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.

Call for Papers: International Conference on Tourism Transport and Technology

August  1^st & 3^rd 2014 London, United Kingdom

The conference focuses on academic research in the fields of :

* Tourism & Hospitality

* Transport & Logistics

* Technology & Sciences

* Business & Economic

* Social Sciences

Europiean Academic Conference focus on Tourism & Hospitality; Transport & Logistics; Technology & Science; Business & Economics; supported by international journal vol.3 No.1

Deadline for abstracts/proposals:  June 30th 2014

Website: http://www.ictttconference.com

Sunshine Smoothies-Location Makes the Difference

Sunshine smoothie is located a few blocks from Ocean Beach and next to the Ocean Beach Athletic Park making it convenient for sports players, skateboarders and beach goers. Located on a major bike artery that connects to the larger Ocean Beach Bike trail the store gets a lot of foot and cycle traffic. Selling coffee and smoothies it offers more than convenience to those who engage in park activities.

Their smoothies are organic and sell for $8 per 24 oz. You can find some interesting blended options such as kale, spinach, carrots, romaine, and ginger along with some traditional varieties such as granny apple and acia. The list of options is extensive. Of course you can also grab an espresso or a soda if you’re a little more conventional.

Convenience store success is location based. There are approximately 146,000 convenience stores in the country with 117,000 of them selling fuel (Bainbridge, 2012). Convenience stores must be highly visible, easily accessible, and in a strong location. Without consistent traffic flow such stores can easily go out of business. 

Sunshine smoothies has a strong location that is not only visible to significant street traffic driving or biking to the beach but also people watching or playing sports. Smoothies and cold beverages appear to be a near perfect product for those who are suffering from thirst on a hot day. Most purchases are likely to be small and such stores rely on a high volume of small purchases to be lucrative. 

Running a successful small business is about knowing your market and reaching that market in the most effective manner. Convenience stores are unlikely to generate significant online traffic or have radically different products. However, they do charge a premium based on their core concept-convenience. For Sunshine smoothie their location is their greatest asset. 

Sunshine Smoothie 

5020 W Point Loma Blvd

San Diego, CA 92107 

http://sunshinesmoothie.com/ 

Bainbridge, R. (2012). Site essentials of convenience stores and retail fuel properties. Appraisal Journal, 80 (1).

Book Review: The Theory of Economic Development by Joseph Schumpeter

Joseph Schumpeter is known as the “Prophet of Innovation” and published his work The Theory of Economic Development at 28 years of age (1). As an economist he didn’t receive much attention because he wasn’t in alignment with the popular Keynesian Economics of the time (2).  His greatest achievement being the meshing of sociology with economics to make a system of development.

The chapters of the book are:

(I) The Circular Flow of Economic Life as Conditioned by Given Circumstances;

(II) The Fundamental Phenomenon of Economic Development;

(III) Credit and Capital;

(IV) Entrepreneurial Profit;

(V) Interest on Capital;

(IV) The Business Cycle.

Schumpeter believed in a perfect equilibrium where there are no profits, no savings, no new products, no voluntary unemployment, or need. It is a system of economic flow where there is no need to adapt, adjust, or change because everything is running smoothly. This perfect equilibrium either never existed or only exists for a short time before the system changes again.

The economic system is forever in constant flux. It is being destroyed and rebuilt to adapt to new situations. Combinations occur to help solve economic problems through the use of innovation. As a system adjusts it must then readjust through innovation. This innovation pushes the system to new heights.

Entrepreneurs are the catalyst to change. When they innovate a new product or service it forces the system to adjust again. Entrepreneurs rely on credit and must be productive to pay that credit effectively. Their production encourages copycat adaptations not only in the field in which the product was produced but also in other fields as well leading to wider innovations that further the system.

As products become adapted they will naturally experience a reduction of value as the market becomes saturated. This saturation offers a lower return on investment and in turn forces companies to innovate the product again. Failure to innovate the product means that companies cannot pay their loans or earn profits. Capital must be available to start anew.

In this book I find three main concepts of significant importance 1.) Sociology as part of the economic system, 2.) A flow of interconnected elements and 3.) Combinations. To me economics is about fulfillment of human need and when it fails to fulfill human need the economic system collapses and changes. Schumpeter touched upon the wider impact of disruptive technology that forces related components to adjust and reshape themselves within the market. Finally, combinations is literally the combination of one idea to the next even though it is seen in the Schumpeterian model as the combination of physical elements to create new products.

Beyond Schumpeter we find that societies are contracts between the governed and those doing the governing. All systems must allow for the manifestation of knowledge and motivation for maximum growth. When political, economic, or legal systems block that effort the system starts a slow decline. That system should encourage effort among the masses to speed up the economic elements and allow for the combinations of thought to be realized as the combinations of physical elements in the creation of new products and services. Maximum freedom in human effort should be encouraged beyond that which is necessary to protect the system, the people within the system or the environment in which they live.