COURSE FEEDBACK

I think this course was very interesting, because I could learned a lot about cultural issues within countries, communities, and even corporations; so it has turned into a very useful tool I can apply in the future as I am  an International Business student.

What I like the most were the activities done in class, because it was an easy way for making a review of everything the teacher has explained and doing the research paper, because it was very nice to notice how always there going to be many different opinions about a same topic. 

Finally, I got to say I had a very good experience at creating this blog, because although I have never done this before, putting your thoughts into words is something that somehow makes you feel you are an active member of society. 

Picture retrieved from: http://dolphinsoftware.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/evaluation.jpg

(ALOP) Asociación Latinoamericana de Organizaciones de Promoción

 
Retreived from: http://www.landcoalition.org

An interesting organization based in Latin America is ALOP, an association of NGO's from over 20 countries. 

It was created in the year 1979 and it has been one of the most long-lasting efforts of regional integration among Latin American NGO's. 

 Retrieved from: http://www.lapress.org

Divided into 3 regions: Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean (CAMEXA), Andean, and the Southern Cone and Brazil, each of them coordinated by a general director who acts as the mediator in forums with the purpose of generating and evaluating common cooperation programs, it is an space to develop proposals for sectoral development and detect the exact problematics every subregion faces.

Their mission is "to promote and support those initiatives coming from the NGO sector and more widely from democratic sectors of the civil society that struggle against poverty and exclusion and in favor of the construction of a more comprehensive and sustainable human development". 

Retrieved from: http://www.alop.or.cr/ 

This organization has thematic work groups in many different areas, like: Globalization and sustainable development, Democracy and participation, Regional integration and integration of the region internationally, Development and Financing.

 Retrieved from: http://www.rc.net/orange/frjubacouncil/workgroup.gif 

BLOGS' Winner!!!

And this award goes to...SILVANA YEPES. I really like her blog because, besides of covering all the topics, it has a lot of fun videos that immediately capture your attention. The entry I enjoyed the most was the one about "Trade Unions in Europe", because you could notice by the chart and information, she did a pretty good research!

Picture retrieved from: http://farter.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/donald-duck-hammock-award.jpg

 

New Arizona Law (SB1070)

"The new Arizona law has been considered as the United States' toughest immigration measure in generations".

Retrieved from: http://www.kvoa.com/images/thumbnails/C122A6F53B6A564CB827CDDC9DDF3B68_300_300.jpg

On the PRO side, supporters believe this will control the entry of the thousands of undocumented Mexican  workers to this state that, because of being in the border, acts as an illegal immigration magnet. They agree with the bill, for the reason they consider illegal people as synonyms of lower wages, deliquency, more demand for social services, etc.

However, it is a fact there has been a strong RESISTANCE toward the law as opponents have called it an act of discrimination against Hispanics (all of them, no matter their citizenship status), because " this criminalizes undocumented and turns dishwashers, janitors, landscapers and our neighbors into criminals".

Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1982268,00.html

 Also, they have catalogued it as racial and ethnic profiling, since this law gives a right to the police for demanding identification or a driver's valid license to those they think or suspect are remaining in the state illegaly, based in Mexican appearance. 
 

Even president Obama said: "it threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness"

Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.htm  

In my opinion, this is a very radical measure for trying to stop Mexicans' migration, for the fact that this families should daily live with the worry of being captured at any moment, so it goes against human  and if they abandoned the place where they were born in was for the reason they were looking for a wider range of opportunities and a better quality of life. 

I found a very good video about the controversy SB1070 has caused, here is the link for you to watch it:
                                       

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbrpRI3Jb1E&feature=player_embedded

WHAT CAN DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS AND PRIVATE SECTOR DO TO AVOID THE ABUSE OF MINORITIES?

Skin color, ethnicity or nationality, gender, religion, and sexual orientation are taken as criteria for opressing minority groups.

In order to avoid the abuse of minorities, organizations may act as consultants to them by offering resource material and real cases about the way in which they can defend their rights, for the fact that many people who are discriminated don't really know until what exact point they are able of making themselves be respected within the society; so, it happens to be "ignorance" their greatest enemy.

Also,  from companies, there could be implemented politics that catalogue diversity as a pillar for the good functioning of the organization and create a pattern for guaranteeing that minorities get exactly the treatment they deserve (there should not be any type of discrimination at for example: offering job opportunities, giving loans, providing education facilities, etc). 

Picture retrieved from: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nb8DOoLyFwk/RoAt4DvnTxI/AAAAAAAACmU/VhRlhom6C_U/s400/racial_discrimination.gif

TRADE UNIONS in Europe

Even though TRADE UNIONS were created during the Industrial Revolution period in Europe, due to the fact that all workers were being mistreated and underpaid at the factories; over the last 20 years, there has been a decline in their membership:

"Three out of every four people in the EU are now not members of a trade union. Furthermore, in every EU country outside Scandinavia (except Belgium), trade union membership is either static or continues to decline".

Retrieved from: http://www.fedee.com/tradeunions.html 

This has been a consequence derived from the good task the organizations of workers have developed in the region. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), for example, linked to the European Union, is the representative trade union of Europe. 

Its main objective is to safeguard the well-being of all citizens by defending the interests of the working people and its basic challenge to making sure their voice reach EU institutions, such as: the Council of Europe and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

It works on many different areas, like: "equality, economic and employment policies, flexicurity, internal market and public services", with a team for each, focused on claiming workers' benefit. 

  Retrieved from: http://www.etuc.org/r/3 

IN COLOMBIA... There are some well-known trade unions, such as: "Confederación de Trabajadores de Colombia", "Central Unitaria de Trabajadores", and "Unión de Trabajadores de Colombia". They all, similarly to the European ones, share the mission of defending workers' rights and an equal distribution of wealth. But, their members instead of being less, are more and more each time; this because, employees keep facing many difficulties when demanding higher wages, adequate pension and health insurances, and better labor conditions, in general. 

Pictures retrieved from: http://mancelovici.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/etuc.jpg
                    

http://www.estatalescolombiaisp.org.co/apc-aa-files/2dad6f3f5d02d44e3f48803f733dab95/Logo_CTC_thumb.jpg        

 http://www.rel-uita.org/sindicatos/fotos/cut-colombia_120.jpg

Best of Blogs BOBS 2010

 I really liked the people's choice winner blog in the Special Topic Award Climate Change category: ECOPLANETA, made by Manuel A. Almeida in the year 2007.

                                                                                 

http://ecoplaneta.mangasverdes.es/

This blog was my favorite, because it is a window to every place surrounding us ...to a variety of animals, landscapes, ecosystems, etc; and I think this make us become more conscious about the changes that had ocurred at the world's climate and environment, in order to actually understand how wonderful and essential nature is.

It is an invitation to work on a new attitude toward the huge problems our planet nowadays faces and that probably we didn't thought they were this challenging before. 

I honestly enjoy looking at "The Top 31 Bullets about Ecology", because many pictures caused an impact on me, and some others made me remember few sad episodes throughout history, such as: the Genocide in Darfur, where more than 400.000 people were killed and around 2.5 million displaced from their home.

This exhibit of images constantly gave me important messages for trying to prevent a way of life that if we don’t do anything to save the planet now, we would be living a couple of years later, like for example: the one in which a parent is trying to protect his child from the extremely elevated levels of pollution.

Picture 1 retrieved from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIUnc8XoEqt8hhu-tXYzuNkGQUl97uo_wqW8jiYAYnXjLoGGaN2sNI5lOESfCWJGVHtzlZEYkhM6Ojmk15oAZMuzdAQrvQnp7YI-dXV9JRZt3Mzbgsr3zd9i0ivBJT2dOIPbiAevAO25i/s400/FIGHT_GLOBAL_WARMING_by_KitKatKitty23.jpg 
Pictures  2 and 3 retrieved from: http://ecoplaneta.mangasverdes.es/

The Arab Banking System

 
Picture retrieved from: http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com

In the Arab speaking countries, banking is based on the Islamic law: SHARIA, called fiqh muamalat, which means: Islamic rules on transactions, and came from various sources like: the Quran.

All Islamic banks, for instance, have established Sharian Committees or Sharian Advice Councils that have the assignment of making sure their system functions in accordance with the Sharian concepts.

Some of these concepts are:  

1. Wadiah: "free safekeeping of money and easy access to withdrawals whenever needed".
Retrieved from http://www.bankislam.com.my/Wadiah.aspx 

2. Mudharabah: "profit sharing" between an investor and an entrepreneur, where the funds can be supplied or loaned by the bank (it can be investor or entrepreneur), but both of them will enjoy the profit gained.
Retrieved from http://www.bankislam.com.my/Mudharabah.aspx  

3. Ijarah Thumma Bai': "to hire and subsequently purchase assets, either for individual or corporate customers". The bank buys an asset for you and then leases it to you over a period in which you pay rentals; later, when the period ends, you should buy this asset. 
Retrieved from http://www.bankislam.com.my/Hire Purchase-i.aspx  

4. Hibah: "gift", in this case "payment in return of a benefit received" like, for example, giving incentives to customers who make their monthly payment on time.

Retrieved from http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/financial/pdf/resolutions/07 hibah.aspx  

5. Qard: "interest-free loan, where "the borrower is only obligated to repay back the principal amount of the loan". 
Retrieved from http://www.albaraka.com.pk/glossary/qs.php  

In general, we may notice Arab Banking is strictly attached to Islamic religion and moral principles.

The Blog that I like the most is...

Mauricio Gonzalez'. I really enjoyed looking at this blog, because all of its pictures perfectly match with the text entries, so it allowed me to better underestand what I was reading. 

Also, I think every topic was properly explained and he even add an extra argument!

Should individuals (directors, employees, shareholders) bear any responsability for the actions of a corporation? If so, to what degree?

It is possible to assume that people who work under the name of a corporation, do this because they agree with its mission, vission, values, and for instance with its actions and performance within society.

Therefore, directors, employees and shareholders, all are responsable for the unprecedent wealth produced, as much as for the countless cases of illness, death, poverty, pollution, exploitation and lies.

If someone is not comfortable with what is being done in any kind of institution or organization he or she make part of, they would simply quit to it or, as in the case of the Fox News reporters at the rHGB story in THE CORPORATION, got fired for trying to go against the decisions taken by the company; for the reason that as long as you keep on collaborating with a cause, you will be participating on every single one of the consequences it generates.

Corporate Culture and Cross Cultural Management...

CORPORATE CULTURE represents the assumptions, practices and norms that members in an organization adopt over time. It is what boss and employees believe deep down and no one can force or buy such belief. 

Consequently, cultural problems are most of the times the reason for mergers' and outsourcing's failure: "Daimler Benz bought Chrysler in 1998, but talk of cultural conflict followed close on the deal's announcement. In 2007, after almost nine years of value destruction, Daimler unloaded Chrysler for less than a quarter of what it had paid for it". Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1. 

CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT implies the development and application of knowledge about cultures in order to plan and control international business activities between business units that are located in different countries (whether joint venture partners, headquarters and subsidiary, principal and agent, supplier and customer) or between people who may belong to the same business unit, but who have different cultural identities.

"Communication skills are often ranked as most important in qualifying the manager for positions of international responsability. In addition, managers need to be adaptable to other cultures and capable of leading its members". Millman, Gregory J. . 2007. "Corporate Culture: more myth than reality? ." The Free Library 23:44-47. Millman, Gregory J. (2007, July 1).

IN CONCLUSION, a cross cultural manager will have the talent enough for dealing with misunderstandings derived from organizations that have different corporate cultures, as he or she should be capable of managing cultural diversity.

My Own Definition of Culture...

Culture is the essence of human beings, what guides our way of thinking, acting and speaking. It is a particular lifestyle that differentiates each group of people or society from the rest. 

What is culture?

 

1. "Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing and responding to the social realities around them".

University of Minnesota.The Center for Advance Research of Language Acquisition (CARLA). Retrieved (February 3rd, 2010) from http://www.carla/.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html

2."Culture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic 'taken for granted' fashion an organization's view of itself and its environment".

Washington State University. A Baseline Definition of Culture. Retrieved (February 3rd, 2010) from http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_culture/culture-definition.html

3. "Culture is both about a sense of identity, as an individual and a group, and about the creative expression or response to life".

Creative Exchange: The Network for Culture and Development. Retrieved (February 3rd, 2010) from http://www.creativexchange.org/chd/whatsculture