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Managing Diversity Essay

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International management refers to the pursuit of organizational objectives in more than one nation. International management has evolved as a discipline of increasing importance in recent years. The underlying reason is that the corporate community is becoming more and more diverse. Improvements in transportation and communications and lower production costs in many countries around the world have made global markets more accessible. Although United States-based firms have immediate access to huge domestic markets, they have steadily increased the proportion of their foreign markets. It has been estimated that about 10 percent of all jobs in North America are dependent upon export and import trade.
Other indicators, including foreign …show more content…

The most pervasive root problem in con¬ducting business in another country is that an assortment of cultural values may be in conflict with company values. Culture in the sense used here refers to the customs, beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior of a given society. An important example of conflicting cultural values relates to the need for achievement . In a society where most people have a low need for achievement, the profit motive may not be very strong and most employees may not have a strong sense of time urgency.
2. Unfavorable political climate. An unfavorable or even hostile political cli¬mate can make it particularly difficult to conduct business in some foreign countries. In extreme cases, widespread rioting, kidnapping, and hostage taking may make it imperative for peeople of certain nationalities to leave a country. Political attitudes may also interfere with equitable human resource practices in the home country. North American companies with facilities in South Africa face a continuing challenge of this nature. The South African government officially sanctions the practice of apartheid, a separation of white and black people that perpetuates the repression of the black majority by the white minority. In the workplace this means that South African blacks can only occupy lower level positions and are paid much less than whites in those same positions.
3. Fluctuations in the national economy. Most national economies follow a general worldwide trend,

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