Our final exam in International Market Culture delved into Microsoft in India, Japanese versus American management styles, and autocratic Middle Eastern business leaders.
To prepare for our final exam, I had the unique privilege of researching and writing about leadership styles from Germany to Japan as well as human resource management issues including international job assignments.
One question asked for a list of 5 differences between Japanese and American leadership styles. In Japan, promotions are very slow and based on seniority. Promotions in the U.S. can happen lightning-fast for the right candidate in the right specialty. Individual American managers make decisions, whereas Japanese see decision-making as a team responsibility. Besides, the Japanese are much more wary of risk than the more entrepreneurial Americans. Japanese leaders want to care for their workers both on and off the job, whereas American managers focus their concern for their employees at work only.
Another question posed a scenario in which Microsoft launches an international operation in India, then asked whether we would send Americans to run the Indian operation, hire local Indian talent or outsource the Indian initiative to a sub-contractor like Infosys. My answer was that it is a lot less expensive with fewer cultural barriers to use host-country nationals. Although more secure than a subcontractor, my only concern was whether the Indian operation ran the risk that some Indian employees would take proprietary Microsoft trade secrets to competitors. It's much harder to persecute local Indians than American citizens, because obviously international law is harder to enforce and more expensive in the host country.
The last question asked whether international travellers will improve their understanding of other cultures. George Brown College's International Market Culture course helps identify basic underlying values that drive a culture's norms and values, which are behind a lot of the distinct behaviours we see when we travel.
