People Management Under Globalization

People Management Under Globalization

Changes for Managers

Managers face new challenges with an increasingly culturally diverse workplace in modern economies. Globalization has brought increased contact with ever more cultural variables in manger’s employees, business partners, and customers. Cultural interaction has increased both inside businesses and between them. As a result Management requires cultural awareness skills more than ever before1.

Developing the attitude and mindset that allows quick adaptation to the varied and changing environments that globalization has created has become a vital trait for managers. Sourcing and logistics company Li & Fung saw more than $20 billion in revenue in 2012 through its rapid, expansive network connecting retailers across the world to cheap textile production in developing countries. This was achieved with their exceptional ability to work between drastically different cultures, allowing them to cut production times and costs to a fraction of previous standards2.

Managers have to accept the reality of a larger learning curve in the wake of Globalization. It has brought few widely applicable rules that managers can use to navigate to the wildly differing landscapes they now frequently face. It is flexibility and experience that are keys to success in culturally novel environments3.

Related Changes to Being Managed

Employees, like their managers, have an increased need to effectively work and communicate in situations with hierarchies encompassing a host of cultural backgrounds. It would behoove all involved to understand the sometimes drastically different management styles and employee motivators that are present between cultures. Employees from the West may prefer individual performance rewards, while those from Asia and Latin America are more likely to operate best under group treatment. Likewise, a management system with dozens of levels may be normal to those from the East, but be extremely...