Culture Differences Vis-à-vis Establishing Company Subsidiaries: Taipei, Taiwan

Culture Differences

Culture Differences Vis-à-vis Establishing Company Subsidiaries: Taipei, Taiwan

Culture: Taipei, Taiwan

            Taipei is the capital and largest city of Taiwan, an industrialized country that has thrived economically throughout the latter part of the 20th century amid ongoing disputes on its independence with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Understandably, Taipei’s status within Taiwan makes it the country’s undisputable economic center, providing it with a cosmopolitan milieu that can best support corporate operations.  Therefore, corporations looking to establish their presence in Taiwan would definitely have to consider Taipei – setting up shop therein can gain them access to the country’s best amenities to support their operational needs (Chang & Lu, 2007).

            A closer look at Taipei’s cultural makeup, singling out factors that are most relevant for corporate considerations, is essential for corporations looking to do business in the city. Firstly, Chang and Lu (2007) noted that employees Taiwan, generally speaking, manifest behavior that are “internally targeted” in terms of control. Such denotes that Taiwanese employees, particularly those in Taipei, are typically oriented to deal with issues by controlling themselves, compared to how Westerners do it through controlling the environment (Chang & Lu, 2007).

Secondly, Taiwanese employees rely heavily from strong Chinese family-kin relations for emotional support. Chang and Lu (2007), however, further elaborated that too much interference by family members can actually stress them out. Thirdly, membership in workplace subgroups is seen by Taiwanese employees as a source of security within the workplace, although it also serves as a constraint at the same time.

Being part of a subgroup at an organization in Taiwan, especially in Taipei, may provide employees with easier access to the things they need for work. However, such can restrict them from specific actions throughout the course of their membership in the name of protecting the subgroup’s interests (Chang & Lu, 2007).

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Cultural Implications in Establishing Company Subsidiaries

            Given that human resource management (HRM) policies of organizations in Taiwan have inextricable links to culture (Sparrow & Wu, 1998), it is highly important to consider all the aforementioned cultural peculiarities with regard to opening a company subsidiary in Taipei, as well as hiring and managing staff for it. Firstly, in choosing Taipei as a new location for a company subsidiary, it is essential to design HR policies that adhere to the self-sufficient nature of Taiwanese employees.

An organizational culture that maximizes the orientation of Taiwanese employees on so-called “internally targeted control strategies” (Chang & Lu, 2007) can result to greater productivity, particularly in the case of team projects. Such, of course, is in line with Sparrow and Wu’s (1998) assertion that “understanding employees’ values is extremely important in today’s competitive business environment.”

Secondly, companies looking to open subsidiaries in Taipei should consider introducing family-friendly HR policies, which allows the organization to form close and transparent relations with family members of Taiwanese employees (Chang & Lu, 2007) – an example that understandably departs from the rather-individualistic Western cultural milieu, but nonetheless fit for the given context (Sparrow & Wu, 1998).

Lastly, HR policies that promote free expression, for as long as they aren’t antithetical to organizational values, must be promoted for subgroups within organizations to be influenced about the importance of maintaining their members’ rights to practice their autonomy responsibly. Membership in subgroups shouldn’t serve as an unnecessary constraint to their members’ actions (Chang & Lu, 2007; Sparrow & Wu, 1998). 

References

Chang, K., and Lu, L. (2007). Characteristics of organizational culture, stressors and wellbeing: The case of Taiwanese organizations. Journal of Management Psychology, 22(6), 549-568. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/02683940710778431

Sparrow, P., and Wu, P. (1998). Does national culture really matter? Predicting HRM preferences of Taiwanese employees. Employee Relations, 20(1), 26-56. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/01425459810369823

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Culturally Responsive Leadership in Action

Culturally Responsive Leadership
Culturally Responsive Leadership

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Culturally responsive Leadership

1. Introduction:

Briefly summarize the multiple perspectives represented in the vignette, and describe your perspective on why the dialogue is relevant to culturally responsive education practices

The vignette comprises of different perspectives including policies, practices, and leadership principles that lead to creation of all-encompassing learning environments for not only learners but also families from ethnic and cultural varied backgrounds. The dialogue is important for culturally responsive education practices because it highlights the high expectations for learners’ achievement; integrates history; values and culture of learners’ community in the curriculum.

In addition, the dialogue encourages collaboration in developing critical understanding among the educators and learners to address inequality in the society (Garza et al. 2014). This is important in terms of developing organizational systems in schools as well as district level to empower parents and learners from diverse ethnic and racial societies. The discourse will promote educator leaders, school administrators and district level to lead diverse cultures while working with parents, teachers and the community to create curriculum s structures, education practices and organizational systems in line with cultural values of racially diverse learners as well as their families (Klar & Brewer, 2014).

The dialogue will also be important when it comes to incorporating classroom practices and school leadership. By and large, the dialogue will present deeper insights of cultural and racial inequity. Additionally, the discussion will act as the platform to communicate actions for education leaders can utilize in a transformative manner to promote change in a strength-oriented and enhance equity course in education.

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2. Strategic Leadership Approach:

Describe the immediate response you would have at the Leadership Team meeting, and what leadership theory(ies) supports your immediate response.

Institute Inclusion

I would first start off by instituting inclusion by putting more emphasis on the human determination of what is being learned and its connection to the learners’ experience.  I would also champion the need for unity of purpose where the teaching staff, students and other stakeholder team up on all fronts. With this approach, the institution will hopefully transition into an environment that fosters change.

Treatment of diverse groups equally will form the basis of my strategy. In this regard, practices that foster discrimination will be curtailed through shared learning methods, peer-teaching and discussion groups (Klar & Brewer, 2014).. The leadership team and learner will be governed by statutes.

2. Develop Positive Attitude       Towards creating a mental shift, the leadership would reiterate the need to relate teaching and learning activities to learners experience or previous information.  The institution as informed by the curriculum should encourage students to make choices in content and analytical approaches based on factors such as past experiences, values, needs and competences (Klar & Brewer, 2014).

Moreover, the procedure should support clear learning and problem resolution objectives; impartial and transparent benchmark of evaluation; significant learning concepts; instructional flexibility anchored on style and experiential learning. The need for conferences or meetings between teachers and students will play an imperative role when it comes to fostering culturally responsive educator versus student synergies (Klar & Brewer, 2014).  
3. Enhance Meaning – The institution should provide thought-provoking learning experiences that include higher level thinking and critical probe that highlight tangible issues in an action-oriented way. Discussions of pertinent experiences should not just be advanced but students’ dialect should be used in classroom dialogue (Klar & Brewer, 2014). Through a project and problem resolving approach, students should be allowed to question historical occurrences critically regardless of whether or not the topic is popular. 
Engender Competence – The analytical process of groups should be related to their world view, ethos and reference point.  Moreover, this may also include having in place various approaches for representing knowledge and dexterity that allows for realization of outcomes at diverse forms (Presley, 2014). This then calls for a feedback mechanism and contextualized review.
 

Then, describe how culturally responsive leadership theory would inform your long-term strategy to advance culturally responsive education practices with the Leadership Team. Your long-term strategy may include identifying what additional information you would need to proceed effectively.

            Culturally responsive leadership theory would be at the core of the long-term strategy in the sense that its principles will inform objective facilitation. In turn, this will have the ability to contribute to the development of practical equity structures to address the types of intricate inequities that involve attainment and other associated gaps in education system (Presley, 2014).

Owing to the fact that cultural responsive leadership use transformative principles, the theory would assist me to promote education equity of all learners regardless of their ethnicity, language or race (Garza et al. 2014). Nonetheless, to proceed effectively, I would require these extra information such as critical multiculturalism and also understand leadership actions of persons of color and champion education equity.

3. Synthesis:

Explain how you would use what you have learned from this exercise to address the culturally responsive education needs in the context you serve or hope to serve as an education leader.

I will use lessons learned from this exercise to create awareness among education leaders about the ways of moving their schools from basic understanding about equity to practical action with immediate use leading to changes in education practices. In addition, the lessons will be important in understanding all the vigenetes of culturally responsive leadership while taking into account gender, race, culture and language (Garza et al. 2014).

Besides, the lessons will help me to work towards attaining consciousness among leaders and faculty; instutionalizing organizational systems to help empower underserved learners, their families and the larger society. The exercise will also be a foundation upon which I will use to facilitate procedure to conceptualize equity agendas via meaningful organized activities to ensure schools understand ethnic and cultural differences leading to attainments and associated gaps.

Furthermore, I would use the lessons to comprehend the elements of transformative leadership and multiculturalism as influential strategies to tackle academic and factors separating students can be conceptualized. I would also use this exercise to explore culturally responsive leadership actions of underserved communities who depict a number of intersecting features from discernible; including language, ethnicity, and race to hidden like gender.

References

Klar, H., W., & Brewer, C., A. (2014). Successful leadership in a rural, high-poverty school: The case of county line middle school. Journal of Educational Administration, 52(4), 422. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1660746084?accountid=45049

Presley, S. P. (2014). How leaders engage in complexity leadership: Do action-logics make a difference? (Order No. 3611483). Available from ABI/INFORM Collection. (1502794919). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1502794919?accountid=45049

Garza, J., Encarnacion, Drysdale, L., Gurr, D., Jacobson, S., & Merchant, B. (2014). Leadership   for school success: Lessons from effective principals. The International Journal of Educational Management, 28(7), 798. Retrieved from    http://search.proquest.com/docview/1662671136?accountid=45049

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Culture Responsive Leadership

Culture Responsive Leadership
Culture Responsive Leadership

Culture Responsive Leadership

Culture responsive leadership is essential in every institution as it responds and acknowledges the need for equitable access to education for people of all kinds as well as shaping people’s thinking process. Culture responsiveness would entail strategies to incorporate and improve links between equity and access to education between linguistically diverse communities (Toppel, 2015).

Cultural competence should be intertwined with responsiveness as it enhances better integration of skills, values, attitudes, and knowledge to ensure effective interventions with people from diverse cultures. Culture responsiveness is crucial in empowering students politically, socially, intellectually and emotionally by using of referents of culture to impart skills and knowledge.

Culture responsive leadership is essential in influencing various factors such as equity, outcomes and opportunity in a given educational setting. Culture responsive leadership involves philosophies, policies, and practices that inclusively create better learning environments for populations of culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds (Toppel, 2015). The creation of a culture responsive relationship by the leaders is vital as it helps them make concerted efforts to identify more about the culture and interests of those under them especially students in an education setting.

I had the privilege to interview two people who gave more insight into the issue of culture-responsive leadership. The interview seeks to identify some of the practices adopted by the leaders in enhancing that the policies they use are culture responsive. My first interviewee is a male leader in a university. The interviewee serves in the leadership capacity as a dean of the university who is in charge of the student’s affairs.

He also has the role of overseeing the formulation and implementation of policies that promote culture responsive teaching in the learning institution (McCray et al, 2011). The dean is also responsible for the coordinated planning of the right curriculum to ensure full culture responsiveness.

The second person I interviewed is the chancellor of the University who also doubles up as an organizing secretary of the education board of various private and public universities. She performs both the leadership and managerial roles in all programs started to enhance culture responsive education at the university level. She ensures that the structures are properly made, and procedures followed as well as receiving progress reports from leaders in lower levels such as the university dean. Both leaders adequately provided the required information regarding culturally responsive leadership practices.  

The following questions were used to interview both interviewees who work in a similar capacity as their main role is the promotion of policies and practices that enhance cultural responsiveness through their competence.     

1.    What do you understand by cultural responsiveness and competencies required in ensuring equality and access to education services?

2.    How does the institution promote and advocate for right policies and practices to ensure efforts of enhancing cultural responsiveness are successful?

3.    What are the criteria for evaluating and effective assessment of the policies implementation, and success of adopted practices?

4.    What culture responsive teaching methods have you adopted and are most efficient in leading to the desired results in an education setting?

5.    Which theory of culturally responsive leadership guide you in ensuring full competency while performing your roles in an education environment?

6.    What are the benefits of culture responsiveness and the main challenges experienced during implementation of policies and practices?

The first interviewee who is the Dean of students in the university gave various responses in regards to the questions posed for him during the interview. The Dean of students understands cultural responsiveness as the pedagogy that focuses on empowering the students in various forms mostly emotionally and intellectually (McCray et al, 2011). Competencies entail the adherence and the effective adoption of the right procedures and practices.

According to the dean, competency of a leader has the greatest impact in influencing culture responsiveness in an educational setting. As a leader, the dean has adopted various practices in the curriculum to enhance cultural responsiveness. Establishing inclusion is one of the practices enhanced by the dean.

Such practices are made possible through structures such as cooperative base groups and learning communities while also using procedures such as multidimensional sharing, cooperative learning and collaborative approaches to learning (Santamaria & Lorri, 2013). The use of practices such as experimental learning approaches based on the theory of multiple intelligence to develop the positive attitude is a vital practice aimed at ensuring cultural competence.

The Dean has also ensured policies related to the integration of the culturally responsive curriculum are properly implemented with the objective of access to education to all. Narrative evaluations including responses and measure of satisfaction levels among students are the basis of assessment. Responses by students and other stakeholder involved in cultural competence processes determines the level of equity and access to education to diverse communities which are the outcomes.

The teaching method advocated by the leader include culturally mediated instructions, improved curriculum, and communication of high expectation (Santamaria & Lorri, 2013). The institution advocates for policies and practices for culture responsiveness through various ways such as enhancing a collaborative environment where all work together to result in desired outcomes.

Instilling various norms, beliefs, and values into the school system is also ways of promoting and advocating practices. Having a culture of inquiry when it comes to implementation of responsive culture practices. Due to values, norms and procedures set in the institutions, the dean would adopt ethical leadership to develop critical consciousness among students.

Some strength of the practices adopted includes more integrated education system that can be sustained for the long and efficient address of inequalities issues (Santamaria & Lorri, 2013). Another strength of the practices is the preparation of a student-centered and inclusive curriculum as well as competent participation in the intercultural community. Weakness includes the poor adherence and failure to implement policies effectively due to poor leadership skills amongst some of those overseeing the processes. Cultural destructiveness and cultural incapacity are also weaknesses that hinder success of the practices adopted.

The second interviewee also offered a lot of information regarding the questions about culture responsiveness. She understands culture responsiveness to entail strategies to incorporate and improve links between equity and access to education between linguistically diverse communities. Culture responsive leadership is essential in influencing factors such as equity, outcomes and opportunity in a given educational setting (Brown et al, 2011).

She also believed that universities are doing a lot to advocate for policies and practices for cultural responsiveness. Some of the measures used to advocate the policies include the development of an understanding of transformative, additive and application of social action models. Creation of organization structures in learning institutions to empower both parents and students and from diverse communities and ethnic backgrounds are measures used to support practices and implementation of policies.

Some of the leadership competencies by the chancellor include promoting inclusive instructional practices, the exhibition of an ethic of care emphasizing on high expectations on students when it comes to academic achievement. Since cultural competencies are focused on the classroom teaching mostly, some of the teaching methods the leader advocates for include learning with the culture context and positive perspective methods (Brown et al, 2011).

She believes that responses by students and the increased levels of integration of culture responsiveness in the education system as well-reduced levels of inequalities are essential in assessment and evaluation of policies and practices’ effectiveness.

 The chancellor is also guided by the leadership for the social justice theory which focuses on improvement of educational outcomes and experiences for all students especially the marginalized. Social justice theory also responds to issues of race, culture, ethnicity and language (Brown et al, 2011). According to her, some strengths include the creation of frameworks and structures that are consistent with orientation of culture for ethnically diverse populations.

In this case, the education sector would face fewer challenges relating to cultural responsiveness. Weaknesses include poor implementation strategies and poor collaboration between some leaders and the people which make practices to be ineffective in addressing the problems (Santamaria & Lorri, 2013).

There is evidence that both interviewees have worked hard to ensure their leadership practices are culturally responsive. The first interviewee demonstrates leadership skills by fostering relationships based on responsibility, respect, and care through strategies to enhance critical consciousness among students. Using procedures such as multidimensional sharing, cooperative learning and collaborative approaches to learning are also essential culture responsive leadership practices by the dean.

Some recommendation for him includes the need to incorporate social justice and intertwine it with ethical leadership so as to lead to better integration of evidence-based practices (Toppel, 2015). I would also recommend that he adopts structures that empower people as they are essential in supplementing effective practices.

The second interviewee also has leadership practices that are evidence of cultural competence. Promoting inclusive instructional practices, an exhibition of an ethic of care emphasizing high expectations practices on students when it comes to academic achievement are culturally responsive practices (Toppel, 2015). She also focuses on practices pedagogical practices and curriculum frameworks consistent with cultural orientation.

My recommendation for her is to incorporate other theories in her leadership practices and also learn about people’s past experiences so as to identify the best strategies to handle issues. There are various ways I would address the needs of culturally responsive education e.g. through acknowledging arising differences, validating cultural identity before adopting any cultural competencies (McCray et al, 2011).

My efforts would entail affirming attitude towards people from diverse backgrounds. Incorporating constructiveness learning skills as well as social consciousness would be essential and included in my practices. I would work as a leader to enhance a holistic approach to the effective creation of plans, teaching activities and also identification of assessment methods that identify weaknesses for the quick remedy. In a nutshell, adoption of right strategies enhances the effectiveness of culturally responsive practices.

References

Brown, Kathleen M., Jen Benkovitz, A. J. Muttillo, and Thad Urban. 2011. Leading schools of excellence and equity: Documenting effective strategies in closing achievement gaps. Teachers College Record 113.1: 57–96.

McCray, Carlos, and Floyd Beachum. 2011. Culturally relevant leadership for the enhancement of teaching and learning in urban schools. In The international handbook of leadership for learning. Edited by Tony Townsend and John MacBeath, 487–502. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Santamaria, Lorri J. 2013. Critical change for the greater good: Multicultural perceptions in educational leadership toward social justice and equity. Educational Administration Quarterly.

Toppel, K. (2015). Enhancing Core Reading Programs With Culturally Responsive Practices. Reading Teacher, 68(7), 552-559.

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Applying cultural sensitive care

Applying cultural sensitive care
Applying cultural sensitive care

Applying cultural sensitive care

Legal and ethical consideration

In this case study, there is conflict between the  nurse ethical responsibilities to her patient, legal  responsibility to her employer and legal duty to the physician; which exposes the RN to professional risk. This is a challenging situation as there is inadequate guide in resolving such kind of dilemmas. For instance, the nursing standards and law are vague about rights to ethical decisions made by RNs.  The code of ethics does not offer legal protection to RN who works as patient advocate (Hunt, 2013).

In this case, the role of the nurse is to remain cultural competent.  The RN must respect the patient decision even when the patient’s decision is irrational or wrong. The RN should advise the patient about their clinical opinion without putting pressure on them to accept the RNs advice. While doing so, the RN should be careful not to use words and actions that disrespect the patient values and beliefs (Hinkle & Cheever, 2013).

RNs support to patient decision

The RN can offer support to patient’s decision by (Taylor, Lilis, LeMone, & Lynn, 2011);

  1. Being an active listener

This is important as it helps establish mutual relationship and trust to the RN. It is a way for RN to show their concerns to the patient. The RN should ask the patient about their understanding of the health condition, which will help RN to address any misconceptions.

  • Explain medication detail

Most of the healthcare medical terms are jargons to ordinary people. It is important to discuss all the details associated with the medication, his risk level and programs which could help with the patient cost management and coping strategies.

  • Explore alternative approaches

Some of the patients could be comfortable to seek alternative medication such as herbal remedies or traditional healers. The RN must be thoroughly informed about the alternative medication because some of the treatment could be harmful. If considered as an alternative, the nurse can refer the patient to a certified practitioner. In Some cases, religious rituals such as prayers can be integrated into practice.

Example of major religion

An example of a religion that could possibly be holding similar doctrines is Muslim religion. Devout Muslims can reject medication containing alcohol such as those used during the peri-operative procedures, or medications made from pork derivatives. In medical situations which are not of emergency, the RN should educate the patient, but help them preserve their values and believes (Smith, 2013). This includes exploring other beliefs that do not contradict to their beliefs. These small accommodations could pay off the patient emotional well-being. Therefore, to remain culturally competent care, the RN must perform cultural assessment in order to understand their perception of illness and wellness (Kee, Hayes, & McCuistion, 2015).

References

Hinkle, J., & Cheever, K. (2013). Brunner and Suddarth’s textbook of medical-surgical nursing (13th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Hunt, R. (2013). Introduction to community based nursing (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

Kee, J., Hayes, E., & McCuistion, L. (2015). Pharmacology: A patient-centered nursing process approach (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Taylor, C., Lilis, C., LeMone, P., & Lynn, P. (2011). Fundamentals of nursing: The art and science of nursing care (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

Smith, L. (2013). Reaching for cultural competence. Nursing, 43(6), 30-38.

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Culture Shock Case Analysis

Culture Shock
Culture Shock

Culture Shock

Living in a new country is an exciting experience since it encourages explorations in culture, terrain, foods, and lifestyle. However, the differences in culture and customs of different nations bring about frustrations if an individual is not well prepared to adopt and assimilate the new way of life (Ann 2016).

Kelly had high expectations on her new job in Japan which also served as her bridge to promotion if it was successful. Having moved with her entire family, she thought her children would enjoy being in a new environment; her husband would get a new job, and that together they would happily live in Japan.

Kelly did not know how to interact with Japanese employees, her children felt left out in school since most of the kids spoke in Japanese, her husband did not get a job as expected, and the room they were given was too small for its cost and her family. Everything did not turn out well for the family, and they were experiencing the frustration stage of the culture shock stages.

In America, people communicated in English while in Japan most of the people and schools used Japanese which was not familiar to Kelly and her children making it hard to interact and experience the new environment. Thus, the language barrier was one of the main cultural clashes that Kelly’s family experienced in Japan. Women are rarely given leadership positions in Japan such that the employees and client Kelly negotiated with thought she was a man.

While communicating to the employees, only Peter, who was familiar with her culture, openly communicated with her but the rest of the employees were conservative, and they avoided eye contact. Moreover, Michio did not communicate directly with Kelly but with Peter, which made her feel confused making the negotiation process uncomfortable. Japanese employers normally work in teams and have a collective relationship compared to Americans who tend give individual comments without consultations and Kelly had to wait for more than a week to get feedback on their suggestions since she had assumed that they would make individual presentations.

Thus, language differences, the perception of women in leadership, group versus individual working relationships, and expression of interest as seen when the client rejected Kelly’s proposal yet he had said it was good are some of the clashes attributable to culture and customs that Kelly’s family experienced in Japan.

Kelly children thought they would immediately make new friends and start exploring the new country. Kelly thought her proposals would be accepted by potential clients by operating as she used to while in American and other countries, and her husband thought he would get a new job without straining.

However, the children didn’t like the new school since most kids communicated in Japanese, Kelly did not understand her Japanese employees and client, and her husband did not get a job. The expectations of the family were frustrated due to differences in culture and customs of the new country.

Kelly’s family is experiencing frustration stage of culture shock phases. It’s at this stage that people get overwhelmed with language, gestures, and signs that are not familiar (Vif 2015). For instance, foods are served differently, roads are unfamiliar, and classes taught differently for the school going children. Kelly did not understand the gestures of the employees and the client and the house they lived was too small compared to the one they lived in America making life unbearable for the family. The whole family was homesick and desired to go back to America where life was familiar and comfortable.

When Kelly was offered the position in Tokyo, she should have first discussed the situation with the whole family and researched on the culture and customs of Japanese people to avoid extreme frustrations. Also, Kelly should have consulted about the workplace culture of Japanese people so that she would have been able to comfortably interact with her employees and the client for successful results. Prior knowledge of the expected changes in the new country would have helped the family to prepare and adjust without pressure.

Since going back to America would derail the promotion and result in unnecessary expenses and changes such as the school for the kids, if I were Kelly, I would accept the current situation, accept that I did not make proper preparation, and seek for a solution from foreigners who are living comfortably in Japan. As a family, we would identify the things that make us uncomfortable and deal with them without pressure and try to adapt to the new life.

Moreover, we would take Japanese language classes to learn the common vocabularies used by the people, and I would research and consult about the way Japanese carry out their business operations to better understand the employees and prospective clients. 

Culture shock is common for people living in a foreign land, and it is important to research about the customs and culture of the foreigners to avoid frustrations. Kelly and her family had high expectations on arriving in Japan, but differences in language, culture, foods, and personal interactions made their stay unbearable. Accepting the new life and learning the customs of the people through research and interactions with other foreigners is essential in ensuring that the lives comfortably in the new country.

References

Ann, W. (2016). Culture Shock. Retrieved from http://www.harzing.com/resources/living-and-working-abroad/culture-shock

Vif I, (2015). The Four Stages of Culture Shock. Retrieved from https://medium.com/global-perspectives/the-4-stages-of-culture-shock-a79957726164#.2qdq4hvza

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Diversity and Health Assessment

Diversity and Health Assessment
Diversity and Health Assessment

Diversity and Health Assessment

Cultural multiplicity is one of the major factors that contribute to breakdown of communication when carrying out health assessment. The diverse cultural factors range from religious beliefs, socioeconomic, lifestyle among others (Dains, Baumann & Scheibel, 2016). Some of the social economic explanations entail marital status and type of employment. Lifestyle issues would involve use of substance and drugs, leisure activities and in case of any taboos in their community.

When gathering information from a patient, a nurse aims at establishing a good rapport when obtaining information from the patient and giving information. Nurses and other health care providers should have certain skills and knowledge to be able to extract information from their patients (Ball et al., 2015). They should adopt a technique that wins a patient’s trust and holds him/her in high esteem. This creates a friendly environment whereby the patient is likely to give the required information adequately.

            Areas that I would be sensitive when interacting with my patient would include those considered as private and sacred. Those issues would include sexual activity, pregnancy history, previous relationships and any form of abuse (Dains, Baumann & Scheibel, 2016). Failure to this would have negative impacts such as patient failing to give the required information and also the patient would have fear and be stigmatized. It would also prevent the patient from feeling discriminated.

            Some of the questions that would target my patient would be as outlined below. In case of an emergency, who is the closest person who can be contacted? Are you involved in any relationship? Have you been sexually involved with a person, oral, vaginal or anal or other forms of sexual activity for the past six months? For how long have you been having the vaginal discharge and what are the characteristics? Do you have any sexual concerns you can ask? Do you feel safe with your sexuality and sexual identity? Have you ever been diagnosed with a sexual transmitted infection? Do you use alcohol or any substance when engaging in sexually activity (Sullivan, 2012)?

References

Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2015). Seidel’s guide to physical examination (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2016). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Sullivan , D. D. (2012). Guide to clinical documentation (2nd Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.

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Advancing Cultural Mindset and Integration

Advancing Cultural Mindset and Integration
Advancing Cultural Mindset and Integration

Advancing Cultural Mindset and Integration

Introduction

            Technological advancement has led to tremendous growth of the international trade owing to increase in the rate of global connectivity, a phenomenon referred to as globalization. Globalization provides numerous advantages to both small business enterprises and large corporations some of the advantages include; a large number of untapped client pool and the ability to outsource labor to overseas countries at lower prices than the domestic countries.

On the other hand, globalization also presents numerous challenges, for instance the elimination of international trade barriers has led to increase in competition. Global organizations compete for limited resources such as labor and low materials (Mathews, 2016). Labor forms one of the critical factors of production. In the global markets an organization’s leadership is not only tasked with the onus of hiring top talents but also the responsibility of ensuring that a cultural mindset and diversity of the workforce does not inhibit the productivity of the firm.

According to Wilson (2013), for firms to be successful in the global markets there is need for developing a global mindset that allows cultural mindset and integration. The essay thus evaluates strategies and negotiation process that lead to cultural mindset and integration in global organizations.  

Adopting a Diverse perspective

            The international workforce comprises of cultural mindset diverse individuals. Culturally diversity provides a large pool of untapped talent with the potential of elevating the firm’s productivity owing to the prevalence of creative and innovative employees. However, classical management theories such hierarchy model tends to hinder creativity. This is because the model is based on the need to monitor and control hence workers are tasked oriented and tend to act in the best interests of the superiors as opposed to the best interests of the firm.

The hierarchy model is thus inappropriate in the global market. Executive leaders of international firms should adopt a diverse perspective; that is recognize the individual differences of the workers and strife to encourage creativity of each employee.

            According to Wilson (2013), a diverse perspective elevates the levels of creativity and increases the firm’s productivity by maximizing talent exploitation within the firm. To develop diverse perspective, the leaders should create an enabling environment that encourages individual growth. The basic step in developing a direct perspective is adoption of an inclusive leadership system. According to Davies & Brundett (2010), there is no ideal leadership system that would guarantee success of the firm.

However, the inclusive leadership system incorporates all the necessary leadership skills hence more suited in developing diverse perspective. The basic leadership skills include; technical, human and conceptual skills (Davies & Brundett, 2010 p 78). Technical refers to skills acquired in training while human skills entail the ability to socialize and influence people. On the other hand, conceptual skills refer to the understanding of how the industry function.

            Incorporation of these skills allows the leaders to effectively influence the workforce. They are able to identify motivating factors of each worker and thus set into places mechanisms to ensure that the workers are motivated. One should note that for inclusive system to function, the labor force should be intrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation occurs when each labors contributions to the end unit is appreciated.

Wilson (2013), argues that appreciation of each worker contributions to the end product occurs through enhancing the relationship between the leader and each individual worker. According to Wilson (2013), a dyadic level perspective is a prerequisite in developing a diverse perspective, this is because it enhances the leader’s capacity and ability to influence each workers actions.

            In essence, developing and integrating a diverse perspective requires; a leadership model that incorporates all the necessary leadership skills and a healthy leader employee relationship. An inclusive leadership model is not only important in developing direct perspective but also in responding to dynamic changes in the international market system (Mathews, 2016).  Diverse perspective is important in developing a global mindset when dealing with cultural mindset diverse employees. However, the success of the business leadership models crucial in cultivating a diverse perspective greatly depends on the strategies employed.

Strategies that enhance global mindset.

            Effective business strategizing require rigorous evaluation of the business environment and assessment of the organization’s capacity to capitalize on available opportunities while maintaining its productivity. Global organizations require to employ strategies that allow simultaneous capitalization of the international markets and the domestic markets (Vandermootele, 2012).

Therefore, these firms are tasked with the onus of ensuring that the international market strategy fits with the organization’s goals. According to, the success of a firm in acquiring a full culturally integration require superb culturally self-awareness, cognitive complexity, and suspended judgements. In order to develop these capabilities the global organization leadership should employ a glocal strategy.

            The glocal strategy entails incorporating both the local and international business international structures in the organizations operations (Wilson 2013 p 48). However, the leaders and staff need to adopt a global mentality in order to effectively develop a global mindset. According to Mathews (2016), global mentality comprises of three important components which include; global thinking, local thinking and the ability to think and act glocally (p41).

Global thinking allows the organization’s to evaluate cultural mindset differences that would inhibit the success of its international operations, it facilitates the development of cultural cognitive abilities thus help in formulation of the best international expansion plan.

            On the other hand, local thinking creates cultural mindset awareness within the organization’s leadership. Local thinking creates understanding of the local cultures thus enables the organization to implement policies that would facilitate the motivation of its local employees and thus enable maximum exploitation of international workforce through efficient workforce adoption. This is necessary for companies that seek to enter the international market through acquisitions and mergers.

The ability to think locally creates cultural mindset sensitivity and cognition ability that enhance leaders’ ability to influence local labor force by ensuring that the firms operations do not jeopardize culturally obligations of their employees (Mathews, 2016). An example is a firm seeking to operate in an Islamic nation, the leaders need to understand that the Islamic religion sets Fridays as worship days while in most European countries Friday is a normal working day. Such as organization will thus have to close its operations in order to enable its local workers to attend to religious matters.

            Correspondingly, ability to act and think glocally eliminates conflicts that would result from a culturally diverse workforce. As mentioned earlier, the leader’s actions should influence the workforce. Therefore, a leader who is culturally cognitive will influence expatriates in the local company to respect culturally boundaries and thus enhance team building. The global mindset strategy incorporate open communication strategies that enhance team building.

Communication Methods  

            As mentioned earlier, open communication methods enhance the global mindset strategy. This is because they facilitates the acquisition of effective leader work relationship and team building among the employees. Therefore, formulation of effective communication methods is important in developing a diverse workforce while at the same time ensuring consistent productivity.

According to Davies & Brundett (2010), work place productivity and group cultures interrelate. However, in a culturally diverse work place there are numerous barriers to effective communication. Formulation of the communication method thus requires critical evaluation of the barriers and identification of possible methods of evading the obstacles.

         Language barrier is the most common barrier. Language barrier impacts on network heterogeneity which refers to the ability of culturally diverse members to communicate. Another communication barrier is intrinsic competition which impacts on the ability of group members to communicate. Leaders are thus tasked with ensuring that the communication methods employed facilitate to network density and network homogeneity (Vandermoortele, 2012).

To eliminate language barrier, workers should be encouraged to acquire a second language while employing a translator and language translation software should occur in the initiation stages. On the other hand, intrinsic competition can be eliminated through employing effective motivation strategy that is based on individual contributions rather than performance hence encourage information sharing.

            Additionally, upward and downward communication should be encouraged through open group brainstorming. Group forums will not only encourage upward and downward communications but also lead to higher integration which will eventually create a positive interaction of the organization’s productivity and group interactions.

Conclusion

            Globalization has led to rapid increase in business competition. In order to oust competition, global organizations are tasked with the onus of developing a global mindset that encourages labor force cultural mindset diversity while at maintain constant productivity.  A global mindset enables the organizations to maximally utilize the diverse talents through adopting a diverse perspective and developing a glocal strategy. Open communication methods also play a critical role in enhancing the inclusive leadership model which supports efficient global mindsets.   

References

Davies, B., & Brundrett, M. (Eds.). (2010) Developing Successful Leadership (Vol. 11). London: Springer

Mathews, J. (2016). Toward a Conceptual Model of Global Leadership. IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15(2), 38.

Vandemoortele, J. (2012). Advancing the global development agenda post-2015: some thoughts, ideas and practical suggestions. New York: UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda.

Wilson. W. (2013). Coaching with a global Mindset. International journal of evidence based Coaching & Mentoring.  11. 33-52.

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Cultural Competence Case Study

Cultural Competence Case Study
Cultural Competence Case Study

Cultural Competence Case Study

Rapid demographic changes in today’s society require health care professionals to deliver care that demonstrates respect to patients’ diverse beliefs, preferences, and values. By providing culturally responsive care, health care practitioners help to promote improved health outcome for patients and encourage sufficient use of resources by their employing organizations.

In their effort to deliver culturally sensitive care, therapists must be able to differentiate cultural differences from other related client characteristics that may have an impact on patient outcomes (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).

In the given case study, the physical therapist should take cultural, physical, cognitive, communicative, and environmental factors into consideration in working with Hernando Gonzales in a home care situation. The cultural factors that should be taken into account include age, nationality, gender, marital status, religion, ethnicity, and beliefs about health.

The therapist should understand that Mr. Gonzales is a 63-year old Mexican male who is currently a widower. Also, Mr. Gonzales goes to church regularly, and being a Catholic; he believes that God is the provider of strength. Furthermore, the therapist should consider the fact that Mr. Gonzales may want to use many herbs in the course of therapy (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).

The physical factor that the therapist should consider is that Mr. Gonzales once had a partial knee replacement and he still needs assistance with activities of daily living, despite the fact that he has made good physical recovery since he had an accident. The cognitive, communicative, and environmental factors that the therapist needs to consider include; reduced mental functioning as a result of traumatic brain injury, limited spoken English, and limited social support in Maria’s house respectively (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).

Lack of cultural competence by the therapist may make him or her to confuse cultural variations with other physical, communicative, environmental, and cognitive characteristics in this case. For instance, if the therapist is not culturally competent, he or she may think that Mr. Gonzales reactions due to influence from cognitive problems and environmental factors are as a result of cultural beliefs and values (Santisteban, Mena, and Abalo, 2012).

Furthermore, the therapist may think that Mr. Gonzales’ incapacities to speak fluent English and to carry out his physical activities normally are as a result of cultural influence. It is important to differentiate cultural differences from those related to the client’s other characteristics because positive health outcomes for the patient largely depend on the therapist’s ability to deliver culturally sensitive care (Sue, Zane, Hall, and Berger, 2009).

Cultural competence solutions

The therapist should make adjustments in both assessment and intervention based on Mr. Gonzales’ cultural, cognitive, and linguistic backgrounds. Since the therapist does not speak fluent Spanish, he or she should consider using a translator to help Mr. Gonzales to understand any information that may be presented in English during the assessment. Also, the therapist should use a cultural broker to help reduce cultural-related conflicts that may arise during the assessment (Sue et al., 2009).

Furthermore, the therapist should approach Mr. Gonzales with a lot of humility because he currently has traumatic brain injury. Again, he or she should recommend interventions that Mr. Gonzales can easily implement, bearing in mind that he has some form of physical inability and limited family support in Maria’s house (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).

The therapist can enlist the help of Mr. Gonzales’ family to facilitate therapy in two different ways. First, the therapist can advise the family on the types of social support that they should give Mr. Gonzales to promote quick recovery. Second, the therapist can help Mr. Gonzales’ family to identify the most appropriate forms of physical support that are necessary to promote positive health outcomes for him (Santisteban, Mena, and Abalo, 2012).

References

Saha, S., Beach, M. C., & Cooper, L. A. (2008). Patient centeredness, cultural competence, and health care quality. Journal of the National Medical Association, 100(11): 1275-1285.

Santisteban, D. A., Mena, M. & Abalo, C. (2012). Bridging diversity and family systems: Culturally informed and flexible family based treatment for Hispanic adolescents. Couple and Family Psychology, 2(4): 246-263. doi: 10.1037/cfp0000013

Sue, S., Zane, N., Hall, G. & Berger, L. K. (2009). The case for cultural competency in psychotherapeutic interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60: 525-548.

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Culture in Change Management

Culture in Change Management
Culture in Change Management

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Culture in Change Management

Introduction

The only constant reality in life is change. Change is not only observable on a personal level but also an organizational front. Nonetheless, managing change is a challenging task that it takes effort, energy, training, and time (Hickman & Silva, 2018). Change is also characterized by uncertainty and fear, and therefore most people and organizations prefer to maintain the status quo.

With the Internet Age introduced by the 21st century, maintain the status quo is harmful to business as it puts companies at the risk of losing their competitive advantage as witnessed by various companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., which is a textile company in the United States. Given that change destroys the familiar corporate culture and status quo, managers should be very careful when implementing change because people are inherently resistant to change. Understanding and applying the best change theory helps a company to implement change efficiently.

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Unfortunately, managers in most organizations rarely pay attention to the impacts of culture on organizational change, even when confronting major problems. Often, managers disregard the power of culture in maintaining the status quo as they regard culture as too mushy and soft to address (Kezar, 2011). Other managers think that a company’s culture adjusts itself once the new strategy is in place or feel that the costs for changing the company’s culture are considerably high as well as difficult to achieve.

Others yet, believe that they can avoid addressing their company’s culture until the company has implemented the change, which may include new policies and procedures. What such managers fail to understand is that when change is introduced in an organization, stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, suppliers, and investors, expect an intrusion or a disruption (Kezar, 2011). As such, the culture that these stakeholders are used to fights hard to defeat the change and maintain the status quo. Consequently, significant changes mean more intrusion and more disruption, and therefore, the culture works very hard to defeat the implemented changes.

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Purpose of the Study

As a result of the tremendous change that has come with the Internet Age, the business environment is constantly changing, which makes it important for managers to apply the right systematic strategies in limiting stakeholder resistance towards a positive corporate change process. The main purpose of this research paper is to investigate the significance of an organization’s norms, values, as well as principles in change management. This paper with pay special attention to one of the textile companies in the United States, Levi Strauss.

Significance of the Study

Levi Strauss & Co was among the leading textile companies in the United States. However, today the company experiences significant challenges in maintaining a competitive advantage over other companies such as L Brands, Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, Co, Coach, Inc., American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., and Urban Outfitters companies among others. This paper is important because it provides useful information on how textile companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. can revolutionize the company through change management strategies while paying special attention to its culture.  

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Research Questions

Some of the questions that this paper seeks to answer are:

  1. What value does culture change create for the company and the customers?
  2. Why do people resist change?
  3. What role does culture play in change management, and how can a company limit resistance?
  4. How has globalization created a need for change in the textile industry?
  5. What are the advantages and risks of not making the necessary change?
  6. What theories support the role of culture in change management?

Methodology

This paper investigates the role that corporate culture plays in change management. The methodology that is applied in this research study includes a literature review, interview, and descriptive studies. The materials used in this research paper provide detailed information about the importance of considering culture in change management. The literature review offers supporting evidence that links cultural consideration to successful change management within an organization. The descriptive studies offer information about the best practices during organizational change supported by theories. 

The criteria that are used for the inclusion of the articles for both literature review and descriptive studies pay attention to the nature of articles, timeframe, keywords, and search area. The timeframe applied for the secondary resources is within the past 30 years. The nature of the resources used includes business news articles, peer-reviewed articles, and journals. The keywords used include organizational change, corporate culture, change resistance, strategic change management, and culture change.

The search areas include business websites such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)and the United States Department of Labor and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The inclusion criterion helps in setting research boundaries for the literature review to ensure that the research paper is focused and the discussion is valid.

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Background information on Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately owned textile firm that was established by Levi Strauss about 164 years in 1853. For many decades, Levi Strauss & Co. was able to effectively compete as a clothing company known globally for Levi’s brand of denim jeans. This company was the first textile corporation to make the first blue jean across the globe, and since 1853, the Levi Strauss & Co. has heavily relied on innovation to come up with new products.

Throughout the 1960s, this company benefited from various U.S movements such as counter-culture groups and campus rebellion groups, which wore jeans as their uniform. During this period, sales doubled, and in three years, the company revenue almost hit $200 million. By 1979, the Levi Strauss & Co. had become the largest clothing industry across the world and had licensed its brand to be used in other products such as socks as well as shoes.

By this time sales had hit $ 2million. Levi Strauss & Co. had ventured in about sixty nations. During the prosperous years, Levi Strauss & Co. had fifty-three production facilities and thirty-two customer service centers in forty-nine nations. Some of these countries included Japan, Europe, South Africa, Argentina, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. 

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Nonetheless, from the beginning of 1980, Levi Strauss & Co. started to experience market difficulties, and although the demand for denim jeans stabilized, its profits flattened. Thus, to enhance distribution, Levi Strauss & Co. reached agreements with marketing companies such as Sears and J.C Penney, but the profits still fell by about 25% (Au, & Ho, 2006). In 1982, the company was forced to shut down nine production plants, which led to layoffs of 2,000 employees globally.

In 1885 Levi Strauss & Co. restructured the company and was taken private in a leveraged buyout for $1.45 billion. The company afterward introduced a successful upscale men’s pants line known as Dockers, which saw that sales increase to $4 billion. Since then, the company invested in adverts, campaigns, and stand-alone jeans boutiques to maintain sales. Despite these endeavors, the company still faces stiff competition from other leading companies across the United States.

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Interview

In an effort to provide the best analysis for the importance of culture in change management, a research interview was conducted with Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Mr. Chip Bergh. Chip Bergh has been the chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co. since 2011 and is also a member of the company’s board of directors. As such, the Chip Bergh is well acquitted with the company’s history, market trends in the textile industry, the corporate culture that guides Levi Strauss & Co., challenges faced by the company, and what needs to be done to ensure market competition.

Interviewer: As a textile company, who you say that Levi Strauss & Co. has a competitive advantage in the market today? 

Interviewee: No. 

Interviewer: Why is that? 

Interviewee:  The textile industry has undergone a great deal of change, specifically due to the high levels of competition and global sourcing. More so, the textile and clothing industry is now characterized by significant changes such as high volatility, short product lifecycle, high chances of impulse buying, and low predictability. Additionally, retailers across the world source for their textile supplies from companies that can meet their specific needs in time.  This has been a huge setback for the company because it has failed to adopt the necessary strategies for its supply chain.

Interviewer: What do you think is the main hindrance in implementing effective change?

Interviewee: Our corporate culture. Levi Strauss & Co. is largely a bureaucratic corporation, which makes the implementation of change very difficult. Our employees, shareholders, and some managers resist change.

Interviewee: What do you think should be done?

Interviewee: The Company needs to change its supply chain and adopt one that enables it to optimize efficiency, minimize acquisition and delivery time, cut on operations costs, and improve product distribution globally. 

Literature Review

According to a report given by OECD, many companies are driven to change because of several reasons today (Rothaermel, 2016). These factors include technology, globalization, market conditions, organizational growth, and poor performance. Whichever the cause, stakeholders in a company will always resist the change, which puts the company at risk because failure to adopt the necessary changes may influence the company’s ability to secure a competitive advantage in the market.

A survey conducted by the SHRM (2007), change resistance is one of the biggest reasons why most corporations fail to change. During change, a company may experience active resistance, passive resistance, or compliance, which is destructive to a company’s endeavors for change. Effective change management out to cultivate enthusiastic support from the stakeholders and to achieve this. The corporate managers have to understand how their corporate culture is affecting the change.

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People simply resist change because it disrupts their “way of doing things,” which can be defined as culture. Notably, culture in change management is a significant component in every firm that all corporate developers and managers in human resource departments must consider when making plans and executing any viable changes within an organization.

Organizational change management refers to a systematic and organized way through which corporations apply their tools, resources, and knowledge in an effort of facilitating change. According to Kneer (2013), change management can be defined as the strategy of systematic and planned chance that is achieved based on how the structure of the organization influences the culture of an organization and stakeholder behaviors.

The endeavor of change management implies that the change process demands proper planning and systematic management. Proper change management facilitates progressive, efficient, and effective implementation of new methods and systems within a firm. Change management also involves a company’s response to external stimuli when it cannot straightforwardly influence factors such as political, social, competitor’s strategies, legislations, technological advancements, and globalization.  

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Pfister (2010) asserts that the culture of an organization refers to a shared understanding of a specific group of individuals in a specified context. The shared understanding originates from a set of principles, values, and norms that the individuals deem significant to them and, as such, align their practices towards those particular standards. According to Bhasing (2010), the principles, norms, rituals, and values of a company define its culture.

Typically, organizational culture refers to the profile of a group of individuals within an organizational context in regard to factors like standards, values, and behaviors. In the business world, culture defines the way things are done within a company and entails the fundamental patterns of assumptions that have been working for the company in the past and are considered valuable.

New stakeholders are inducted to embrace them while working with the organization. While change management purposes to take a corporation through various levels of development as stipulated by the goals put in place by a firm, several factors make a huge difference in determining the failure or success of change management tasks.  

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Doppelt (2017) argues that people adopt and maintain certain cultures because of their personality, feelings of certainty, fear of failure, the impact of the change, the prevalence of the change, and the perceived loss of power in case of change. When a corporation is comprised of many stakeholders with a low self -concept, they are likely to resist the change because they feel that they may not be able to adjust to the change accordingly and be successful in the new system.

As such, they fight to keep the status quo and culture of the organization. Secondly, change brings feelings of uncertainty. Changes such as mergers make people lose jobs while the company’s revenue may take a turn to the worse. The uncertainty created results to fear and stress because people feel that they may lose control.

Corporations also fail to change because the stakeholders fear failure as they do not know how performance may be affected by a new system. People also resist change because it may impact their lives negatively and only welcome change that is favorable to them. The prevalence of change may also cause change resistance, mainly if it involves key departments.  Lastly, people may fear change if it is associated with losing influence with the company.

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According to Hickman & Silva (2018), a flexible organizational culture limits resistance and helps people to adopt changes implemented in a new system easily. Company managers need to understand the relationship between culture and change management. One of the questions that corporate managers ought to ask themselves when orchestrating significant changes is how the existing culture and mindset are similar to the required set of behaviors expected to realize the change.

When the disparity is high, the company is at risk of not realizing its goals. According to Lewin’s Change Management Model proposed by Kurt Lewin in the 1950s, a company should apply three steps to achieve systematic and effective change (Ala et al., 2013). The first step is the Unfreeze stage, where the company prepares for change by purposefully changing the stakeholder’s mindset and behaviors towards a proposed change. During this step, the change managers should focus on breaking the status quo and eliminating fear and uncertainty.

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The second step is to change implementation. During this phase, the company implements a real transition. The success of this stage depends on how well the management creates the vision for change, communicates the change plan, develops a sense of urgency, builds a coalition, engages employees in decision making, and provides support prior and during the transition.

The last step, according to this theory, is refreezing. The company ensures that people embrace and implement new policies and procedures. During this stage, the management tracks the changes to ensure that the organization is stable again. The behaviors, norms, principles, and values of the company must be aligned with the new system.

Discussion

Currently, industries have adopted outcome-based strategies rather than input-based (World Economic Forum, 2015). The success of a 21st industry is measured through its outcome-based targets and its ability to connect with the significant teams across all functions. It is also measured through is the ability to find the right partners to form collaborative platforms and bridges.

With the current demand for speed, the textile company would also need to form meaningful alliances with the transport industries, including road, railway, shipping, and air transport. A collaborative ecosystem will require innovation, flexibility, and efficiency as its core strategic approach.

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These demands make it necessary for companies in the textile industry such as Levi Strauss & Co. as well as others in different sectors to employ the necessary changes to acquire a competitive advantage in the global market. Levi Strauss & Co. need to collaborate with suppliers that can supply raw materials promptly and at a low price. The company needs to access its culture and destroy the current status quo to adopt new supply chains that will be more beneficial to the company.

Conclusion

Conclusively, companies are prone to change due to poor performance, technological advancements, globalization, workforce demographics, organizational growth, and market conditions, among other factors. Nonetheless, regardless of the factor, people will always resist change as it disrupts and intrudes on their status quo. Based on Lewin’s Change management model, a company must systematically plan change around three steps, which include unfreeze, change, and refreeze. 

References

Ala, R. D. (2013). Values as Predictors of Attitudes toward Changes. International Journal of Trade and Finance, 4 (5).

Amah, E. (2012). Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness: A Study of the Nigerian Banking Industry. 212 – 229.

Au, K. F., & Ho, D. C. (2006). Electronic commerce and supply chain management: value-adding service for clothing manufacturers. Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 13(4), 247-255.

Bhasing, N. (2010). Change in perception of organizational culture after the merger: The Influence of Motivation, Acceptance, and Knowledge. University of Twente Press.

Doppelt, B. (2017). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government, and civil society. Routledge.

Hickman, C. R., & Silva, M. A. (2018). Creating excellence: Managing corporate culture, strategy, and change in the new age. Routledge.

Kezar, A. (2011). Understanding and Facilitating Organizational Change in the 21st Century: Recent Research and Conceptualizations: ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 28, Number 4 (Vol. 155). John Wiley & Sons.

Kneer, C. (2013). Change Management Enhance the Ability to Survive. München GRIN : Verlag GmbH.

Pfister, J. (2010). Managing Organizational Culture for Effective Internal. Berlin: Physica-.

Rothaermel, F. T. (2016). Strategic management: concepts (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education.

World Economic Forum. (2015, October 9). Five characteristics of a successful 21st-century enterprise. Retrieved from www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/5-characteristics-of-a-successful-21st-century-enterprise/

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