Organizations and Cultures is a very important subject for us as International Negotiatiors anf for general culture in our life. The thing we learned during the course will help us in a future for knowing how to treat different cultures, the way they think, the way they manage their relations and business, the strategies they use for negotiating and many other facts than can be important for other cultures and maybe not for the Latin American or the Colombian culture.
The method the teacher uses is really good. Making presentations for all the class makes us do a really big effort for knowing other cultures and this blog is also an excellent idea for studying things we already learned in class. The activities at the end of each presentation made the class really dynamic and we had fun in some presentations.
Organizations and Cultures is a fundamental subject in this career and I can say that I've learned lot of new things because the methodology was excellent for taking advantage of the others knowledge in terms of applying it for our own knowledge. :D
domingo, 17 de mayo de 2009
miércoles, 13 de mayo de 2009
MOVIE:::: SYRIANA
Taken From: http://movie.zing.vn/Movie/resources/media/image/Syriana/syriana.jpg
WONDERFUL MOVIE!!!
The climax of the movie is that soon the Emir of the Arab Country was going to change and every character is trying to convince the Prince to act in favor of them, but the problem is that the bosses of the CIA agent gave him a last mission in the oil-producing country, to kill the Price Nasir that is the most probable for taking the Emir’s place. The agent didn’t know about this mission and was betrayed and had to support a horrible torture before going back to his country.
The energy analyst and the attorney story in Syriana are more related to business with the Middle East, the first one is trying to convince the Prince to use his company for managing their resources and for helping him establish a parliament in the country once he becomes Emir. On the other hand, the attorney is interested in the Oil; he is in charge of making a fusion between two big companies for making one of the biggest and more powerful industries in the world.
Bibliography:
"Syriana", Director: Stephen Gaghan, Writers:Rober Baer and Stephen Gaghan, 2005
viernes, 8 de mayo de 2009
INDIA --- WORKSHOP---
1. According to the authors , had economic globalisation in India provided significant imrovement for lower- income workers by 1999?
2. How is the situation for workers today in India?
According to the authors the processes of globalization in India have responded in different ways depending on their position in terms of incomes. For the lower-income workers the globalization hasn’t brought lot of benefits; the lower middle class of salaried workers are the most affected ones. The globalization has increased the level of incomes for the lower classes but also has increased the inflation and the interests’ rates. Also, the globalization gave this class the opportunity to have an easier access to credits for purchasing but this also has been a tramp for these people because monthly they’ll have to pay these credits with high incomes. In conclusion, the liberalization or globalization in India has a contradictory effect in the middle class and lower- income workers because they have more opportunities of access to many goods and new things but they aren’t earning more money for paying the dues they have for all the purchasing they do. The globalization hasn’t provided significant improvement for the lower classes in India.
2. How is the situation for workers today in India?
“India has the highest percentage of highly engaged workers at 78 percent in Asia as compared to Japan, which has the lowest employee engagement level at 39 percent.
The engagement level of the Indian worker is 20 percent more than his Chinese counterpart. This means that Indian employees are better at understanding the organization’s business goals, the steps required to achieve those goals and how their contributions drive goals, says WorkAsia research study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide”[1].
Even though, there still are poor working conditions, including working more hours than the legal ones, poor payment and children recruitment, Indian government is taking some measures in order to improve their labor force conditions:
“On 17 December 2008 the Indian Parliament passed the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Bill, which seeks to provide welfare measures for unorganized workers. The House of Representatives in Parliament has described the Bill as the first major step in 60 years that will benefit the poor.
Amongst the workers to be covered under the Act are agricultural workers, migrant laborers and workers in the informal sector. It is estimated that 94 percent of the working class in the country employed in the unorganized sector would get the benefit of health, life and disability insurance, old age pension and group accident scheme.
The Indian Government has also introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme that gives a minimum of 100 days of employment to those in the unorganized sector, through which the workers’ income will also be raised”[2].
“India has praised its recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and said that similar agreements were likely with Kuwait, Bahrain and other Gulf states. A number of steps were under consultation and implementation to ensure the protection and welfare of the workers. Problems arose sometimes as a significant number of them work in informal sectors, (and) they often do not have the protection of labor laws in the host country. What is required is a win-win situation for both the employers and workers”[3]
3. India's Green Revolution:
In 1943, while India was ruled by the British, an estimated of 4 million people died because of hunger. The main reason was because of a severe shortage of food production, but also, Indian Economist Amartya Sen said that the results of the Second World War, made the British rulers give low priority to the food supply.
Then, in 1947, the British left India, and due to the food catastrophe that they passed through, for the Indians, the food security became a priority, and here is where the Green Revolution born, nevertheless, it just started to be successful by 1967, because during the past 20 years, the country focused on expanding the farming areas.
The idea of the Green Revolution was to make the country food self-sufficient, and it counted with three basic elements:
1. They had a continued expansion of farming areas since 1947 as we mentioned before, but unfortunately, because the demand was way bigger than the production, because the Indian population was increasing, this method was not enough.
2. Then, the double-cropping existing farmland was the first element that make the Green Revolution succeed. They used to have a one season per year practice that was based on the only monsoon that the year had; so instead of having only one monsoon per year, they establish another artificial one building dams to conduct the water (they create simple irrigation techniques)
3. For last, using seeds with improved genetics was the scientific facet of this revolution and that thanks to Dr. M.P Singh (known as the India’s Green Revolution hero) who developed new strains of high yield value seeds like the rice and corn.
4. WAS THE BRITISH RAJ GOOD OR BAD FOR INDIA?
British Raj refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The region called India , included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the name and administration of the British Crown.
Was this administration of Britain good or bad for the country? Well there are divided positions on this subject and while for some, certain aspects were good for others they were terrible for the natural development of a country or countries in this case.
Below we are going to mention the most remarkable consequences the British raj brought for this land; presenting both the points of view in favour and those against it.
“India’s share of world GDP went from 22.6% in 1700 to 3.8% in 1952″ some people say this was because the British robbed India’s wealth. And others sustain that this was because the Western world was living the Industrial revolution at that time and that it came late to the India. They state that Britain was not responsible for this.
“They did it for selfish reasons!” Many state that everything the British did in this country was only thinking in themselves and their own benefit, others say that this statement could be right, but what should really be looked is what they really ended up doing, like the railways, the modern government and other such things. All of this are good for India and that it does not matter whether it was for selfish reasons or not.
Good governance? As mentioned before some people think that the modern government system was positive for India, but others opinionate that this was a façade under which the British could justify the greatest famines recorded in the previous 2,000 years, 17-20 million deaths from 1896 to 1900 alone, high taxation to support and subsidize colonial wars, and that the surplus of the production was often shipped to England.
Unification of all the provinces and kingdoms into a single nation?
Some maintain that thanks to this the country is too centralized. A lot of things which should be left to the states, are actually decided in the national capital, and a lot of things which should be left to local governance units are actually decided in state capitals. Other reason to think this was bad is that this country is full of differences and that Mumbai for example makes the majority of the countries revenue, but because of this it has to pay through taxes the development of poor regions. Other reason to be in favour is the fact that a lot of food gets rotten away while people is starving, because of bureaucratic problems, but if there was more than one country the food-producing ones would want to trade the food with those countries that wanted food.
Others say this is good because it’s a nation with its strengths and its downs, but as a whole it works well due to the fact that some regions, help others to develop.
There are many other factors that people discuss, but we name some of the most important and controversial ones.
In 1943, while India was ruled by the British, an estimated of 4 million people died because of hunger. The main reason was because of a severe shortage of food production, but also, Indian Economist Amartya Sen said that the results of the Second World War, made the British rulers give low priority to the food supply.
Then, in 1947, the British left India, and due to the food catastrophe that they passed through, for the Indians, the food security became a priority, and here is where the Green Revolution born, nevertheless, it just started to be successful by 1967, because during the past 20 years, the country focused on expanding the farming areas.
The idea of the Green Revolution was to make the country food self-sufficient, and it counted with three basic elements:
1. They had a continued expansion of farming areas since 1947 as we mentioned before, but unfortunately, because the demand was way bigger than the production, because the Indian population was increasing, this method was not enough.
2. Then, the double-cropping existing farmland was the first element that make the Green Revolution succeed. They used to have a one season per year practice that was based on the only monsoon that the year had; so instead of having only one monsoon per year, they establish another artificial one building dams to conduct the water (they create simple irrigation techniques)
3. For last, using seeds with improved genetics was the scientific facet of this revolution and that thanks to Dr. M.P Singh (known as the India’s Green Revolution hero) who developed new strains of high yield value seeds like the rice and corn.
4. WAS THE BRITISH RAJ GOOD OR BAD FOR INDIA?
British Raj refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The region called India , included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the name and administration of the British Crown.
Was this administration of Britain good or bad for the country? Well there are divided positions on this subject and while for some, certain aspects were good for others they were terrible for the natural development of a country or countries in this case.
Below we are going to mention the most remarkable consequences the British raj brought for this land; presenting both the points of view in favour and those against it.
“India’s share of world GDP went from 22.6% in 1700 to 3.8% in 1952″ some people say this was because the British robbed India’s wealth. And others sustain that this was because the Western world was living the Industrial revolution at that time and that it came late to the India. They state that Britain was not responsible for this.
“They did it for selfish reasons!” Many state that everything the British did in this country was only thinking in themselves and their own benefit, others say that this statement could be right, but what should really be looked is what they really ended up doing, like the railways, the modern government and other such things. All of this are good for India and that it does not matter whether it was for selfish reasons or not.
Good governance? As mentioned before some people think that the modern government system was positive for India, but others opinionate that this was a façade under which the British could justify the greatest famines recorded in the previous 2,000 years, 17-20 million deaths from 1896 to 1900 alone, high taxation to support and subsidize colonial wars, and that the surplus of the production was often shipped to England.
Unification of all the provinces and kingdoms into a single nation?
Some maintain that thanks to this the country is too centralized. A lot of things which should be left to the states, are actually decided in the national capital, and a lot of things which should be left to local governance units are actually decided in state capitals. Other reason to think this was bad is that this country is full of differences and that Mumbai for example makes the majority of the countries revenue, but because of this it has to pay through taxes the development of poor regions. Other reason to be in favour is the fact that a lot of food gets rotten away while people is starving, because of bureaucratic problems, but if there was more than one country the food-producing ones would want to trade the food with those countries that wanted food.
Others say this is good because it’s a nation with its strengths and its downs, but as a whole it works well due to the fact that some regions, help others to develop.
There are many other factors that people discuss, but we name some of the most important and controversial ones.
[1] Indian workers most engaged in Asia. 2008. Economic Times, The (India), first quarter 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62W61071440499&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed May 13 2009.
[2] Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Bill – India. 2008. United Nations Instraw, third quarter 2008. http://www.un-instraw.org/en/media-centre/world-gender-news/unorganised-workers-social-security-bill.html. Accessed May 13 2009.
[3] India praises Labour Pact with UAE. 2007. Arabia 2000. First quarter 2007. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=6&sid=10abd82a-00b7-4b2e-bcbd-fe0df3a50e28%40SRCSM2&bdata=JmxvZ2lucGFnZT1Mb2dpbi5hc3Amc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=nfh&AN=6FI2123195203. Accessed may 13 2009.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- GANGULY-SCRASE Ruchira and SCRASE J. Timothy, in "A Bitter Pill or Sweet Nectar?: Contradictory attitudes of salaried workers to economic liberalization in India", Development and Society, Vol 28. December 1999. pp. 259-283
- Benerjee, S. 2008. Dimensions of Indian culture, core cultural values and marketing implications: An analysis. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 15(4): 367 – 378
- Drache, D. & Froese, M.D. 2006. Globalisation, World Trade and the Cultural Commons: Identity, Citizenship and Pluralism. New Political Economy, 11(3): 361 - 382
- http://www.indiaonestop.com/Greenrevolution.htm
INDIA
India obtained the independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. The big country has the 15% of the world's population and 65% of it is rural!!! Also they have 18 scheduled languages and officialy 112 mother thongues and the 80% of the people are hindus.
Also we learned about the slow industrialization in India and the fact that in 1914 this country was the 3rd rall-network, also had the largerst canal system and occupyed the 4rth place in cotton textile industry.
India applyed a faulty development strategy that was based in 3 aspects:
1- Importation substitution route rather than export-promoting route.
2- Set massive and inefficient public sector.
3- Over regulated private sector.
In independence times Gahndi vidualizad self- reliant villages and applyed some economic reforms in 1960's the Green Revolution that was based on the fact of the low production of food in the region and in 1980´s the Economic Liberalization. The culture of India is based on cast system and hierarchies. In terms of doing business or negotiating they prefer to do it with people they already know and trust, they are very punctual, they don't talk about personal stuff, they are flexible in their meetings and their customs are so different to us, some of them have no matters at all!
Question: Which is the legacy of the Indian culture to the contemporany world?
1. The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero.
2. Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all higher languages. This is because it is the most precise, and therefore suitable language for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987 ).
3. Chess was invented in India.
4. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India. Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).
5. The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.
6. The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne ' piece of granite. Also, this magnificient temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
7. India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).
8. The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
7. India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).
8. The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
9. The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
10. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
10. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
- Taken from: www.gfii.org/facts_about_india.htm
EUROPE ---- The Ancient Cultures
Taken from: http://www.linktosacred.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/blend.gif
The history of Europe one of the most awesome and interesting of the entire world. The ancient cultures and empires have the power of involving everyone and wake a huge interest in learning more and more about them. The most acient cultures in Europe are the Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Greece and the British Empire.
The Greek influency is one of the most known around the world. They left us traditions in politics (Democracy), religion, sports (Olympic Games!!!), rethorics, maths and many other topics; they also were the creators of the philosophy and were the first who argued and predicated in the entire world.
Alexander the Great was one of the most illustrated characters of the ancient ages, his tutor was Aristotle and he was the grates representation in the polis during the Peloponessian War conflict in which were fighting Athens and Sparta the biggest "polis" or cities in Ancient Greece.
In the other hand we have the Roman Empire. It was ubicated in the italian peninsula that was full of tribes who always fought for their independence and their own territories. They even fought with the greeks that wanted their territories. Palestine was in that time an Italian territory and by the year of 395 CE the Roman Empire was dividen in two: Western Empire (Italy, Britania, Gaul, Spain and North Africa) their official language was the latin!, and the Eastern Empire (Egypt, Minor Asia, Greece, Macedonia and Palestine) they spoked Greek! but both of them shared the same religion: Christianism.
In 814 the Empire fell apart and was dividen in three kingdoms: France, Italy and Germany.
Question: Which is the most important Roman Empire legacy?
The Empire contributed many things to the world, such as the (more-or-less) modern calendar, the institutions of Christianity and aspects of modern neo-classicistic architecture. The extensive system of roads, which were constructed by the Roman Army, still last to this day. Because of this network of roads, the amount of time necessary to travel between destinations in Europe did not decrease until the 19th century after the invention of steam power.
The Roman Empire also contributed its form of government, which influences various constitutions including those of most European countries, and that of the United States, whose framers remarked, in creating the Presidency, that they wanted to inaugurate an "Augustan Age." The modern world also inherited legal thinking from the Roman law, codified in Late Antiquity. Governing a vast territory, the Romans developed the science of public administration to an extent never before conceived nor necessary, creating an extensive civil service and formalized methods of tax collection. The western world today derives its intellectual history from the Greeks, but it derives its methods of living, ruling and governing from those of the Romans.
Taken from: http://www.eknowledge.org/roman-empire/roman-empire-legacy.html
------EUROPE------ Workshop
1. How is the EU leading the fight against climate change?
2. How is Europe managing its migration flows?
Migration is also a global concern. The EU is now promoting the legal migration for assisting people who arrive there and also they are protecting the borders for preventing the illegal migration by security detenctions for illegal migrators and their expulsion back to their homes.
3. Which are the main challenges for an ageing force in Europe?
The main challenges for europeans in order to keep their country's production levels are:
1. The promotion of the contribution of older workers.
2. The promotion and the effort of mantaining the work and health capacities no matter the age they have.
3. The improvement of working conditions.
4. The increase of the social and economic conditions of the region.
5. Give advantages to old workers and avoiding the age discrimination.
4. How European business could overcome the challenges of balancing the interests of cultural diversity and nationalist interests?
In order to balance the diversity and the national interests the European business have to focus on a global marketing and leave the nationalism behind. The EU is the union of many of the most important nations in the world and for being succesful in business they have to see their nation as a big one but not as individual. The EU can be nowadays seen as a big important country and all the negotiators have to take advantage of their diversity and start making business for improving their economies and way of living. Also, the countries need to eliminate the geographical boundaries that are affecting them so they can start taking decisions as a one and not each one in their own way. If the boundaries and the limitations in terms of nationalism don't change the europeans would never balance their diversity in benefit of their national interests.
Bibliography:
The climate change is a topic that concern all the world, many countries and regions have some special programs for preserving their natural resources for not suffering the changes we'll have to face with the climate change and the earthwarming. The European Union by the Kyoto Protocol, established regulations to reduce the emission of carbon and also is inviting every country to see this problem as an important concern for them. The objective is to reduce the emission for 2020 and many countries have been compromised with this cause and now are applying norms that push the institutions to reduce their carbon emission.
2. How is Europe managing its migration flows?
Migration is also a global concern. The EU is now promoting the legal migration for assisting people who arrive there and also they are protecting the borders for preventing the illegal migration by security detenctions for illegal migrators and their expulsion back to their homes.
3. Which are the main challenges for an ageing force in Europe?
The main challenges for europeans in order to keep their country's production levels are:
1. The promotion of the contribution of older workers.
2. The promotion and the effort of mantaining the work and health capacities no matter the age they have.
3. The improvement of working conditions.
4. The increase of the social and economic conditions of the region.
5. Give advantages to old workers and avoiding the age discrimination.
4. How European business could overcome the challenges of balancing the interests of cultural diversity and nationalist interests?
In order to balance the diversity and the national interests the European business have to focus on a global marketing and leave the nationalism behind. The EU is the union of many of the most important nations in the world and for being succesful in business they have to see their nation as a big one but not as individual. The EU can be nowadays seen as a big important country and all the negotiators have to take advantage of their diversity and start making business for improving their economies and way of living. Also, the countries need to eliminate the geographical boundaries that are affecting them so they can start taking decisions as a one and not each one in their own way. If the boundaries and the limitations in terms of nationalism don't change the europeans would never balance their diversity in benefit of their national interests.
Bibliography:
sábado, 2 de mayo de 2009
AFRICA
...It's so ironic: Africa is a continent full of resources and full of poverty!...
The knowledge we have of Africa is limitaded for our mediocrity, we think of Africa as the poorest continent, full of problems, full of hunger, full of violence but we never think of it as a beautiful, incredible, full of resources and richness continent where people are forgotten and exploted.
Africa is composed by 54 states and has more than 2000 ethnic groups what means that has the most important cultural development in the world; people have different ideologies and beliefs but share the same country and even the same city. The presentation in class talked about many important topics like the fact that Africa is the most multilingual continent in the world and the languages that are spoken include european languages that in some countries are learned because once they were colony of any european country, also the slavery that is incredible that it is still used nowadays in some countries, they also teached us about the quantity of resources that make them a very rich region in the world but also one of the most troubled one (conflict f the diamonds), also they talked about the main facts of the region like the climate that varies from country to country where we can find huge desserts and thick jungles and reinforest regions.
Africa is composed by 54 states and has more than 2000 ethnic groups what means that has the most important cultural development in the world; people have different ideologies and beliefs but share the same country and even the same city. The presentation in class talked about many important topics like the fact that Africa is the most multilingual continent in the world and the languages that are spoken include european languages that in some countries are learned because once they were colony of any european country, also the slavery that is incredible that it is still used nowadays in some countries, they also teached us about the quantity of resources that make them a very rich region in the world but also one of the most troubled one (conflict f the diamonds), also they talked about the main facts of the region like the climate that varies from country to country where we can find huge desserts and thick jungles and reinforest regions.
Question: Why is HIV more widespread in Africa than elsewhere in the world, and why are some parts of Africa affected more than others?
No-one really knows the full answer to this question. However we do know there are many factors that influence the rate at which HIV is transmitted.5 6 Such factors include poverty; economic disparity; social instability; gender inequality; sexual violence; other sexually transmitted infections (which facilitate HIV transmission); lack of male circumcision; high mobility; rapid urbanisation and modernisation; and ineffective leadership during critical periods in the epidemic’s spread. Some scientists believe that differences between HIV subtypes have an effect on transmission rates. There is also some evidence that genetic factors and parasitic worm infections (common in sub-Saharan Africa) may make a contribution.
People in sub-Saharan Africa don't have many more lifetime partners than people in other parts of the world. However, researchers have found that in some areas it is not uncommon for people to have two or more regular sex partners at the same time. Someone is most likely to transmit HIV during the period shortly after they are infected, when they have very high levels of virus in their body. Therefore someone who has two or more concurrent partners is more likely to transfer HIV between their partners than someone who has a series of monogamous relationships. This too may help to explain why HIV is more widespread in Africa.
Taken from: http://www.avert.org
"Acute Schistosoma mansoni Infection Increases Susceptibility to Systemic SHIV Clade C Infection in Rhesus Macaques after Mucosal Virus Exposure", Chenine et al, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 2(7), 23rd July 2008
"Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines mediates trans-infection of HIV-1 from red blood cells to target cells and affects HIV-AIDS susceptibility", He et al, Cell Host Microbe 4(1), 17th July 2008
"Brief but efficient: acute HIV infection and the sexual transmission of HIV", Pilcher et al, J Infect Dis 189(10), May 2004
"Concurrent sexual partnership help to explain Africa's high HIV prevalence: implications for prevention", Halperin and Epstein, The Lancet 364(9428), July 2004
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