intro Flashcards
what are the types of business activities
- Innovation
2.Operation
3.Marketing
4.Finance and Accounting
5.Human resource management
what are 2 levels of approach organisation’s structure and sub-systems
- Systems Approach
2.Contingency approach
What is the focus of Systems Approach
It focuses on organisation’s internal aspects, neglecting varying backgrounds.
What is the focus of Contingency approach
It focuses on organisation’s adaptation to its external environment, emphasising the impact of environmental changes on design and management style.
What are cross-boarder economic activities
Various types of economic interactions and transactions that take place between individuals, businesses, and governments across different countries. These activities involve the movement of goods, services, capital, and resources across national borders.
What is foreign direct investment and how is it connected to cross-boarder economic activities
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is when a company from one country makes lasting investment in a business in another country. It’s a deeper involvement than just buying and selling across borders. Cross-border economic activities can involve various transactions between countries, but they might not include this level of long-term ownership and influence. FDI is like a more serious and committed form of cross-border business engagement.
What are the 4 levels in which types of business activity are shaped in context which they operate
1.Strategical level
2.Organisational level
3.Environmental level
4.Business in context level
what are MNEs
MNEs = multinational enterprises. These are firms engaging in foreign direct investment
what are emerging economies
Countries that are in the process of becoming more advanced economically. These nations are moving from being less developed to more developed, experiencing growth and improvements
what are BRIC countries
These are Brazil, Russia, India and China - 4 largest emerging markets, housing over 80% of the world’s population but contributing only 26% to global GDP.
what is GDP
Gross Domestic product - sum of value added by resident firms operating in economy
what is GNP
Gross national product = GDP + income from non-resident sources abroad
what is GNI
Gross national income, conceptually similar to GNP
what is PPP
Purchasing Power parity - equal amount of goods and services different currencies can purchase.
what are two views that determine success and failure of firms around the world?
- Intsitution-based view
2.Resource-based view
what is institution-based view about
It is about how a firm’s international performance is shaped by various formal and informal rules (culture,norms,values) across countries, emphasising the external environment of the firm.
what is resource-based view about
It is about its unique internal resources and capabilities, concentration on the internal environment.
what does liability of outsidership mean
It is disadvantage of outsiders (foreign companies) over insiders (domestic companies), caused by lack of familiarity.
Why Globalisation is causing fear of developing countries?
It causes fear due to competition and potential cultural erosion by MNEs,issues like job losses, wage pressure, environmental concerns
Who are cosmopolitans
people who embrace cultural diversity and see professional and personal opportunities of globalisation
what are institutions
Formal and informal rules of the game
what are Institutional Frameworks
formal and informal institutions (rules) guiding individual and form behaviour.
what are some types of formal institutions
Laws, regulations
what are informal institutions
rules which are not formalised but do exist, like norms and values
what is potential of opportunistic behaviour and how it can be reduced
It means taking advantage of another person’s trust for selfish reasons. It can be reduced via institutional frameworks (formal and informal institutions)
What is institutional transition
changing of institutions over time
what are pillars
key elements that support the structure of a business
what are 3 kinds of pillars and what do they mean
- Regulatory pillar(power of government, formal institutions)
- Normative pillar (how values of other players influence behaviour of focal firms)
3.Cognitive pillar (internal assumptions of how the world works that guide individual)
what are focal firms
main companies that play a key role in an industry
what is political system
system of rules of the game on how a country in governed politically
what are types of political systems
1.Democracy
2.Authoritarianism
what is the concept of democracy
governments gain legitimacy through elections by citizens
what are variations of democracy and what is the meaning of each
- Proportional representation - all votes are added up and seats are allocated proportionally
- Direct - voters directly choose president with executive power
- Indirect - voters elect their representatives in parliament
what is the concept of Authoritarianism
concentrated power in one person or a small elite
what are 3 reasons why political systems influence stability of rules and the potential for business to face risks.
- They determine who sets the rules
- Determine how and where companies may influence legislative processes (the ways governments create and decide on new rules) through lobbying (mostly legal) or corruption (mostly illegal).
3.Influence how frequently rules of game are changing, a source of political risk (political changes that negatively impact firms).
what are 4 types of economic systems
- Pure market economy
- Pure commanded economy
- Liberal market economy (LME)
- Coordinated market economy (CME)
what does Pure market economy mean
‘invisible hand’ of market forces, with private ownership of production, freedom in contracts, limited government intervention, as seen in USA and Canada.
what does Pure commanded economy mean
government owns and controls all factors of production and plans supply, demand, pricing.
what does Liberal market economy (LME) mean
same as pure market economy but has a bit more of government control.
what does Coordinated market economy (CME) mean
nice coworking between businesses, workers, government, businesses engaged in employee education. it’s like everyone in the team is playing their part, working together, and planning for the future (France, Germany).
what is civil law
legal tradition that uses comprehensive statutes to form legal judgments. It is written in books of law.
what is Common law
originated in England, legal tradition that is shaped by precedents from previous judicial decisions.
what is Case law
law that has been created by precedents of cases in court.
what are property rights
legal right to use economic property and get income from it.
what are intellectual property rights
ownership of intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks).
what is corporate governance
set of rules that guides how a company is run and how decisions are made
what does convergence mean and what it suggests
Convergence means different things coming together or becoming similar. It suggests that countries and firms are becoming more alike economically, politically, and culturally due to globalisation.
what is limitation of convergence
transfer of effective practices may be limited by cultural diversity.
what are implications of convergence for managers
- Businesses operate worldwide, saving costs through large-scale production.
2.Managers and employees can work in different parts of the company globally.
3 Ideas and methods can be shared and applied across different cultural settings.
what is diversity
different historical developments or path dependency, leading to variations in national cultures
Institutional approach
examines diversity as a product of economic and political systems.
what is culture
all socially transmitted human activity, like norms, values, beliefs, influencing behaviour and institutions. In a business context, knowledge about different cultures fosters cross-border trade, investment, exchange of cultural ideas.
what are 3 levels of culture and what do they include
- Visible culture (artefacts, goods, institutions)
- Deeper level culture (beliefs of right and bad)
- Deepest level culture (basic assumptions that allow members of that culture to solve problems without thought)
in which 3 ways does culture integrate with business
- Socialisation (influences people’s behaviour in social settings, including work)
- Organisation (Businesses, like societies, have their own specific cultures that are transmitted to their members. This means that companies develop a unique set of values, beliefs, and practices that shape the work environment)
- Cultural analysis (Companies use cultural analysis to tailor their products, services, and strategies to align with the cultural preferences of their target audience)
are culture and nationality the same thing
No. Some countries contain two or more cultural groups.
what are 6 levels where cultural differences can be seen by Geert Hofstede
- Broad cultural differences between countries
2.Regional differences
3.Cultural differences between genders
4.Differences between generations
5.Differences in social class
6.Different organisational cultures
what are High context cultures
societies where people rely on non-verbal hints, shared experiences, and contextual factors to convey and interpret messages. Agreements in these cultures are made at a slow pace through negotiation and are maintained with trust. (Latin America, Japan)
what are low context cultures
cultures in which the message of communication is the most important, carries clear meaning. Negotiations are quicker, maintained with legally binding contracts.
what are Hofstede’s 6 dimensions of cultural variables
- Power distance
- Idividualism vs collectivism
- Uncertainty avoidance
- Masculinity vs Femininity
- Long vs short term orientation
- Indulgence vs restraint
what is Power distance
extent to which members of a society accept that power is distributed unequally. In high power distance cultures there is greater dependence on bosses.
what is individualism vs collectivism
high scores on this variable - individualistic society (US, UK); low scores - collectivistic society (Mexico, India).
what is uncertainty avoidance
extent to which person is comfortable with uncertainty. High uncertainty avoidance - individual is risk-averse (Japan, Switzerland)
what is masculinity vs femininity
masculine societies focus on achievement, assertiveness, different gender roles (Japan, USA, Germany). Feminine societies focus on quality of life, care for others, equality between sexes (Scandinavia, Holland).
what is Long vs short term orientation
long term oriented cultures focus on future, value perseverance and saving (Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong)
what is indulgence vs restraint
highly restrained cultures are East Asia, Eastern Europe, Muslim countries, since they focus on repression of individual desires.
what are 7 culture dimensions by Fons Trompeanaars
1.Universalism (rules,laws) vs particularism (flexible with rules)
2.Specific(separates personal work&life) vs diffuse cultures (overlaps)
3.Achievement(values status) vs ascription cultures (values gender, age)
4.Individualism vs communitarianism (group goals)
5.Affective (open emotions) vs neutral culture (calm&restrait)
6.Time as sequence (punctuality) vs time as synchronisation (flexibility)
7.Inner-directed (personal beliefs) vs outer directed (societal expectations)
what are 9 dimensions of culture that operate societies and organisational levels (GLOBE):
1.Power distance
2.Uncertainty avoidance
3.Collectivism (collective action, collective rewards)
4.In-group collectivism (focus on valuing being members of a group)
5.Gender egalitarianism - extent of equal treatment between genders
6.Assertiveness and competitive attitude
7.Future orientation(consideration of future actions)
8.Performance orientation, (consideration of results and outcomes)
9.Humane orientation (altruism)
what 2 dimensions of cultural variation are identified by World Values Survey
1.Traditional (religion & traditional family value) vs secular rational (less attention to these ones)
2.Survival (traditional gender roles) vs self-expressions (individual freedom)
what are the difficulties in using culture as a variable
-When culture is used as a variable, its defined in generalised terms
-Attempt to link culture to economic performance is often highly selective and ignores contradictory evidence
-Use of culture as a variable may treat the phenomenon as an isolated example
-Cultural comparisons are often made from the perspective of one culture only, the culture of the researcher
-Our bias towards culture may influence the analysis
-Cultures change over time, so analyses that used culture as variable may be dated.
what are 2 components of organisational goals
- Mission statement
- Detailed objectives
what is organisational structure
grouping of activity and people to effectively achieve goals, with the vision describing the organisation’s future aspirations.
what are multidivisional companies
companies with number of business units which each focus on different types of business activity, each producing their own profit.
what are 5 types of organisational structure of multidivisional companies
- Functional structure
- Multidivisional structure
- Holding company structure
- Project teams
- Matrix organisation
what is functional structure, pros and cons of it
What it is: Jobs are grouped by function (like marketing or finance).
Good for: Clear roles and responsibilities.
Not so good for: Coordination issues and may not focus on customers.
what is multidivisional structure, pros and cons of it
Multidivisional Structure:
What it is: Organized around divisions or business units, often based on products or geographic regions.
Good for: Encouraging entrepreneurship.
Not so good for: Accounting can be tricky, and control might get complicated.
what is Holding Company structure, pros and cons of it
What it is: company exists to own and control other companies (does not produce goods or services)
Good for: protects its subsidiary companies
Not so good for: Similar challenges as multidivisional structures.
what are Project teams, pros and cons of them
What it is: Teams for specific projects, dealing directly with customers.
Good for: Adapting to fast changes.
Not so good for: Can be costly, and uncertainty after projects end.
what is matrix organisation, pros and cons of it
What it is: Mixes functional and project structures.
Good for: Flexibility and direct customer interaction.
Not so good for: Can be a bit messy with duplication and scheduling issues.
what is downsizing
breaking down of large organisations into smaller units with a smaller number of employees.
what is delayering
when the number of levels of management is reduced.
what are 7 types of firm’s flexibility
- Numerical flexibility
- Functional flexibility
- Financial flexibility
- Temporal flexibility
- Geographical flexibility
- Organisational flexibility
- Cognitive flexibility
what is Numerical flexibility
ability of an organisation to meet changes in demand by rapidly changing the number of employees
what is Functional flexibility
when employees are flexible enough to perform a range of jobs and switch between them as needed
what is Financial flexibility
having the ability to adjust money plans based on what’s happening. It’s about having different money tools and plans so that you can make smart investments, and stay strong even when things get tough.
what is Temporal flexibility
ability to adapt to change in timetable of work and the introduction of shift work.
what is Geographical flexibility
incorporates transnational teams and more mobile workers.
what is Organisational flexibility
extent to which the structure and systems can change
what is Cognitive flexibility
changing the mindset of the workplace