measurements from the environment and aligning organizational activities for greater market performance. 

The greatest benefits of data appear to be from those who seek to create a differentiation strategy. This means that the firm is selling products that compete within certain demographics. They are showing themselves to be different than others because of X or Y. Market differentiation is a common strategy among companies that desire to set themselves apart in competitive markets.

Data management works well when market complexity and dynamism are higher. It helps to create more clarity that encourages alignment with new market trends. When markets are constantly changing data provides a target that may not be available to other firms. Proper systems help to clarify, develop strategies, and focus energy toward specific targets. 

They found through 201 marketing responses empirical support for performance outcomes depending on the strategy, complexity and dynamisms of the market. Faster changing environments need better information that can guide decision-makers into making stronger strategic choices. The biggest pay offs are for those firms that differentiate themselves from others. When markets are larger and across different continents breadth helps to ensure you are capturing the right data. Secondly, the data must fit within the strategy of the organization and help them focus on what is important. Third, cause and effect information helps firms adjust their processes to create greater impact in the market. 

Comment:  Data for data sake is not beneficial. The type of data collected should be based upon the strategic needs of the organization. This data is then organized in a way that encourages useful conclusions. Since data organized improperly can mislead decisions it is important to regularly revisit the type of data being collected and how it is being organized. 

Homburg, et. al. (2012). Marketing performance measurement systems: Does comprehensiveness really improve performance? Journal of Marketing, 76.

Improving Business Education through Industry Connections

Business colleges have developed over the past few decades. According to Xie and Steiner (2013), not all of these changes have been for the better. The authors argue that traditional business education has damaged the overall business community and narrowed people into irrelevance. They provide some possibilities for improvement of business colleges within their paper. 

They offer a couple of solutions that include connections between business and business schools, new business education models,  as well as joint creation of knowledge management. Their reasoning is that student’s knowledge should broaden perspectives beyond simple tools of management and should include the overall human elements that enhance understanding further than number crunching. 

Collaboration between Business Schools and Business: In the older models, students were apprentice oriented. Business colleges should make stronger connections to the business community in order to create higher levels of relevant education. The traditional educational model has separated itself from the needs of modern day business management. Professors should be seen as professionals with certain codes of ethics and standards.

Joint Creation of Management Knowledge: There is practical knowledge and academic knowledge. Even though these two forms of knowledge can overlap, they have become more separate in recent decades. Practitioners and academics should work closely to ensure that knowledge is practical and applied in nature. Education should focus on solving practical problems for business managers. 

New Educational Models Revisited: New business education models need to develop that bridges the gaps between traditional education and modern business needs. The student should learn new concepts that applied practically in the real world. Colleges should focus on teaching those skills that are most relevant within the modern business market. 

Interestingly, the report highlights the concepts of the practitioner-academic that creates new knowledge but does so in the context of applied usage of knowledge. Business education and business management should be intertwined to create relevancy in the modern day work place. Data crunching is important but the understanding of human behavior is a primary function of management. Data crunching and soft skills of human management are important co-complimentary skills. Colleges should seek to foster both.

Xie, C. & Steiner, S. (2013). Enhancing management education relevance: joint creation of knowledge between business schools and business. Business Education & Accreditation, 5 (2).

Open Innovation as a Growing Trend in the Hotel and Tourism Industry

Town and Country Resort-San Diego

Innovation is increasingly seen as one method of improving upon the economic fundamentals within industries. As businesses develop new products and services they become more competitive and able to succeed in a highly competitive global environment. Research by Artic (2013) helps shed light on the potential for open innovation and economic improvement of the hard hit hotel industry in Slovenia. Their findings highlight potential uses of open innovation in meeting customer needs and expectations.

The author separates innovative societies from non-innovative societies. Innovative societies are those that seek to enhance their markets by developing new products and services that in turn can influence jobs and economics. Routine societies try and maintain existing systems without creative destruction whereby economic growth become stagnant. Stagnation means eventual decline as other countries zoom to fill market gaps.

Open innovation is defined by Chesbrough (2003, pg. 12) as, “a model that assumes that companies can improve their business to use external and internal ideas, and the internal and external paths to market, which will contribute to their development”.  This process occurs when participants, whether corporate or individual, brings forward ideas and technology to increase the value added nature of products/services. These improved products/services make companies more competitive in the global marketplace. 

According to Sloane (2011), open innovation reduces costs, improves productivity, generates innovative ideas and reduces the time it takes to put new products on the market. In the hotel industry, open innovation solicits ideas from both customers as well as other industry stakeholders to improve upon the overall development of the industry. The ideas and suggestions are used to develop better services and service management to raise the value of the hotel experience.

The author contends that open innovation seeks to foster synergy of stakeholders, resources, and competitive advantage. Stakeholders are seen as suppliers, related businesses, inventors, etc. while resources are generally seen as knowledge and information. Competitive advantage is fostered as new products and services hit the market at a faster rate thereby maximizing profits. 

The researcher used 35 Slovenian hotels in an attempt to understand the hotels understandings of their demographics, the macroeconomic environment and open innovation. The found that 63% of participants believe that entrepreneurship and globalization dictate trends of development, 75% that innovation is a major developmental force and 75% believe that it will be even more important in the future to understand the needs of guests. Only 38% of hotel administrators heard of the concept of open innovation but more than half were sure they were using it. 

The author’s study focused on open innovation awareness and use in the Slovenian hotel industry. The study was limited to customers alone. There are other factors of open innovation which could include cross-industry use for major product/service development, supplier collaboration for transactional efficiency, governmental usage for community building in addition to customer usage. The study does highlight how open innovation can increase the competitive stance of companies by encouraging new product/service development as well as reduce time to bring those products/services to market. 

Artic, N. (2013). Open innovation as a chance to overcome economic crisis in hotel industry. Tourism in South East Europe, 2.

 

Chesbrough, H. (2003). The era of open innovation.  MIT Sloan Management Review,  44 (3). pp. 35-41.

Sloane, P. (2011). The brave new world of open innovation. Strategic Direction, 27 (5), pp. 3-4.