SENATOR CHAMBLISS BIO

Hey Everyone!! We will meet Senator Chambliss in DC
next week...here's his bio...check out his website for
his current publications...ENJOY!!

http://chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm

On November 5, 2002, Saxby Chambliss was elected
Georgia's 63rd United States Senator in what was one
of the most stunning and historical victories of the
2002 elections. Georgia Trend Magazine has named him
one of Georgia's Most Influential Georgians and says
"he is a highly visible and well-respected presence in
Washington," and "has a reputation as an affable but
straight-talking lawmaker."

Chambliss is a member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and
the Senate Rules Committee and he is the Ranking
Republican Member of the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
During the 109th Congress, Chambliss served as
Chairman of that committee and, according to the
Congressional Research Service, is the only senator
since 1947 to have chaired a full standing Senate
Committee after serving in the Senate for just two
years.

In Georgia, agriculture supports one in every six
jobs, an ever-present reminder in Chambliss' long time
championing of national and home state farming
concerns. Long before his election to Congress,
Chambliss specialized in representing farmers' legal
interests in South Georgia. During his four terms in
the House, Chambliss was instrumental in drafting two
farm bills and reforming the federal crop insurance
program through his chairmanship of the Agriculture
Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk
Management.

Additionally, Chambliss' leadership and experience on
the issues of terrorism, homeland security, and
intelligence matters earned him an appointment to the
prestigious Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,
where he steadfastly advocates that our U.S.
intelligence community must dramatically improve its
information sharing and human intelligence gathering
abilities. To ensure our troops on the ground and the
new Director of National Intelligence have access to
the most timely and accurate intelligence, Chambliss
has authored legislation calling for the creation of a
Four Star military command for intelligence within the
Department of Defense. Chambliss' previous role as the
chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on
Terrorism and Homeland Security made him one of the
leading congressional experts on these issues.

The Savannah Morning News said Senator Chambliss
"knows how to do his homework and how to stand up to
pressure, as demonstrated by his performance as
chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on
Terrorism and Homeland Security, which investigated
intelligence lapses prior to the terrorist attacks in
New York and Washington in 2001."

Immediately following the tragic attacks, Chambliss'
House subcommittee conducted a thorough investigation
and released the first comprehensive report detailing
critical shortfalls within the United States
intelligence community's performance and technological
capabilities. In May of 2006, Chambliss was honored
with the CIA Director's Award by the Director of
Central Intelligence. Recognized for his
"extraordinary fidelity and essential service" to the
CIA, Chambliss received the agency's highest award.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Chambliss continues Georgia's longstanding tradition
of leadership and advocacy for the state's military
installations. Following in the footsteps of former
Senators Richard B. Russell, Jr., and Sam Nunn,
Chambliss is a strong voice for Georgia's defense
industry and the military community. Throughout the
2005 Base Realignment and Closure round, Chambliss has
remained steadfast in defense of Georgia's bases
targeted for closure and has also been a tireless
advocate to improve the quality of life for our troops
and their families.

In 1994, Chambliss was first elected to Congress to
represent Georgia's 8th congressional district.
Throughout his legislative career, Chambliss has been
honored with numerous awards from both the private and
public sector for his work in the fields of
agriculture, defense, budget, and national security.
He is a past recipient of the Air Force Association's
W. Stuart Symington Award, the top civilian award
given annually for outstanding contributions in the
field of national security and was awarded the Reserve
Officers Association's Minuteman of the Year Award in
2005.

Chambliss is a member of the Senate Caucus on Military
Depots, Arsenals and Ammunition Plants, the
Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, the Congressional
Fire Services Caucus, the Rural Health Caucus, the
Juvenile Diabetes Caucus and he is the co-chair of the
Senate Reserve Caucus.

Chambliss earned a Bachelor's degree in Business
Administration from the University of Georgia in 1966
and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University
of Tennessee College of Law in 1968. Chambliss and his
wife, Julianne, have been married since 1966, and
reside in Moultrie, Georgia. They have two children
and two grandchildren.

**Bridget**

Chapter 5- IB summary Cross-Culural Negotiation and Decision Making

Chapter 5: Cross-cultural Negotiation and Decision Making [IB]

Opening Profile: Bechtel and GE Benefit from Enron's Failed Negotiations over Dabhol Plant

Betchel and GE bought out partner Enron's 65% share in Dabhol from a bankruptcy court for $22M. Goal is to restart the 740-megawatt plant, idle for almost 3 years. Dabhol went bankrupt in May 2001 when state electricity board stopped paying the bills, citing the cost was too high. Now that Dabhol has been consolidated into one place, Betchel and GE, partner's in this venture are in negotiations to sell to some of India's biggest non-government energy companies.

Negotiation : The Negotiation Process comprised of 5 stages (order may vary and relationship building can be continuous) where two or more parties aim to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

Stage 1: Preparation- find out as much as possible about (1) the kinds of demands that may be made; (2) the composition o f the "opposing" team, and (3) the relative authority that the members possess Then you can gear your strategy, allocate roles, decide on concessions, and prepare action plan if negotiated situation cannot be found.

Stage 2: Relationship building- the process of getting to know one's contacts in a host country and building mutual trust before embarking on business discussions and transactions. (more focus & value world-wide than in U.S.). Entertaining, non-task sounding (nemawashi) – general conversation.

Stage 3: Exchanging Task-Related Information (presentation and state position; Q&A; alternatives discussed). Mexican negotiators give little substantive material and more lengthy, evasive information. French like to debate. Chinese ask any questions and give vague ambiguous information, but delve into details.

Information: Stage Four: Persuasion- hard bargaining starts. Majority of persuasion takes place over several negotiation sessions. Far East, details are usually worked out iahead of time through the backdoor approach (homnani). Japanese are more like Americans and less like Brazilian behaviors. Brazilians= fewer promises, threats, and so forth and Americans tend to be more alike in the use of these behaviors, but use commands less. "Dirty Tricks", tactic often used to mislead the opponents deliberately. Another tactic, place opposing negotiator in stressful situation (uncomfortable temp, rudeness, too bright light, interruptions, etc.). American's see as dirty or misleading may be cultural norm to mislead at first. Persuasion primary purpose. Brazilians interrupt, touch and facial gaze often. Japanese tend to use more silent periods and interruptions but less facial gazing than Americans. Japanese and Americans did not touch other than handshake.

Stage Five: Concessions and Agreement- last stage of negotiation, tactics vary greatly across cultures. Chinese & Russians are prepared to ask for more than they expect to get; Swedes start with what they are prepared to accept. Better Results are attained when bargaining with extreme positions. Asking for more than you hope to gain. Careful timing of the disclosure of information. Only tell what and when needed.

Understanding Negotiation Styles - Comparison of negotiation styles (Japanese; North American; Latin American) see page 155. Brazilians: spontaneous, passionate, and dynamic style; use the word 'No' extensively; lots of physical contact. Japanese: skillful, calm, quiet, patient negotiators; accustomed to long, detailed negotiating sessions. Americans: plunge straight to the matter at hand. Westerners and Arabs believe time is money; where other cultures build relationships and delay with haggling.

Successful Negotiations Around the World: Profiles of American, Indian, Arab, Swedish, and Italian negotiators, according to Pierre Casse, and give some insight into what to expect from different negotiators and what they expect. Pg. 156-158.

Managing Negotiation - The successful management of intercultural negotiations require a manager to go beyond a generalized understanding of the issues and variables involve. 1. Gain specific knowledge 2. Prepare accordingly to adjust to and control the situation 3. Be innovative. Huthwaite Research Group- reveals how successful negotiators, compared to average negotiators, manage the planning process and face-to- face behavior.

Using the Web to Support Negotiations- can provide support for negotiations, but cannot replace the face-to-face. (NSS- Negotiation support system) decreases direct and indirect costs of neg.

E-Negotiations- negotiations carried through e-commerce

Management Focus: Samsung's e-Chaelbol - internet becomes middleman for trading auctions. FishRound: online marketplace for frozen fish, CareCamp- e-marketplace for medical equipment, etc.

Comparative Management in Focus: Negotiating with the Chinese - cultural barriers on both sides when US vs. China. Two major areas of conflict: 1. The amount of detail the Chinese want about product characteristics and 2. Their apparent insincerity about reaching an agreement

Chinese negotiation process 3 cultural norms: ingrained politeness and emotional restraint; emphasis on social obligations; belief in the interconnection of work, family, and friendship. Avoid open conflict to save face: Lien (moral character); Mien-tzu (one's reputation or prestige).

Managing Conflict Resolution - differing communication styles Low-Context vs. High-context usually lead to confict. Low-context such as U.S.= instrumental oriented (conflict separate from task); High-context such as Middle East (avoid conflict) = expressive oriented (handle conflict indirectly) otherwise insulting and lose face.

Decision Making

The Influence of Culture on Decision Making- crucial to understand as culture affects decision making through the broader context of the nation's institutional culture, collective patterns of decision making & value system that affects decision maker's perception of situation.

Approaches to Decision Making : value system- utilitarian system vs. moral idealism in a society affects its overall approach to the world. Who has authority- Autocratic vs. participative; Country's orientation- individualistic vs. collectivist; Culture affects speed- how fast or slow a decision is made.

Comparative Management in Focus: Decision Making in Japanese Companies - three levels of negotiation in Japanese culture of collectivism and share responsibility = ringi system of decision making. (cumbersome and very time-consuming prior to the implementation stage)

1. nemawashi process: used to gain consensus

2. ringi: more formal authorization procedure begins

3. ringi-sho: passed up through successive layers of management for approval – the approval made by official seals. (Showing collective agreement)

Conclusion: Competitive positioning and long-term successful operations in a global market require a working knowledge of the decision-making and negotiating processes of managers form different countries. One cannot negotiate without making decisions.

My Time or Yours

MY TIME OR YOURS? MANAGING TIME VISIONS IN GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS
The use of Global Virtual Teams (GTVs) is increasing among organizations, to help them accomplish their goals.
• Increase communication
• More productive, bridge across global time zones so they can be more productive.
• Overnight feedback. As for feedback in NY at night from Tokyo, and have a response first thing in the morning
• However, can create coordination difficulties due to differences in time.
What is time?
• Different perceptions across cultures.
• Very subjective, varies across continents, countries, time zones.
• Hard to explain, psychologist try to explain it as “objective” time and “subjective” time
• Can be lost, spend, or wasted following western perceptions
• Helps employees get paid. Tool for production. Time is a constraint in the production process.
Event
• Event time vision perceives time as cyclical, continuous, and epochal.
• Example: Two minute exchange of business cards between Japanese executives meeting for the first time.
Regions where Hinduism or Buddhism predominates tend to adopt the timeless notion of time. Also, view synchronization as critical aspect of time
In contrast, harmonic is the sense of time (timelessness) in Confucianism and Taoism. Promote a time vision based in harmony.
Time Vision and Organizations
• Depends among societies and work organizations
• Time vision of time of individuals is shaped by society. So, it varies across societies
• Organizations know how to determine time constraints and know when to expect actions to happen.
Virtual Teams and Time Visions
• Managers try to reconcile time vision differences among participants in GVTs
• Different time visions affect the performance of a GTV.
• GTV members hold a time vision in terms of completion of a series of activities.
• GTVs have to agree in time for deliverables. Be clear about it.
• Synchronizing time. Achieve a team rhythm
• GTVs need to maintain rhythm around intense face-to-face interaction
• Toyoda Kiichiro, founder of Toyota view synchronization importance
• Allocating time. Performance measures. Time is accounted to measure labor costs, estimates. Time measures activities with predictable durations, sequencing, and interactions.
• All described above, has to be well managed.
• Scheduling and synchronizing may be linked to deadlines. This calls for managing time focus and allocation. Place priorities and values first.
• Create awareness of time among GTVs. Team members whose views of time differ a lot from those in the other side of the communication line, may exhibit withdrawal behaviors such as low satisfaction, absenteeism, and turnovers. When developing timelines, managers have to consider different time synchronization among members.
Developing and Facilitation of time visions
• Facilitating the development of team norms, so everybody is in the same page. GTV leaders should lay the groundwork for developing norms, with the help of the team interaction
• Matching technology with time visions is very important, because is the bridge used for communication. Automated scheduling tools such as GANTT and PERT charts, make team members, especially members with cyclical time visions, aware of the team schedules.
• Avoid time language traps that can be hard to interpret to different cultures. “I’ll be there in a minute”, “wait a minute”, “I’ll be with you in a minute”. These can be confusing to a non-western. Specify the latest an activity can start, the time before an activity may not start, the earliest an activity may cease, the latest and activity must be completed. Also, time writing has to be clear: 1:59:55, 2 p.m., 2:01, be there before 2.
GTVs challenges
• Create awareness of the different time visions among team members
• Facilitate the development of time-related team norms
• Create an intersubjective time vision
• Avoid time languages traps
• Apply multiple, appropriate performance measures that reflect sensitivity to differing time visions.

IB Reading Summary: "Five Steps to Creating a Global Knowledge-Sharing System: Siemens' Share Net"

Introduction:

The cumulative knowledge that a company is able to access from inside and outside the organization is often regarded as a sustainable resource for competitive advantage. One of the success stories is with Siemens' (one of the world's largest organizations) ShareNet, a global knowledge-sharing system. This system passed through 5 major steps to ensure sustainable performance and value added contribution. Although technical aspects (reliability and usability) are a prerequisite for performance, this article focuses on the global character and rollout phase, the cross-cultural implications, with a detailed focus on the experience in China.

Global Knowledge Transfer and Cross-Cultural Challenges:

Conceptually there are 5 elements, pointing at organizational, psychological and technical factors that have to be fulfilled in order to enable the use of transferred knowledge within an organization: 1. perceived value of the source unit's knowledge, 2. willingness to share knowledge, 3. the existence and richness of transmission channels, 4. the willingness to acquire knowledge from the source, and 5. the absorptive capacity of the receiving unit. Apart from just these Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), though, the information must also pass through a knowledge integration phase (internalized by the receiving unit – how 'sticky' is the knowledge for the receiving unit).

Research Approach:

2 phases: 1) 116 interviews concentrated in hi-tech and consulting industries w/iNorth America, looking for good KMS examples. 2) identified Siemens' as a 'best practice' source in KMS, conducted investigation into the implementation process and global establishment of ShareNet, interviewed 35 executives internationally and incorporated hard data to support results (manuals, internal presentations, etc.).

5 Steps to Creating a Global Knowledge-Sharing System:

Based in Munich, Germany, Siemens is giant global electronics firm – involved in info and communication systems, products and services, semiconductors, passive and electromechanical components, transportation, energy, health care, household appliances, lighting and other businesses.

1998: Siemens restructures their corporate groups to better offer total/comprehensive solutions to clients (moving away from 'simple' product seller). Info and Communication Networks (ICN) is the departmental bridge between the carrier and enterprise branches of Siemens Telecom, realizes they have a rich body of experience that needs to be grouped for best use. Joachim Döring, President of Group Strategy at ICN, heads up this initiative.

Step 1: Define the Concept:

Not just a data repository, Döring's idea was to create a system that was able to handle not only explicit knowledge, but also help externalize the individuals' tacit knowledge by 'codifying' it (a technique best suited for organizations that reuse the same knowledge repeatedly, and therefore require a scalable knowledge-sharing approach that enables efficient knowledge transfer). He gathered an early team to map out broad classifications of knowledge and establish an organizational structure for the knowledge. The components would include: knowledge library, forum for urgent requests, platforms to enable 'rich' information transmissions. The library would be composed of knowledge bids, constructed to categorize the experience gained from ongoing and completed projects, and was compiled using an important questionnaire that captured all of the tacit knowledge (not just the hard details). The urgent request forum would be a place for users to post and check for answers to questi
ons like, "how dangerous is it to lay cables in the Amazon rainforest?" A PM in Senegal answered w/I a few hours and his knowledge saved the South American project $1million Euros. It was also decided that the rollout should not be Munich-driven, that it should be tested in satellite environments to gain cross-cultural insights from people removed from HQ.

Step 2: Global Rollout

First version rolled out in 1999, launched in 39 countries with a "GLOCAL" emphasis – creating mutual trust to facilitate cross-cultural knowledge-sharing, to address the bias of both global integration and local responsiveness. The system would be centrally maintained in Munich in English, but local ShareNet managers were selected, trained in 2-3 day workshops and given incentives to promote the initiative and the concept of knowledge-sharing at local level. Consultants were also hired at the local level to provide support, organize and manage conferences and interface with the local ShareNet managers to bid feedback and control input quality. Global editors oversaw the clarity and usefulness of contributions, reviewed ways in which entered solutions could be understood and reused efficiently.
PROS: benefits became almost immediately evident. The urgent requests platform gave even smaller satellites a powerful forum to access other field people struggling with similar problems. This evident usefulness helped overcome language and culture barriers. Chinese (large part of Siemens' corporation structure) especially took to the system because it satisfied the Confucian principle of 'personal steadiness', 'respect for tradition', 'contributing to the long-term harmony' (Chinese averaged 16.7 KM contributions per worker vs. only 3.3 in the US). Moreover, system was offered gratis, which promoted its use - rather than encountering budget constraints that would limit employees' use of the system.
CONS: Small percentage of German workers were resentful of its English-language orientation, but the system's evident usefulness overcame this concern. Some language concessions had to be made for the lower-level Chinese workers, who may have been reluctant to contribute out of wanting to 'save face' due to sub-par English language skills.

Step 3: Bringing momentum into the system:

They encountered a couple of challenges – people that said they didn't have time to spend on it and others that resented sharing knowledge 'for free.' Still others didn't believe that the clarity in issues regarding their own projects would translate well for others. (These challenges were also observed in other companies with KMS.)
So they implemented an incentive system to encourage contributions. Initially these were bonuses, but in China and India to prevent overuse of the bonuses (to where employees would neglect their regular work in favor of earning 'contribution' bonuses), they changed the incentives to accessories and gift items rather than cash.

Step 4: Expanding Group-Wide

By 2001, ShareNet expanded into the R&D sectors, too. The system was adapted to relevant criteria and parameters for R&D knowledge (more specific and complex than in other units, which had heretofore contributed to its problematic transfer ability). But, by 2002 a different context obstacle had been encountered: knowledge protectiveness and 'shielding mechanisms' that hindered knowledge flow b/w different R&D units. To overcome this, Munich R&D HQ had to set the tone for open communication, and train others to view the strong personal benefit of knowledge sharing. (Once they started, however, satellite engineers took to it faster and better than the Munich counterparts.)

Step 5: consolidating and sustaining performance

The economic downturn caused Siemens to have to reorg staff and divisions in all corporate areas and the ShareNet team was transferred over to a newly-established Competence and Knowledge Management department. The reorgs had the following effect on the knowledge contributions: although the urgent request platform remained highly in use, the knowledge libraries saw fewer and fewer contributions. Discussions on the performance and value of ShareNet led them to begin to document the impact that it had had on ICN's businesses since implementation. The final calculation showed that ShareNet had generated 5 million Euros since its inception in 1988, but this is just a rough estimate because the cost side of the equation had to approximately quantify time-spent, opportunity cost of employee-time-spent, opportunity cost of employee time-spent answering urgent requests, etc. The fundamental premise, however, is that a knowledge-sharing system that is actively used by its employees can
improve performance and may produce a long-term sustainable competitive advantage for the organization.

Learning Outcomes and Implications for Global Practice:

The first three steps in implementation focused on the systematic methods of implementing a knowledge-sharing system, but the crucial task for Siemens' has been to manage the employee obstacles and the crisis resulting from the economic downturn. The system has shown that, even with minimum costs, the system is able to create value for the company and gain its users' acceptance. The timing of the rollout was also crucial, too; it seems obvious that he launch of an entirely new project would have been difficult to accomplish during economically bad times such as in 2001/2002. The insight is that profiting from such an enabling context and anchoring the system within the organization are necessary actions to survive when contrary winds are encountered.

Limitations and Future Challenges:

The Siemens case supports the view that just-in-time delivery of context-specific knowledge can significantly improve performance because it reveals that a thoughtful implementation of a knowledge-sharing system enhances the transfer of knowledge within a global organization and can therefore create value. However, there are certain limitations: 1) on the financial side, it will always remain a significant cost since supervision can only be automated to a certain degree (required dedicated personnel resources); 2) sharing tacit knowledge through a virtual medium has communication and context limitations (some situations may require personal interaction for the knowledge receiver to understand the source's context); 3) the current knowledge platform is limited in media richness and can therefore only create 'weak ties' within the organization.

However, Siemens is committed to the advancement of their KMS. The CEO Heinrich von Pierer desires "to truly release this treasure trove of experience…one of our key competitive advantages."

(Recommend readers briefly scan the Table 2 on page 20 of the article to see the bulleted learning outcomes designated by implementation phase.)

Carol Sautter
404-610-6660
cj_sautter@yahoo.com

Chapter 4 Communicating Across Cultures

Summary
This chapter is abou the various ways communicating
affects the sender and receiver in management
situations. When language is a communcation barrier,
there are many other ways to communicate meaning.

I. The Communication Process
• Communication-describes the process of sharing
meaning by transmitting messages through media such as
words, behavior, or material artifacts
• Communication is a complex process of linking up or
sharing perceptual fields of sender and receiver
• The sender builds a bridge to the life space of the
receiver
• Cultural noise: the cultural variables that
undermine the communications of intended meaning
• Attribution-looking for an explanation for another
person's behavior
II. The Culture-Communication Link
• Trust in Communication: create a clear and
calculated basis for mutual benefit, improve
predictability, develop mutual bonding thorough
regular socializing and friendly contact
• Cultural variables: attitudes, social organization,
thought patterns, roles, language, nonverbal
communication-kinesic/proxemics, time-monochronic
cultures (U.S., Switzerland-individualists) and
polychromic cultures (Latin, Arab-collectivists),
context-high context, feelings not explicitly
expressed, low-context, explicit about thoughts or
feelings
III. Information Technology: Going Global and Acting
Local
• Communication channels-information systems-the
systematic flow of information within an
organization-correlates with the context level of the
cultural; Japanese example
IV. Managing Cross-Cultural Communication
• Developing cultural sensitivity, careful encoding,
selective transmission, careful decoding of feedback,
V. Conclusion
• Effective intercultural communication is a vital
skill for international managers and domestic mangers
with international workforces. Cultural variables and
the manner in which culture is communicated underlie
the processes of negotiation and decision making.

My Time or Yours?

My Time or Yours? Managing Time visions in Global Virtual Teams

More global virtual teams (GVT) are forming in business to tackle international business issues. While these teams are coming from different cultures their perception of time is often different. This article is about the different "time visions" affecting business, and advice on how to make increase functionality within a multi-time vision GVT.

Clock/Linearity – US, UK, Germany, Scandinavia

• a linier view of time
• time can be lost, spent, used, saved

Event - Japan

• cyclical, continuous (holistic), and epochal
• unfolding of time, passing from one phase of an activity
• emphasis on the passing from one phase of an activity to another, rather than time involved
• ritual tradition

Timeless – Hindu and Buddhist

• long-term, abstract, recurrent, epochal
• simultaneous destruction and creation
• passage of time is insignificant
• soul searches for timeless state

Harmonic – Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism (China)

• long-term, cyclical, continuous, and recurrent
• a dynamic of life
• time is valuable, punctuality important

Ways to improve time value communication

• scheduling time: deadlines
• synchronizing time: team rhythms
• allocating time: performance measures
• Managing time visions
• Creating awareness of the differences
• Facilitating the development of team norms
• Creating an intersubjective time vision
• Avoid language traps
• Apply the appropriate measures of performance

Cross-border transfer of knowledge: Cultural Lessons from Project GLOBE

Summary: Cross-border transfer of knowledge: Cultural Lessons from Project GLOBE

• A huge increase in cross-border knowledge has increased (and will continue to increase) the need for effective cross-border knowledge transfer.

A real-life case: NORDED (a Nordic European business school)

• Wanted to establish a base in South Asia. Signed agreement with TAI BANK to train managers about leadership and management of change. It was the largest investment the bank had ever made in training and development. Goal was to help TAI BANK transition from local bank to major regional player. Cultural differences soured the relationship between the two parties and could’ve been avoided if they had been identified ahead of time. TAI BANK’s senior management had a top-down communication and decision making style that frustrated middle management. TAI BANK made curriculum changes without discussing it with NORDED.
• The cultural differences between NORDED and TAI BANK were substantial (measured by the avg. distance between rankings on all 9 dimensions listed below), especially power distance differences and differences in uncertainty avoidance.
• Strong personal ties were not developed between the 2 organizations, so the continuity of the program was in doubt. Regular high level contact could have reduced obstacles.
• Taking time to articulate common goals and criteria for success would have helped.
• GLOBE = Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness. Studied 62 societies worldwide. Goal of project: to develop empirically based theories to describe, understand and predict the impact of specific cultural variables on leadership effectiveness and organizational cultures in societies.

Nine cultural dimensions:

1. Power Distance
2. In-Group Collectivism
3. Institutional Collectivism
4. Uncertainty Avoidance
5. Future Orientation
6. Gender egalitarianism
7. Assertiveness
8. Humane Orientation
9. Performance Orientation

Effective knowledge transfer is a function of:

1. Value of the source unit’s store of knowledge
2. Motivational disposition of the unit that sources the knowledge – shaped by national culture and motivational disposition
3. Existence and richness of transmission channels – affected by cultural differences
4. Motivational disposition of the unit to which the knowledge is directed
5. Absorptive capacity or assimilation ability of the target unit.

GLOBE Advice on cross-border knowledge transfer:

1. Define common goals in advance of knowledge transfer. First need to agree on the value of the knowledge to be transferred.
2. Map the cultural profiles. Identify cultural differences that can have a negative impact and explore ways to address them.
3. Assign relationship managers in cross-cultural transfers of knowledge. All parties should have cross-culturally aware individuals accountable for the success of the transfer.
4. Learn from knowledge transfer – view it as a learning experience.

Melissa Efferth

Chapter 5

I. Negotiation- process of discussion by which two or more parties aim to reach a mutually acceptable agreement

5 Stages:

1. Preparation:

· negotiators should familiarize themselves with the entire context and background of their counterparts

· must understand own and other parties' negotiation styles

· should know the value system, attitudes, and expected behaviors of the opposing team

· prior to the meeting find out what kinds of demands might be made, what the composition of the opposing team is and the level of authority that their members posses

2. Relationship building:

· Goal is to get to know one's contacts in the host country and to build mutual trust before beginning any business discussion

· Involves nontask sounding (nemawashi)- general, polite conversation, and informal communication before meetings

· Sometimes intermediaries are needed, these are people who already has the trust and respect of the foreign managers and can act as a "relationship bridge"

· Should also practice "posturing" which is the general discussion that sets the tone for the meeting and it should result in a feeling of cooperation

3. Exchanging task-related information:

· Consists of exchanging task-related info

· Each side typically makes a presentation and states its position, then Q&A

· Negotiators should focus both on presenting their own situation and in showing an understanding of their opponents' viewpoint

· Prepare for this stage by practicing role reversal

4. Persuasion

· Hard bargaining-parties try to persuade the other to accept more of their position and to give up some of their own

· Can face difficulties because of differences in the uses and interpretation of verbal and nonverbal behaviors

· Exhibit 5-4 shows list of recognizable bargaining tactics

· "dirty tricks" sometimes used- giving misleading or distorted factual info, using the excuse of ambiguous authority

· "Rough tactics" also used- designed to put opposing negotiators in a stressful situation physically or psychologically so that their giving in is more likely (uncomfortable room temp, too-bright lighting, take-it-or-leave-it attitude, etc.)

5. Concessions and Agreement

· Stage of concessions and agreement

· Decide ahead of time what your concession strategy will be

· Usually better end results are attained by starting with extreme positions

Managing negotiations

· must understand the position of the other parties in regard to their goals

· problem-solving approach is essential to successful cross-cultural negotiation

- requires that a negotiator treat everyone with respect

- avoid making anyone feel uncomfortable

- should not criticized or blame the other parties in a personal way that may make someone feel shame (lose face)

Successful negotiators

· consider a wider range of options

· pay greater attention to areas of common ground

· tend to make twice as many comments regarding long-term issues

· more likely to set upper and lower limits regarding specific points

· make fewer irritating comments ("We are making you a generous offer")

· use counterproposals less frequently

· use fewer reasons to back up arguments

· practice active listening

Using the Internet for Negotiations

· internet-based programs provide support for the negotiating process but can't take the place of face-to-face negotiations

· Negotiating Support Systems (NSS) program that provides support by finding zones of agreement, decreasing direct and indirect costs of negotiations, and maximizing the chances of optimal outcomes

· INSPIRE- web-based program that provides applications for preparing and conducting negotiations

Influence of culture in decision making:

· Culture affects decision making at the broader context of the nation's institutional culture- produces collective patterns of decision making

· Culture also affects decisions through culturally based value systems that affect an individual's perception of a situation

· 5 stages of rational decision-making process

1. Defining the problem

2. Gathering and analyzing relevant data

3. Considering alternatives

4. Deciding on best solution

5. Implementing decision
--
Maggie Mariscal

Chapter 4 summary--International Business

Chapter 4:

Communicating Across Cultures

**The ability of a manager to effectively communicate across cultural boundries will largely determine the success of international business transactions or the output of a culturally diverse workforce**

I The Communication Process

v Communication: the process of sharing meaning by transmitting messages though media such as words, behavior, or material artifacts.

® It is vitally important for a receiver to interpret the meaning of a particular communications in the way the sender intended

II Cultural Noise in the Communication process

v Cultural noise: the cultural variables that undermine the communications of intended meaning—will enable us to take steps to minimize that noise and so to improve communication.

v Attribution: the process in which people look for an explanation of another person's behavior

III The Culture-Communication Link

v KEY=Trust

® The meaning and level of trust for new people varies drastically

® When asked do you believe "Most people can be trusted?"

· Nordic countries and China had the highest levels of trust

· Brazil, Turkey, Romania, Slovenia, and Latvia had the lowest.

v Attitudes underlie the way we behave and communicate

® Ethnocentrism is one of the greatest types of cultural noise

® Another major problem is stereotyping…attributing general principles to individuals

v Other key cultural variables

® Social Organizations

® Thought Patterns

· Have to be open that your culture isn't universal àie double lines in Thailand do not indicate that you cannot pass, they just mean that that is the center of the road.

® Roles

· Vary from culture to culture…power distance…etc..

® Language

· Basic/major translation errors "come alive with pepsi" =Come out of the grave with Pepsi.

· You either need to be fluent or get a good translator for major deals

v Nonverbal Communication

® Kinesic behavior

· Body movements—sticking your tongue out in China is a sign of surprise

· Eye-Contact, not as important in other cultures…

® Proxemics

· Influence of proximity and space on communications

¨ American culture àcorner office, French àCentral office, Asian àintermingled offices

¨ South Americans, Souther and Eastern Europeans à high contact cultures

Ø Less personal space

Ø More touching

® Paralanguage

· How something is said, not what…. Use of silence, Chinese are more comfortable with silence than Americans are

® Object language

· How we communication through material artifacts

v Time

® Monochronic cultures:

· Switzerland, Germany, USA

· Time is linear, used, wasted, stored, made-up

® Polychronic cultures:

· Latin Americans, Arabs

· Many things can occur simultaneously…meetings are less structured…friends/family take priority over work…can mix the two

v Context

® Context in which the communication takes place affects the meaning and interpretation of the interaction

IV Managing Cross-Cultural Communications

v Developing Cultural Sensitivity

® A manager must make it a point to know the receiver and to encode the message in a form that will most likely be understood as intended

v Carefully Encode a message

® Use words, pictures, etc, that the receiver will understand

v Selective Transmission

® The closer the contacts, the better, face to face, web-chats, etc…all help

v Carefully Decode Feedback

Chapter 9 Econ Notes

Oligopoly is a market structure characterized by competition among a small number of large firms that have market power, but that must take their rivals' actions into account when developing their own competitive strategies.

Noncooperative oligopoly models show interdependent behavior that assumes that firms pursue profit-maximizing strategies based on assumptions about rivals' behavior and the impact of this behavior on the given firm's strategies.

Cooperative oligopoly models show interdependent behavior that assumes that firms explicitly or implicitly cooperate with each other to achieve outcomes that benefit all the firms.

Kinked demand curve model. An oligopoly model based on two demand curves that assumes that other firms will not match a firm's price increases, but will match its price decreases.

Game theory. A set of mathematical tools for analyzing situations in which players make various strategic moves and have different outcomes or payoffs associated with those moves.

Dominant strategy results in the best outcome or highest payoff to a given player no matter what action or choice the other player makes.

Nash equilibrium. A set of strategies from which all players are choosing their best strategy, given the actions of the other players.

Strategic entry deterrence. Strategic policies pursued by a firm that prevent other firms from entering the market.

Limit pricing. A policy of charging a price lower than the profit-maximizing price to keep other firms from entering the market.

Predatory pricing is lowering prices below cost to drive firms out of the industry and scare off potential entrants.

Cartel is an organization of firms that agree to coordinate their behavior regarding pricing and output decisions in order to maximize profits for the organization.

Joint profit maximization. A strategy that maximizes profits for a cartel, but that may create incentives for individual members to cheat.

Horizontal summation of marginal cost curves. For every level of marginal cost, add the amount of output produced by each firm to determine the overall level of output produced at each level of marginal cost.

Tacit Collusion. Coordinated behavior among oligopoly firms that is achieved without a formal agreement.

Price Leadership. An oligopoly strategy in which one firm in the industry institutes price increases and waits to see if they are followed by rival firms.

Chapter 8 Econ Notes

Market power is the ability of a firm to influence the prices of its product and develop other competitive strategies that enable it to earn large profits over longer periods of time.

Monopoly is a market structure characterized by a single firm producing a product with no close substitutes.

Price-searcher is a firm in imperfect competition that faces a downward sloping demand curve and must search out the profit-maximizing price to charge for its product.

Barriers to entry are the structural, legal, or regulatory characteristics of a firm and its market that keep other firms from producing the same or similar products at the same cost.

Public goods have a higher cost of exclusion and are nonrival in consumption.

Costs of Exclusion are the costs of using a pricing mechanism to exclude people from consuming a good if they do not or cannot pay the price of the good.

Nonrival consumption. Once a nonrival good is provided, everyone can consume it simultaneously (i.e. – one person's consumption of the good does not affect the consumption of that good by another person). E.g. – information.

Lock-in and switching costs is a form of market power for a firm where consumers become locked into purchasing certain types or brands of products because they would incur substantial costs if they switched to other products.

Network externalities. A barrier to entry that exists because the value of a product to consumers depends on the number of consumers using the product.

Lerner index. A measure of market power that focuses on the difference between a firm's product price and its marginal cost of production.

Concentration ratios are a measure of market power that focuses on the share of the market held by the X largest firms, where X typically equals four, six or eight.

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). A measure of market power that is defined as the sum of the squares of the market share of each firm in an industry.

Antitrust laws. Legislation, beginning with the Sherman Act of 1890, that attempts to limit the market power of firms and to regulate how firms use their market power to compete with each other.

Chapter 7 Econ Notes

Perfect competition is a market structure characterized by a large number of firms in the market, an undifferentiated product, ease of entry into the market, and complete information available to all market participants.

Price-taker is a characteristic of a perfectly competitive market in which the firm cannot influence the price of its product, but can sell any amount of its output at the price established by the market.

Profit maximization is the assumed goal of firms, which is to develop strategies to earn the largest amount of profit possible. This can be accomplished by focusing on revenues or costs or both factors.

Profit-maximizing rule is that to maximize profits, a firm should produce the level of output where marginal revenue equals marginal cost.

Marginal revenue for the perfectly competitive firm is a horizontal line on the supply and demand curve because the firm can sell all units of output at the market price, given the assumption of a perfectly elastic demand curve. Price equals marginal revenue for the perfectly competitive firm.

Shutdown point for the perfectly competitive firm. The price, which equals a firm's minimum average variable cost, below which it is more profitable for the perfectly competitive firm to shut down than to continue to produce.

Supply curve for the perfectly competitive firm. The portion of a firm's marginal cost curve that lies above the minimum average variable cost.

Supply curve for the perfectly competitive industry. The curve that shows the output produced by all perfectly competitive firms in the industry at different prices.

Equilibrium point for the perfectly competitive firm is the point where price equals average total cost because the firm earns zero economic profit at this point. Economic profit incorporates all implicit costs of production, including a normal rate of return on the firm's investment.

Economies of Scale achieve lower unit costs of production by adopting a larger scale of production, represented by the downward sloping portion of a long-run average cost curve.

Diseconomies of Scale incur higher unit costs of production by adopting a larger scale of production, represented by the upward sloping portion of a long-run average cost curve.

Industry concentration is a measure of how many firms produce the total output of an industry. The more concentrated the industry the fewer the firms operating in that industry.

Price-cost margin (PCM) is the relationship between price and costs for an industry, calculated by subtracting the total payroll and the cost of materials from the value of shipments and then dividing the results by the value of the shipments. The approach ignores taxes, corporate overhead, advertising and marketing, research, and interest expenses.

SUMMARY: Perfect competition is a form of market structure in which individual firms have no control over product price, which is established by industry or market demand and supply. In the short run, perfectly competitive firms take the market price and produce the amount of outp tht atmaximizes their profits. Profist earned in the short run can be positive, zero, or negative. Perfectly competitive firms are not able to earn positive economic profist in the long run because these profist will be competed away by entry of other firms. Likewise, any losss will be competed away by frims leaving the industry.
To lower their costs, firms also seek to produc at the optimal scale of operation. However, this scale will be adopted by all firms in the long run, and entry will force prices to equal long-run average cost, the zero-profit equilibrium.