The Blog. Appreciations and Suggestions

The blog as a tool can be very useful in order to learn, since as a student i was "forced" (in a good sense" to write down about what we have seen at the classroom. The blog takes time, so for us it was important to organize our time in order to keep a balance between the speed of the lessons and the duty of the blog. I did like this tool.

About the suggestions, regarding the time of everyone, I think it would be easier for us to do one blog per week, in which we can resume the two lessons, in order to accomplish with the deadline time.

To sum up, in general everything was pretty good, despite of the fact that as students we do not enjoy other student´s presentations,this time, thanks to the final activity of each single presentation, we could have another perspective of the topics and at the end of the day always we had a good time, doing mistakes, learning little facts about unknown countries, or just doing things well.

Thanks a lot María Alejandra.

CITIZENSHIP ( 14th May Lesson)

This is the lattest topic in the course.

1. What did I learn?

The concept of Citizenship given in the presentation is:

“The quality of an individual's response to membership in a community;Citizenship status often implies some responsibilities and duties.”

The ideas of Citizenship, was at the beginning developed by the Greeks in the polis and city-states and by the Romans.

Citizenship and Passport can be obtained by different ways:

• Birth in the jurisdiction
• Lineage (through parents and grandparents)
• Marriage
• Naturalization
• Religious affiliation (e.g: law of return to Israel)
• Meritorious service economic benefit to the country.

Once again, the concept of multiculturalismans assimilation seen at the beginning of the course come up, since the interaction among differents cultures ans the adoption of a major culture´s features are take into account in the citizenship issue. Multiculturalism and assimilation come with the concept of Globalization, which allow in modern societies to adopt a multitude of life and lifestyles of people.

The point is, preparing future professionals to be open - minded in a globalized world, in wich is unavoidable the cultural interaction any time.

2. Question: What is multiple citizenship? Why does it exist?

3. Answer: Multiple citizenship, or multiple nationality, is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Dual citizenship (being a citizen of two nations), or dual nationality, is the most common type of multiple citizenship.

Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, criteria to bestow citizenship. Thus, a person becomes a citizen of multiple countries because countries, not persons, decide who is and who is not a citizen.

SOURCES:

• Citizenship´s Presentation.
• www.encarta.com
• http://www.citizenship.gov.au

LATIN AMERICA - BRAZIL (12 th May Lesson)

We are about to finish the course, the Latin America topic is one of the lattest...

1. What did I learn?

This presentation is based on the colonization process lived in latin America. It is important to say that the early civilizations took an important role in this process. The first one presented in the Maya. This civilization is one of the most densely populated and culturally dynaminc societies, and among its development are: Written Language of the pre-columbian americas, Monumental Architectual structures, Sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. It do exit strong roots from this society. Moreover, the causes known about its collapse, it is attributed to factors scuh as: overpopulation,foreign invasion, environmental disasters, changes in the weather and epidemic diseases. Moving to another civilization group, The Aztecs lived through the 14th, 15th and 16th century in central Mexico. they developed the Nahuatl language which still spoken today in some rural areas. Still remains their customs in Mexico. The Incas, from Peru, they were the largest empire in pre-columbian America. The architecture was very important for this group. They developed the Quechua and Aymara as languages, today, these languages remain the most widespread Amerindian languages. Finally, from Andes come the Muiscas, which is an agrarian and ceramic society belonging to the Andes of the north of South America.

The process of colonization in Latin America, was due to the presence of expeditions from Europe; concentrated first on the central and southern parts of the Americas, the Spanish and Portuguese built large colonial empires in Mexico, and Brazil. That is why Spanish and Portuguese are official languages in the Latin American countries.

On the other hand, the process of Post - Colonialism, was given after the US and French revolutions when most of the latin amercian coutries reached its independency in 1825. However, the influence of Europe and the US still remains in those territories.

Latin American is a region that has been growing degree by degree, for instance, by the end of 1991´s the FDI, was the mayor source of foreign capital in the region, also the liberalization of the regulation of the FDI has helped a lot to the process. As a positive results, we got a increase of the employment opportunity, the productivity and welfare of the economy is seen benefit as well. Despite of thsoe benefits, there are some disadvantages: the FDI can magnify the distortions and misallocate resources in the country, bringing with itself an environmental impact, negative impact on national producers, making them less competitive.

Nowadays most of the countries worldwide experience the human migration process. In the Latin America´s case, it has been closely related to the development of societies, more specifically, to economic, social and political imbalances.

The country chosen for this presentation was Brazil. Some facts:

• Strong portuguese roots.
• Total Area of : 8,511,965 sq km
• Population :191,908,598
• Ethnic Groups:
  white 53.7%,
  mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5%
  black 6.2%
  other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 0.9%
  unspecified 0.7%
  
• Religion:Religion: Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census).
• Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages.
• In the economy, among the agricultural products are:Coffee, Soybeans, Wheat, Rice, Corn, Sugarcane and so on. And the main industries, Textiles, Shoes, Chemicals, Cement and other machinery and equipment.

The most important issue in the presentation is DOING BUSINESS IN BRAZIL. The following aspects must be considered:

•Make appointments at least two weeks in advance. Never try to make imprompt calls at business or government offices
•Must be prepared beforehand.
•Be prepared to commit long term resources (both in time and money) toward establishing strong relationships in Brazil. .
•Never start into business discussions before your host does. Business meetings normally begin with casual 'chatting' first
•Business luch or dinners are very common.

And according to the business behaviour:

• Negociations must be done between peers.
• Visit and company cards should be exchanged.
• Some regions have a casualness about both time and work. However San Paulo is not one of those, and in Rio casual refers to the personal and social events, not business.

About communication:

• Handshaking, often for a long time, is common. Shake hands for hello and goodbye.
  Use eye contact.
  When leaving a small group, be sure to shake hands with everyone present the first encounter.
  In business they address people with (senhor (a)) or by the professional tittle.

2. Question: We have not talked about the Tourism in brazil. So, how is the Tourism Industry in this country?

3. Answer: (the information found, is very important, that is why I did not change any of the content of the article)

First of all, it is important to understand what comprises the Brazil´s Tourism. "Brazil's natural wonders include the Amazon; the wildlife-packed Pantanal wetlands; 8,850 kilometers of superb Atlantic coastline, including 3,200 kilometers of white sand beaches in the Northeast running from São Luís in the north to the Bahia Basin in the south; and the waterfalls at Foz do Iguaçu".

Brazil has one of the world's most spectacularly located cities, Rio de Janeiro, which hosts the annual Mardi Gras Carnaval (Carnival); one of the largest cities, São Paulo; one of the most modernistic, Brasília; and one of the most ecologically advanced, Curitiba. Other popular cities include Salvador, Ouro Prêto, and Manaus.

Traditionally, Brazilian politicians have regarded travel and tourism as elitist and an unnecessary luxury. This view has been changing, however, as politicians have begun to see travel and tourism as a major industry. In the early 1990s, about 6 million jobs were linked to Brazil's travel and tourism industry. The industry is one of the country's biggest employers, involving one in every eleven workers. It contributes an estimated 8 percent to the country's GDP. This figure compares favorably with Latin America's average of 5.1 percent, but it is well below the world average of 10.2 percent.

Since the United Nations-sponsored Rio Earth Summit (Eco-92) in 1992, the Brazilian government has targeted ecotourism as a priority. For example, the government is encouraging foreign investment in tourist facilities in Amazônia. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism includes a cabinet-level official in charge of tourism policies. The National Secretary of Tourism and Services, the National Tourism Board, and the state and municipal tourist authorities are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the sector.

The development of tourism in the seven states that make up the impoverished Northeast has received special attention. More than 3 million Brazilian and foreign visitors boosted hotel occupancy in the Northeastern states from 43 percent in 1991 to 67 percent in 1993.

In 1992 some 2,235,000 passengers flew to Brazil, an increase of 14.5 percent from 1991, and the same number flew out of Brazil. About 513,000 of these visitors flew between Argentina and Brazil, and according to Brazil's Civil Aviation Department (Departamento de Aviação Civil--DAC), more than 541,000 passengers flew between the United States and Brazil, an increase of 10.4 percent from 1991. The Brazilian Tourism Agency (Empresa Brasileira de Turismo--Embratur) found that 72.6 percent of those who came to Brazil in 1992 came for tourism; the rest came for business, conferences, and conventions, including Eco-92. In 1993 about 1.6 million foreign visitors traveled to Brazil." http://www.country-studies.com/brazil/tourism.html

SOURCES:

• Latin America´s presentation
• http://www.country-studies.com/brazil/tourism.html

North America ( april 30th lesson)

This time the presentation was about North America, region which comprises: Mexico , U.S.A. and Canada and their influence in business worldwide.

1. What did I learn?

Let´s start with USA. known as the potential economy, USA is the most influential country in the world. Few aspects that describe it:

• Capital: Washington, DC
• Population: 301.139.947
• Government type: Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
• GDP (purchasing power parity): $13.13 trillion.

Moreover, its industries are mainly: technology, petroleum, steel, motor, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electornics, food processing, consumer goods, mining and so on.

Mexico. Some features:

• Capital: México (Distrito Federal).
• Population: 108,700,891
• Government type: federal republic.
• GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.149 trillion

About the mexican industries, we have got: those related to food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism- this lattest in increasing significantly.

Canada. Its capital is Ottawa. Canada has got a population around 33,390,141 people, its government system is a constitutional monarchy and Canada has got a GDP (purchasing power parity)of $1.178 trillion, more or less. Among its industries there are: transportation, equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas.

The NAFTA: the North American Free Trade Agreement wasi mplemented in order to reduce trade and investment barriers among the three north american countries. In addition,
Under the NAFTA framework, all non-tariff barriers to agricultural trade between the United States and Mexico were eliminated at all.

According to the cultural aspect, the Hosftede analysis was carried out, coming up results for USA such as: the individualism, a moderate power distance, a low uncertainty avoidance. By its side, Canada has got a trend to individualims as well, a moderate power distance, a low uncertainty avoidance and a male society. On the contrary, Mexico, has got collectivism trend, a high power distance, a high uncertainty avoidance and a strongly male society. These asprect allow us to understand the evironment of the North American countries.

A study was presented in which mexicans and american were involved. A 3 stage study was carried out and the conclusion was: "An interorganizational relationship across borders and cultures complicate expectations, because you do not know how it is likely to react the other part". The cooperative and individual views were remarkable at thsi point.
Finally, referring to the business model in each single country, we could find out that Americans and Canadians share several aspects in their countries as well as in the business way. They mind a lot about punctuality, they dress properly and a long term relationship is not in the agenda. On the other hand, Mexicans due to its latin roots, they are most flexible about time and about hte way the carry the meetings. Colombians can feel identified by the mexican model.

2. Question: Mexicans: I love or I hate USA???

3. Answer: Due to the historical facts lived by Americans and Mexicans, i did find a BBC news article pretty interesting that caught my attention: It is about a series or interviews made to children, to Mexicans ones, who have their own opinions about what USA mean to them. I did read it and I like it so much, moreover, I learnt that a child´s point of view should be taken into account with the same importance than an adult´s opinion.

this is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/specials/2006/generacion_futuro/newsid_6200000/6200392.stm

SOURCES:

• North America presentation.
• www.bbcmundo.com

Ernst and Young (Etnography - lesson april 28rd)

We did use this lesson time to work on our final report. Already we are getting the contact in order to carry out the interview with a E and Y´s person in London. We keep doing it....

Ernst and Young (Etnography - lesson april 23rd)

After having a meeting with Maria Alejandra, our teacher, we did clarify some aspect that we should bear in mind in order to do our Etnography rightly. Thus, in April 23rd, we could work on our report, this time we searched some books in order to find out the theory to support our final report. The work done was very nice, and we keep on doing the report.

Lesson April 16th

April 16th we have done an outdoor activity in which we searched and consolidated our knowledge about Europe, this activity let us to cover definitions such as Nationalism, Totalitarism, Liberalism and so on. it was such an interesting lesson carried out in a different way.

Australia and Oceania (lesson 21st)

1. What did i learn?

This area has got a population of 32.000.000 people, in its 14 countries with english, french and others as languages. The predominant religion in this region is Catholic with a 27%, followed by Anglican and other Christians 21% both. This zone in the world is well known by its high rate of immigration.

The population in the region has increased significantly since the end of World War I, Following World War II and through to 2000, almost half of the total population settled in the regions were new immigrants. The immigation mainly comes from the UK, Vietnam, Italy and China. That is why, a multiculturalism policy has been established in order to promote the racial harmony.

Nowadays, cultural differences are respected, in fact; this region of the world is well known as a multicultural and civilized people in the way they behave.

The regions in Oceania are named according to the scheme for geographic subregions:It is such a extended region.

*Australasia: Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, New Zealand, Norfolk Island.
*Melanesia : Fiji, Indonesia (Oceanian part only), New Caledonia (France), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
*Micronesia :Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands.
*Polynesia: American Samoa, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.

By its side, Australia being the biggest island in Oceania, is more famous, its capital is Cranberra, Sydney is its large city, the official language is english, actually Australia is a typical destination for foreigners to learn english. On the contrast New Zealand is wll known by its landscapes so it becomes such a lovely destination on holidays.

Other important facts in the Oceania - Australia region, are the traditions, which are based on the lifestyles, so meeting such as: Having a bbq, going to the beach, or attending a music festival, rather than the history or the moral of the story, and regarding to home-grown traditions, the most remarkable one is the Melbourne Cup where punters show their patriotism with gambling and drinking. So it is pretty interesting to see how different are traditions in that part of the world, while most of the countries are strongly tied up to ist roots and traditions.

Other curious fact is the newspaper readership, actually Australians read more newspapers than any other nation, we could conclude that they are wll informed about news around the world, ant there must be great newspaper enterprises over there.

They do not spend so much money in newspapers but they do in Gambling, they are addicted to gambling. I must say that I do find out pretty interesting these issues.

2. Questions: How is the Colombian immigration to Australia?

3. Answer: Colombian immigrants are the fifth group of foreign people that grows in a fast way, the majority live in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. It does not exist many Colombia immigrants associations. Nevertheless, The Colombian association in Australia, with headquarters in Sydney, works for promoting a good image of Colombia, and "El club Colombiano de Victoria" en Melbourne gives assistance to the immigrants who are just arrived to the city. "El Rincón Quindiano" and "La Cumbia" havc become the meeting points for Colombian people.

SOURCE:

• Australia - Oceania´s presentation
• http://www.conexioncolombia.com/wf_InfoArticuloNormal.aspx?IdArt=92862

Europe ( lesson april 14th)

This presentation was pretty interesting but it was even more the final activity about the european countries. Topics such as: The changing contours of European space, the Creation of “communities”: EU Diversity, Unity and Conflict and the European Management Style are studied.

1. What did I learn?

The space in Europe has been affected by three main phenomens, its historical war background, the several existent cultures, and the attemps for an integration; the result os the lattest is the European union. For the community building is was needed to keep in mind features as: diversity, interest and exixtent conflicts.

According to the Unesco the appropriate definition of diversity: “Cultural diversity refers to the manifold ways in which the cultures of groups and societies find expression.”

The EU unity, is according to the definition given by Wikepedia: “The EU is a political and economic comm-unity of twenty-seven member states European”. (Wikipedia;2008). This unity has got as objective the free movement of goods, services, people and other production factors. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to accomplish this idea as a completed one, so process adaptation and reduction of important gaps in the european reality is needed.

About the political issues, it is divided into two categories: European integration and enlargement, which each of the present point in favor and against. In addition, the community building has been affected by others divisive matters: racism, xenofobia given by the constant migration factor, are the strongest one. Thus, the problem with community is that its assumptions may serve to exclude other people. But it is important to say that, there is an attemp to leave the individualism between leaders among countries in Europe.

At the present, Europe lives a conflict due to the multiculuralism. The most influent natios in Europe are against of the stablisment of a same space for people form different cultures.

Refering to the managerial style as an European one, it is said that regarding the differences such as religious, historical, political and other facts that conclude that there is not a solid European management style.

To sum up, in order to achieve a really community and an European managerial style, it is important to leave behind things that influence in a bad way the "forward steps" given so far.

2. Question: It is known that there is an obstacle called Turkey for the EU. What kind of obstacle is it?

3. Answer: Many people say that the problem has its roots in the cultural issue, especially in the religion one. Most of the population in turkey is musulms, so for countries as France and Holland it is terrible to allow islamic people to enter so freely to the rest of the european countries, and that is the point, the turkey´s entrance means to allow around 7o millions of poor people in the big nations, also it is said that , it would represent higher costs for the countries which give financial assistance to smaller ones . On the other hand, others who are in favor, say that turkey might be a strategic point for containing the islamic spread. Points in favor and against. It is pretty obvious that this controversy is going to last for long, while the obligations for Turkey as the Chipre issue are accomplished.

SOURCE:

• Europe´s presentation.
• www.bbc.com.uk

Middle East ( lesson April 9th)

At his time, The middle East, The Arab World and Israel are studied. I am not going to talk about the Israel part, since i do consider that with the before entry (conference by a Israel person) is enough about the Israel´s conflict. So, lets start with The middle East.

1. What did I learn?

The MIDDLE EAST. It is considered as conflict zone, this does not have got clear frontiers and it does content territories which belong to both continents Africa and Asia. It is relevant to say that Middle East is also the heart of the tree most important religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Talking economically, this region has got an economy in which there is space for very poor nations as: Gaza and Yemen to those which are pretty rich as: UAE and Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, during the last year, all the nations from the Middle East had such a positive economic growth.

Now, lets move on to the ARAB WORLD. This expression is used to identify the arab speaking countries, which go from the Atlantic ocean at the west to the Arabian sea at he east.

The Arab world counts on 22 countries and a integrated community of 325 million people. Some of the countries are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

On the other hand, nowadays there are three points that help to definy an Arab:

*Genealogical : The ancestors
*Linguistical : Language
* Political : The ideology they follow.

The Arab world is very dinamic refering to the economy, it has got the two-fifth of the gross domestic product and three-fifth of the trade of the wider Muslim world. The Arab states are mainly developing economies, and it could have presented an important grow due to its two resources: Oil and Gas. In Asia the arab world is the 11th largest economy.

Finally, the part of interest, business in the Middle East, is managed by the following aspects:

• Lot of stereotypes and myths
  Islam
  Muslims pray 5 times a day, Friday.
  Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
  Asalamu alaykum and wa alaykum salam
  Handshakes
  

And about the behaviour, it is important to keep in mind:

• Gender
  Introduced to a female
  Profesional and business goes together
  Wasta, favor are never forgotten.
  Word means honor
  Creating the relationships
  Meetings are circular
  Punctuality is expected

2. Question: Despite of the conflict, is the Middle East still of the United States´interests?

3. Answer:Yes, it was, it is and it will be, especially cities as: Bagdad, Mosul and Basora, since they are militar strategic points for United States and also because of being oil centers. United States is concerned about its oil supply but also in the spread of the islam. Unfortunately United States has got always a war, a militar answer to its concerns.

SOURCES:

• Middle East Presentation.
• http://www.elcorresponsal.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4054

Conference: Israelian Arabian Conflict ( 7th April)

In this lesson, we did have a conference which was headed by a person who comes from Israel and has lived the conflict closer.

1. What did I learn?

Israel is a country of the middle east, it is considered a strategic point due to its petroleum and coal resources. it is a small country, actually Colombia is bigger 52 times, so we can imagine how small is its territory. We are talking about a 7 millions population which 78 percent are jewish, 16.1 percent musulmans, 2.1 percent are cristians, among others. Its main cities are: Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel has got a Parliament Democracy, elections are run every 4 years, there are political parties form right and left wing which at the end of the day those parties has got a central view since they are not well defined, the parliament is called Knéset. There is a primer minister who belongs to the biggest political party. Also there is a president, the current primer minister is Ehud Olmert and the president is Shimon Peres.

The education is such an important issue in Israel; it is an obligation to go to school to those children from 5 years old to 18 years old. It is a prohibiton to hire children to work, unless the job is a summer season one. After 18 years old, everyone is taken to the army, regardless whether women or men. After 21 age, it is forced people to practice the war in the army, most people is dedicated still to this kind of taks.

Moving to other perspective, Israel has got the 4 seasons, which is appropriate for the agriculture sector. There is a great water scarcity, unemployment is another issue, there is 8 to 9 percent and the minimum salary is around USD 1000 . The government gives salaries for nine months if the person has not got a job.

Culturally, Israel is a immigrants country, there are several culures, the official languages are Arabic and Hebreo but english is well understood in many cities; they have got 2 calendars, the gregorian one and the jewish , the lattest is a moon calendar.

THE CONFLICT

Until 1916 Israel was part of the otoman imperialism, after France and Great Britain divided the half the zone. Sinai was french and palestina and Jordania, english.

In 1947, the UN carried out the partition plan which result was 2 territories: Israelians and Arabians.

In 1948 there was an independency war, Israelians Vs Arabians in order to take lands.

The six days war, Israel attacked Egypt, conquering the Sinai peninsula until the Suez Chanel, also Cisjordania and West Jerusalem. Nowadays, israelians troops presence remain in those territories. Moreover, troops from United States went in order to stop the conflict in the zone.

The rebel group Hammas is which wants to establish a Islamic state is hte Palestinian zone. It has been declarade as a terrorist group by the UN, UE, USA, Japan, Canada and Australia.

At the end of the conference we did see a documental which showed off the reality, the cruel reality and the violence experienced in that zone of middle east tension. I must say that i did not stand the images of that document, they were very cold, unfortunatelly we are talking about a reality.

2. Question: Could the Islam and West be compatible someday?

3. Answer: The conflict comes from the arabian invasion to the Iberic peninsula at the beggining of S. VIII. Facts such as the 9/11 attacks, makes think a rebirth of past conflicts. At the same time, the irak invasion and the palestian- israelian conflict open fear about the old rivalries between west and the islamic world.

4. Sources:

• Conference by a Israelian person: Palestian - israelian conflict.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/forums/newsid_3202000/3202447.stm

Africa (March 31st lesson)

Africa. I am pretty interested in this continent. I do think that Africa is such a rich continent but unfortunately, its people are the poorest in the world. This presentation gave us an idea of what really happens in this continent about the wealth distribution.

1. What did I learn?

First of all it is important to give and idea about Africa´s geography. Africa is the second-largest continent in land area, after Asia. Moreover, representatives landscapes such as: the largest desert in the world, called Sahara, the longest river in the world, which is the Nile river, the highest mountain and the world’s highest free standing mountain rise which is Kilimanjaro, and in this continent are located forty six countries and there will be fifty three including all the island groups. Besides, it is important to not forget that, Africa is the most polyglot continent in the world. In which there are four major language families native to Africa: The Afro-Asiatic, The Nilo-Saharan, The Niger-Congo and The Khoisan.

About the African colonization, the expeditions began in 1800, it was mainly characterized by diseases and hostile natives but at the same time, development of guns and medicine started to appeared. In great part, the reasons why this territory was colonized were searching for new raw materials and ego issues of the potencies of that time. So with those expeditions, the european influence started to spread off around the world. Unfortunatelly, situations as: starvation, mutilation, beatings, murders, and other brutalities and and specially slavery began to take space for africans.

Two potential countries has such a important presence in Africa: The British and french. THus, there were two types of governments a direct rule from france and an indirect from the british. For instance, Great Britain ruled South Africa and Egypt, from that, the english influence in that zone. And, Tunisia with France, leaving as well the french influence overthere.

On the other hand, there was as well a decolonization process. From that, independents movements, high class leaders, a socialist model and leaders for a lot of time emerged. Unfortunatelly, consequences such as negatives effects in the Economy, so the life quality was affected as well, poor democracies, emerge of rebel groups, the traffic of resources, especially diamonds got stronger. That is why it is easier to see this country as one of the poorest and corrupt in the world.

Economically talking, The african population is mostly rural, it has got rich sources of rare and precious minerals as diamonds, also it has extensive oil and gas deposits and last, but not least important, the huge potential for hydroelectric power production, which has not been well developed yet.

About doing business in Africa, aspects such as: handshake, names, titles are consideres as important and it is good to keep in mind the business attire which is conservative. Besides, business meetings can be held over lunch or dinner in a good restaurant; gift giving is not the norm in business and it is important to be careful in talking about social taboos.

Also, it is important to be aware of the main problems in this continent; which are tropical diseases, the slave trade which comes form ages ago, but nowadays it is not so remarkable but still exits, the corruption from the governments, human rights violations, the negative effects of colonialism, analphabetism and tribal and military conflict.

But..the question remained: WHY IS AFRICA STILL SO POOR?

The main reason is corruption, the wealth is not well distributed by the government and the presence of western people exploiting minearal and other resources headed to traffic.

It is worth talking about the International help, which is headed to promote democracies, dustainable development, trade and environmental care and help is arrived to: natural disasters, drought, famine and know how.

2. Question: AIDS as the main disease that affects the African continent, why does it persist on that territory?

3. Answer: The AIDS disease, attacks stronger in zones where the misery is deep and generalized, where there is not medical attention, where there are lots of people who are starving, and who are victims of desnutrition. AIDS attacks more where men leave their homes in the countryside in order to look for jobs in the cities; zones where young women do not want to have sexual relations with protection. All these conditions are given in Africa. In some countries, especially Uganda and Senegal, it has been possible to struggle against AIDS with certain progress, but there is still a lot of to do .

That is why, it is so important to attract the attention from the international community about this issue, little by little the african governments and worldwide started to be aware of the magnitude of this tragedy. But, unfortunatelly there must die millions of people before this issue had been overcome!

Sources:

• Nohora Escobar and Juan Jaime Castaño´s presentation
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/spanish/especiales/sidaafrica/overview.shtml

Research methods ( April 2nd lesson)

1. What did I learn?

In this lesson, research methods were explained in order to do a great final report.

First of all, there is the main difference between investigation and research. Most people in order to refer to research they say or we say INVESTIGATION, that is such a mistake since the lattest looks for the truth and it is mainly used by police departments, while research refers more to cientific processes, it has an academic framework and knowledge identification.

Due to the nature of the final report, we are going to focus on the RESEARCH itself.

There are primary and secondary research, the first ones are those which are new to everyone and the second is new for the person doing the research but not necessary to the rest of people. The secondary research is well known as the "desk research" which implies the exploration of database and the analysis of that data.

TYPES OF RESEARCH: Qualitative and Quantitative. The first one is about features, or a word description about a data meanwhile, quantitative one requires the use of numbers especially in a statistic field.

Moving forward the topic, we do reach the concept of EPISTEMOLOGY, which at the same time, has got two aspects: Empiricism and Rationalism. The empiricism is the knowledge as a product of sensory perception, on the contrary, rationalism see knowledge as a product of rational reflection.

On the other hand, the concept of POSITIVISM comes up., It describes the phenoemna that people experience, always under the cause and effect laws. POST POSITIVISM is critical realism and brings the concept of triangualtion, which in researching talking is asking for something with three different methods, that can provide a wider perception about a specific point.

Moreover, there are two concepts very important to bear in mind. DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE APPROACHES. The first one, goes from general to specific data; in contrast inductive goes from specific to general, both of them give a particular way reaching a topic.

About Searching literature as a support of the research as a whole, the literature should provide explanations of:

• The problem
• The approach used
• the results
• the background of the approach

And should answer the following questions: What you search?, What you search for? and how you search it?

About the selection of a suitable topic, it should be one which data can be collected and analyzed, something reachable. On the other hand, The types of research desing to used, should selected by keeping in mind the question: How are you going to collect the data?, since there are several ways of collecting (interviews, surveys and so on) it is relevant in order to run a successful researching process.

In order to go deeper about the data collection, it can be carried out by:

• Reports,
• Observation (direct or indirect), which implies the content analysis, basic tabulation (coding, verbatims), discourse analysis (who says what, about what, to whom, in what format), a knowledge representation which is well known among students as a concept graphic or concept map, or statistics; the lattest makes reference to the quantitive research,
• or by a Interview, which is an interaction, an exchange of information which results might help a lot with the research process.

2. Question: which types of studies approaches can be used in cross-cultural research methods?

3. Answer: Quantitatives and Qualitatives.

Quantitative Approaches:

• – Descriptive studies focus on describing phenomena in a specific sample of people, or describing differences between two or more specific samples of people
– Inferential studies study specific samples of people in order to understand how phenomena operate in large groups of individuals
In cross-cultural research, descriptive studies are generally not too interesting because you find many differences. So what? What does it mean? You need inferential studies and models to answer these more important or challenging questions.
• Emic vs. etic
– Cross-cultural models tend to have one of two emphases. Emic models view behavior as culture-specific; behavior must be understood in the context of a particular culture but Etic models view behavior as universal; behavior must be understood in comparison to behavior in other cultures. So, three approaches (or combinations) are possible:
– Subjective single-culture
– Objective single-culture
– Objective cross-cultural

On the other hand, the quantitative objects of Study could be:
• Construct (hypothetical): a phenomenon that is important for the understanding of human behavior which cannot be directly observed.
• Universe: set of conditions for observation or items of measurement, usually indicated by the hypothetical construct
• Populations: larger groups of people that are the ultimate object of interest

About the Scope of Study they can be:
• Limited: Cross-cultural research should be limited to verifying the validity of standard or indigenous psychological constructs
• Broad: Cross-cultural research should view culture itself as a relevant psychological construct and attempt to build models that use it as a variable.

Qualitative Approaches:

– Grounded theory: It is a systematic qualitative research methodology in the social sciences emphasizing generation of theory from data in the process of conducting research.
– Ethnography: Which specifies mainly interviewing and participanting of an observation
– Analysis of visual and material culture: Documentaries, visual reports.
– Phenomenological analysis: This method looks for gaining an insight into how an individual perceives a phenomenon. The researchers can gather qualitative data from the individual. The responses given are then intrepreted by the researcher to extract topics, ideas, opinions relevant.
– Hermeneutic analysis: Which consists on narrative analysis and life history.

To sum up, form these two methods a culture can be analyzed correctly, without leaving important data behind.

SOURCES:

• María Alejandra González´s Presentation
• Nelson, M. James. Department of Psychology. Valparaiso University

SOUTH ASIA (26th lesson)

1. What did I learn?

South Asia is compound by the following countries: Afghanistan, pakistan, india, nepal, bhutan, and bangladesh.

Afghanistan is such a country that has become the main character in conflict for years. The Islam is the main rleigion which controles not just great parte of the culture but also the economic, legal and political field. The afghan culture is very rigid and it not wholly accepted by Westerns. The women´s role is defined, they are very submitted and can just do things about household, they do not have any representation in economic or political activities. On the other hand, about social behavior, Afghan are very exigent about it, for instance:
eye contact should not be for too long, and also between men, women must learn the proper behavior, if you are a men too, it is important to do not dishonor a local woman, women must always dress properly to avoid unwanted attention. It is also strongly advisable to wear a headscarf in public. And situations such asbeing men and women at the same room is not good seen by afghans, and more important men and women should never touch one another under any circumstances, they do ot drink alcohol, so it surely would be a wrong gift; without doubt, Afghanistan is one of the least flexible culture in the world.

At other side; the business one, items such the business cards are very significant, they represent importance and prestige, and when it is received, it must be taken respectfully and read. Social life is important for afghans so it is good to spend enough time at the first meetings knowing the other party´s personal life. The communication with them is very indirect, it is not suitable to make accusations or speak down to anyone and very important, they usually negotiate with a win-lose mentality, so it would be correct at first to leave behind a bit the win -win mentality.

Moving to toher country, there is Bangladesh. Culturally, this country has got a hierarchical society, so it is important to mind the age and position of people. Their beliefs fall into the shamanism. Moreover, they have got a strong tradition of music, dance, and literature, that is the reason why the festivals carried out over there are very important.

Socially, in this country greetings are made between members of the same sex and the hand shake is common between man. In contrast to Afghanistan, women appear in business contexts, and gifts are given with two hands. Business talking, people form bangladesh are impersonal; touch is common but bearing in mind that not with women. The business cards are exchanged after the initial introduction. Controlling amotions is important as well as silence is commonly used as a communication tool. And in order to do not feel bad, bangaldeshis have got a serious face which for them, it demonstrate maturity.

Now India. In this country exists a tradition of the caste system, which brings with itself, a hierarchical culture, regarding all types or relationships. Culturally, the eldest are important in this country, that is why the greet them fisrt, Moreover, men can shake hands only with other men. Very similar to latin cultures, Indians are not punctual, nevertheless they admire punctuallity. It is very important to kake off your shoes before entering the house, that demostrates respect. Habits as vegetarism and not drinking alcohol are very remarkable so it is important bearing in mind that. In the business field, for Indians is essential the trust ands knowlegde about the other person, that is the reason why is suitable to get a third party to introduce you. As many closed countries, the meeting are commonly flexible. Due to is hierarchical culture, decisions are reached by the person with the most authority, and it is slow.

Another country from the South Asia region is Pakistan. This country share the same religion as the afghans, the Islam. For them, the extended family is the basis of the social structure and that includes the nuclear family, immediate relatives, distant relatives, tribe members, friends, and neighbors, we could perceived the importance of the concept of family in the society. In business, they are very similar to indians, but they are highly skilled negotiators and they after win-win results.

Other countries in the region are: Bhutan and Sri lanka which have several similarities woth the countries mentioned previously.

To sum up, those countries are very attractive economies, especially india which is consider the competition of the China´s economic growth. In addition, it is worth saying that those asian countries has not great similarities with the latinamerican countries.

2. Question: Regarding the following link, it is said that fairness in part comes from the religion, but is it correct to think that a punishment like that is fear? What does fairness mean? or what is the real meaning of religion? (this case is from Iran, but its religion is the Islam same as some countries from the south asia region)

http://www.ajopringue.com/2005/11/01/la-alianza-de-civilizaciones-con-la-infancia/

3. Answer: I am pretty interested in the Islam religion, since there are some jugments which i am not agree with, for instance in the previous link we can see how a 8 years old boy is being punished for steling a small bread regarding that the boy was starving, i do consider that a particular culture o religion deserve respect but it is important as well bear in ming, until what point the human being is capable to stand such a strong and not flexibe religion. Moreover, i do consider that fairness involved the right treatment to people and even more to children and the eldest, and there are actions that are really crimes, and stealing a simply bread because there is hunger should not be punished or not in this cruel way. I think this video makes us think a lot about the social way used to conduct a society.

4. Source: Catalina Cardenas and Catalina Bonilla´s presentation and personal opinion.

Human Resource Management in China (lesson March 12th)

1. What did I learn?

The human reosurce management in China is strongly tied to the chinese culture. China is considered as a "millenarian" culture, actually it is the oldest civilization i nthe world, that is why, traditions pass over the time. Moreover, chinese culture stands on the meritocracy issue: Something "deserve" to someone.

One cultural leader was Mao zedong who with his cultural revolutions stated several aspects in the chinese culture, for instance is the "Iron rice bowl".

Business talking, in china there are three kinds of companies:

a. SOE´s - state owned enterprises, which are those companies controlled by the government.

b. TN´s-Transnational Enterprises, which are those foreing companies stablish in China,

c. FIE´s- Foreing investment enterprises, which start with a global strategy and its employees have converged with a lot of the company´s practices, and

d. Non- SOE´s- Non state owned enterprises, which are those private chinese companies,; in which training is very important as well as working relationships and skills improvement.

In addition, due to the fact ig globalization trendy; the main aspects to keep in mind in order to do business with Chinese people are: Punctuality, trust, hierarchical structure, long-term relationship, win-win negotiation, and collectivism.

For chinese businessmen, it is important to keep eye contact to the interlocutor,refer to people in a very polite way (title and last names), in the contrary, it is not recommendable to assume that a "no" is a sign of agreement, actually asian people take long to close a deal. To show off a lot of emotion, chinese must feel very uncomfortable. It is relevant to understand first the chinese business culture before getting there.

To sum up, the human resource managem,ent techniques change along the economy and nowadays, the chinese model has inlfuenced a lot of models around the world.

2. Why the transnational companies desire to be listed in China?

3. Answer: The experts indicate that an important reason is their desire to highlight the integration with local companies and to accelerate the rhythm of locating of the businesses by means of its entrance in the markets of local actions.
One of the reasons of why the transnational companies seek to participate in the stock market of China is that they consider that the future development of the new Chinese market is very promising. Another aspect is that the transnational companies also expect to encourage to the personnel of local management by means of international media used commonly as options of list and actions and to highlight the cohesion of the members of the staff.

• SOURCE: http://spanish.people.com.cn/
• Human Resources Management presentation.

Conference: Canada´s foreing policy

This conference was run up as a workshop, giving answers to those questions about the foreing policy in Canada.

One topic to discuss was the challenges that Canada faces since 9/11. it is clear that Canada has such a strong relationship with United States. Due to the fact that United States was the precursor of the Irak´s war, Canada has got to positions about it. The first one was the alliance in the Afghanistan conflict which was mostly militar but in the irak case, Canada played and continues with its peacekeeper role. There are no canadian army in irak´s territory. Canada just train police officers and give assistance in social development.

The new policy that has been adopted by the canadian government is one opposited to the conflict, nowadays United Sates cannot rely on Canada as a military ally, so the american disagreement about that is evident. The policy is focus more on social development rather military operation.

As tates the primer minister: The Canada´s future points out to be a peacekeeper nation and to reduce its presence in war over the time but in a military sense. That is why United Kingdom took advantage of that and has become closer to United States.

Moreover, in order to reduce the tension among United States and Canada, The canadian government has sent an embassador to Washington to develop other kind of relationship with U.S. For Canada, is it important to "make U.S happy" in security and economic prosperity, that is why is important to maintain the relationships with the biggest economy in the world.

Other topic discussed was the Canada´s National Identity. "We are not Americans" Canadian states. Cnadians do not deny the improtance of united states for their economy, we are talking about 1 billion dollars per day in trade with U.S, both countries have developed a interdependence in market, they are each other as a "economic engine". In addition, there are several aspects that determine the continued change that Canada is experiencing about culture. One of them is the demographic issue, due to the slow population growth in Canada, immigratrion has become more and more evident. Although this fact might affect the stability of canadian culture, it is said that young qualified people are needed in many areas in order to develop economically, sociably and so on. Multiculturalism has taken place in Canada, people from around the world have found Canada as a good place to grow, to live and work. At this point, one appreciation came up during the workshop session: It is important to recognize that Canada is one of the countries who implements more barriers to get into the territory, using difficult procedures as the Canadian Visa.

It is important to differentiate immigrants from refugees, most of the refugees are qualified people, and the immigrants not always accomplish with the qualification´s standarts of Canada. But at the same time, once qualified people get into Canada, another phenomen occurs: The brain Drain. Most of the people go to united states to get better salaries. So, one domestic policy ios to develop programs in order to keep qualified people in Canada. Those programs consist on the creation of regulatory bodies in several areas but especially in medical and law areas.

Environmentally talking, Canada is strong added to the kyoto´s protocol, and has been developing environmental programs by investing in the use of renewal resources. Moreover, Canada is inthe struggle against the babyseals extermination, Canada prevents the illegal commerce born from this issue such as fur and meat trade.

Finally, as Colombians we were interested in knowing the Canada´s interest in latinamerican economies. Canada is more engaged to Asian and European economies, but also Cnada has signed several treaties with latinamerican countries such as Chile, peru, Brazil and "in process" with Colombia.

The Asian Model ( March 5th Lesson)

1. What did I learn?

In this lesson, I could get information about doing business in Tokio, I do have such interest in the asian culture. I do think that it has a lot to offer and a lot to know about them. For instance, data such as:

• Tokio is one of them ost formal business place in the world.
• They practice a non-contact relationship
• The hierarchy is very important in business
• The presence of alcohol is markeable in the meeting (of course, without getting drunk)
• The language apart from the native which is more spoken is english.
• Tokio is also a shopping mecca where all people can find several high designers and brands.
• Geography, Tokio is an aglomeration of small villages
• What is pretty stranges, comparing ot other countries is the fact that in Tokio is quite difficult to find out ATM machines.

All this data, is very helpful in order to understand the managerial system in asian countries and to be successful in negotiotions held by westerns and easterns.

In addition, the japanese system is compared with the colombian one:

It was found out that, That japanese are more formal than colombians, in speaking, in dressing and behaving. The business card are very important for japanese, and the way to manage the reading and keeping is even more. Colombians are warmer, on the contrary japanese do not have physical contact. The team work is very important, japanese are long term people and love working in teams, but colombians tend to be individuallistics and short term people.

In this lesson, the Kaizen model was taugh, which states the constant motivation to an organization´s members. It has been analized that, people motivated are more productive than those are not, and the human reosurce is a determinant in a organization´s success.

About the class dynamics, it is well known that each single person should have a strong commitment for going and attending a particular lesson, i do think that this aspect is very subjetif, so active participation trough activities that involve the student, he or she would be motivated to participate in. Team work is essential to run business as well as lessons, it demandas such a high involvement of the person.

2. Question: What is the strategic point of implementing a Kaizen model?

3. Answer: The big objective of using the Kaizen Model is to optimize quality, costs and delivery. Quality, it has not just to do with products or services´quality, but also to the porcesses´quality in which it is related those products or services. Cost is related to the total cost, which includes design, production, sale and supply of products or services. Delivery means del delivering on time the volume demanded. Thus, when the three conditions (quality, cost and delivery)are accomplished, the customers are fully-satisfated.

"En una era del conocimiento como lo es ésta Tercer Ola pasarán a ocupar los primeros lugares aquellos individuos, organizaciones, y sociedades que hagan del conocimiento y perfeccionamiento sistemático su objetivo prioritario. " Mauricio Lefcovich. Consultor en Administración de Operaciones y Estrategia de Negocios. Especialista en Kaizen y Seis Sigma

SOURCES:

• http://www.kaizen.com/
• Maria Alejandra González´s presentation.

EAST ASIA (March 3rd Lesson)

I must say that i am very interested in the topic developed in this presentation. Moreover, the work done by Catalina and Juan David was excellent.

1. What did i learn?

The differences and similarities between the Korean and Japanese management style. Due to the fact that Korean was colonized by Japan, the japanese influence still remains in the korean culture. Moreover, concepts such as Convergence and Divergence are useful in order to determine those differents and similarilities in these asian countries.

On one hand, there are two models that better describe the management system in a country: Convergence and the comparative cultural approach. The first one, stands that as the economies develop, the management system will converge in a system which is found out in developed countries. By its side, the comparative cultural approach, states that a wider group of rules based on culture, in a society is determinant for e stablishing differentation among them.

On the other hand, the National Management Style (which is the point to go to an analysis of a particular management system), takes into account two variables: the national culture and level of development.

It is shown that Koreans are less active that japaneses, but at the same time, talking about internationalizations, koreans perform as japaneses do. In addition, koreans tens to consider the employyees less important that japaneses, but for both is is very important to share the information and organizational values among the human resource. It is important to bear in mind that, Koreans as well as japaneses share an asian management stlyle which day by day tend to converge.

2. Question: which variables facilitate the comprehension the management system in asia regardind Korea and Japan as examples?

3. Answer:

• Strategic Goals
• Environmental Analysis
• Technology Development
• Supplier Relationship
• Closeness with customers
• Marketing
• Human resource management
• International Orientation

Sources: Lee, Jangho, Thomas W. Roehl, & Soonkyoo Choe. 2000. What Makes Management Style Similar and Distinct Across Borders? Growth, Experience and Culture in Korean and Japanese Firms. Journal of International Business Studies.

• Juan David López and Catalina Muñoz´s presentation.

Paraiso Travel- film

The film tells the story of a young couple, who undertake a crossing trough the "hole" (Mexico), they have to face different adversities in a completely unknown world. "Paraiso Travel" really tells a Colombian history of love that has nothing to do with violence, war, neither drug trafficking. They arrive without nothing to an unknown country and suffers a big cultural collision. The starring actors, Reina and marlon, driven by their will to reach their dreamland, what they got was the hostility of a country which rejects the presence of illegal latinamewrican immigrants.

This is a typical case of illegal immigrants, who have to overcome several obstacles in order to survive in such a big and developed country. When immigration is illegal things get worse, since work opportunities are much more difficult to find and if it is possible the salary does not worth it.

Expatriates and Migrant Workers (February 27th lesson)

1. What did I learn?

Immigration is such a process that is very remarked in the globalizad world. This process has begun from the slave´s history. Nowadays the concept of immigration has changed a bit , since it got wider, now there is not just immigration of underqualified people, also professionals go to other countries. Why? Because of many reasons: For example, in order to find a better life quality, or to find out a better job (when the person is qualified), or for security, if the person or family has been treathed. So, it is possible to clasify the immigration in: Labour immigrants, professional immigrants, entreprenurial immigants and refugees ans ayslees.

The expectatives of those immigrants are greater: economic opportunities or achievement.

At the same time, immigation implies several aspects such as: the emotional and cultural bonds; adaptation is required here, no matters the country the person immigrates, always there will be elements to face with. The contradictory impacts, which can be due to the lack of contact with the local, the environment, the culture and the society.

On the other hand, there are the four stages of immigration:

1. Temporary labour migration, which is mostly done bystudents or young people.

2.Prolonged stay: When the opportunities seem to get better so at this point there are reasons to stay in.

3. Long term settlement: the family here is involved, and factor such an adecuate house, and salary play an important role. People can consider the option to go back to the origin country.

4. Permanent settlement: A life by own or with the family has been built and there are few options to settle again to the origin country. This takes a long time and is more stable.

In additon, there are the long term effects of immigration: People can develop an openess to settlement in any country. diverse is important but not as an obstacle to settlement. On the contrary, denial of settlement, produces a rejection of cultural diversity.

Something that i found out pretty interesting was the Canadian Case about immigration. Due to the aging and population decline, Canada always seem to be such an attractive destination for the qualified and well trained workers, and more if those workers belong to societies where exists imbalances in the demographic distributions, so they look for a better realocation in their specialized fields. That is why Canada has been reducing the requirements for getting a canadian visa.

2. Question: Which can be the immigration effects in the growth of the receiver country?

3. Answer: "The immigration effects in the economic situation of the receiver country became a debate topic in the industrialized countries, especially in Europe, where is extensively accepted the idea that the arrival of immigrants is going to produce a deterioration of the employment perspectives of the local workers. Moreover, this situation is being object of extensive controversy, coming up positions from the extreme xenofobia, that supports the expulsion of the immigrants (as in Austria, Belgium or France), the limitations in the immigrants entrances, when the unemployment in the country, is high. Those that think that the arrival of immigrants cannot have effects or that, even,can be beneficial, since they take not well qualified jobs which are not demanded by the local workers , they are in a clear minority."1

SOURCE: *1. González, Alberto Alonso. Villaamil Cabezudo, Virginia. Efectos de la inmigración. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales.

Verbeeten, David. 2007. The Past and Future of Immigration to Canada. Springer Science and Business Media B.V.

Maria Alejandra González´s presentation.

Expatriates and Migrant Workers (February 24th lesson)

Hello Maria Alejandra, to the presentation lesson i could not go, since i had to go to the doctor..(neurologist)..and that is in the Center of Medellin...and i could not get university on time....so firstly a would like to apologise....second, i was reading the report from this topic, and i did find out a lot of corrections from you...so....I am going to do this entry with the information you presented last wenesday that is much complete. Moreover the group have not sent the power point presentation. Please do not get me wrong..I am sure the presentation was ok but i have not information for doing the mondays´s entry.

Thanks for your comprehension....

Best regards...

Tatiana M.

Managing Diversity (lessons 18th - 20th)

1. What did I learn?

I must say that i really liked this topic, it could be maybe because i had to present it, but actually it was easier that i thought. At first, i did think that the topic was so difficult, but whe Samuel and I started searching about the topic, it turned more and more interesting.

The term itself was introduced in USA in 1987, by Johnston and Packer. They found out some similarities between heterogeneity ant the USA workforce.

Nowadays, the companies worldwide are demanding more and more employees from different backgrounds, in order to pontentialize the advantage that culture can represent and reduce the global culture barriers. I do think that the globalization has a lot of to do in it, since a company internationalize itself, it should do it from inside to outside. Once again the concept of diversity and its dimensions are mentioned, in order to understand the point from a managerial view. Moreover, when an organization has got a high level of managing diversity, aspects such as: cost, resource acquisition, creativity, marketing, problem solving and organizational flexibility can be well used in order to be competitive. Felxibility is such an important matter: It is necessary for a organization to be flexible and open-minded, thus, the organization´s culture and information can run from and to every single department, creating synergies that is translated into more competitiviness. Reaching to an end, the components that help to move from a traditional model to a more cultural one, are: leadership, training, research, analysis of cultural systems and follow up. Finally, a manager should bear in mind the value chain for implementing change in an organization which consists on: an activity or process that implies diversity, this will bring up an outcome and an impact and later on, an added value can be reach for the organization. For instance, for a marital status issue:

Activity:Club membership (both single and married)

Outcome: Integration among employees

Impact: commitment and self-belonging to the company

Added value: Relax, employees more productive.

Today, investment in managing diversity is needed in any organization.

2. Question: How to manage diversity in an organization?

3. Answer: A interesting way of managing diversity is proposed by Sylvie Chevrier in her article, Cross-cultural Management in Multinational Project Groups. The projects, the are so important to run out businesses, since in a project a group is needed and over here is when diversity takes place. Those teams become multicultural teams, in which, several cultures are met. This gives the opportunity to change points of views, to compare opinions and to build up relationships among the employees as well as good performance to the organization.

Sources: Sylvie Chevrier. 2003. Cross-cultural Management in Multinational Project Groups. Journal of World Business 38.

Maria Alejandra González´s slides.