Social Entrepreneurs, What Makes Dina Abdel Wahab A Hero?

Read further about social entrepreneurs at the following website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/06/24/DI2005062401071.html

Why you believe this person has been highlighted as a “hero"?

Introduction

Dina Abdel Wahab is pioneering school-based integration of special-needs and normal children, a first important step toward achieving society-wide integration. It was the first important step toward achieving society-wide integration in Egypt. She believes that the preschool period offers an especially promising opportunity to change attitudes and it flagging the way for broader reforms of the society.(World People's Blog, 2006)

By 2016, at least two million Egyptians are disabled or have special needs and half of these are children. Only about 1% of the children and adults received services from the government. Abdel Wahab focused on excellence in learning for all children and try to develop a stimulating environment for children to learn and play together. Also, the teachers and parents learn to see special needs in a far more tolerant light.(World People's Blog, 2006) Abdel-Wahab was trying to expand her idea to preschools throughout the Middle East. With the cooperation of parents and supporters, they were able to influence politicians to make better policies to contribute to the education system. 

So, What Makes Dina Abdel Wahab A Hero?

We all know that social entrepreneurs make difference through business. They want to help solve some of the world’s problems. And, business ventures can make money and improve the world at the same time. A traditional entrepreneur sees an opportunity to make money by fulfilling a consumer or business need whereas a social entrepreneur sees an additional opportunity to improve quality of life by fulfilling a social need.

Dina Abdel Wahab began crusading for access to preschool services for all children in Egypt after the birth of her son Ali, who has Down syndrome. Social entrepreneur Dina Abdel Wahab adopting a mission to create and sustain social value and formed an integrative education model for special needs children into mainstream education in Egypt. Most importantly, she acting boldly without being limited by the resources currently in hand.

How This Work Contributes Toward The Importance of Entrepreneurship for The Global Economy?

Dina Abdel Wahab is the founder and Managing Director of the Egyptian Child Care Corporation. Dina Abdel Wahab started the schools in Egypt for the nation's often-neglected children with disabilities. I think there is one thing I really admire is that she not only find the need and fill it but also improved the world and made the world a better place. For special children to learn from normal children and also to learn compassion, acceptance, and helpfulness. Through a better education system, the world gain more positive strength to grow more social and traditional entrepreneurs. More excellent entrepreneurs help the world fix more issues and positively change the world. 

Reference

World People's Blog. World People's Blog " Blog Archive " Dina Abdel Wahab – Egypt. (n.d.). http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/362. 

Consider a business idea that you know about that has failed. Take some time to research information about this business, why do you think it failed? What mistakes do you think the entrepreneur made when developing this business?

 Introduction

It took hundreds of millions of years for dinosaurs to evolve, but it takes only a few years for HTC. In 2008, HTC and Google jointly launched the HTC Dream, the world's first Android phone. In the next two years, HTC continued to launch new smartphones. As a pioneer, leading the global smartphone market and competing with iPhone. However, In 2011, Samsung, another major smartphone maker, regrouped, and HTC lost its leading position in Android. Moreover, afterward, challenges from China, Lenovo and ZTE’s cost-effective phones appeared on the market, and HTC’s market share continues to decline. At the same time, iPhone sales remained unaffected and continued to rise. 

In 2014, after the bad experience from One X to New One, HTC pinned its hopes on HTC One M8. It was an upgraded version of the HTC One. While continuing the integrated all-metal body, it sharpens the heavy and tough design of the HTC One to be smoother and more rounded to fit the grip. The durable body highlights HTC’s excellent industrial design and the effort has finally paid off. The M8 has made HTC profitable again. In HTC's 2014 second-quarter earnings report, HTC turned losses into profits, with a profit of US$92 million. In addition, the $2.2 billion in sales is almost equal to HTC's sales for the entire year last year. 

However, In 2015, Xiaomi's low-priced phones swept the market, and HTC fell into a tough battle. In 2016, more brands, the Oppo and Vivo ultra-high cost-effective models squeezed the market and of course, it gives HTC the fatal blow. In the meantime, iPhone sales continued to hit new highs. In the past few years of trend integration and sudden changes, HTC has failed from where it was at its most brilliant. All this seems to be a dream, a dream that has experienced rise, glory, loss, decline, rebirth, and death. 

Honey at that time, poison at this time. Many elements that once made HTC thrived, became the stumbling blocks for HTC's progress later on. In 2013, HTC even spent $1 billion in marketing and invited Iron Man actor Robert Downey, Jr. to represented its products. But, it is not only HTC that has failed, but also Nokia, Motorola, LG, and other manufacturers.

So, Why Did It Fail?

i. HTC focused too much on hardware research and development has never put its effort into cloud services, software, and mobile games. HTC’s innovation did not fill the need of consumers while its competitor, Apple, has developed its operating systems, hardware, and services to a whole new level such as the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, iOS, Mac OS, and iPad OS. Apple's WWDC is always talking about apps, content, and services. After all, HTC did not follow up on the trend and lack of the understanding of what consumers actually need. Excellent products are just the foundation. They are only one part of the whole service. User experience and the content, and the services must be equally excellent and coordinated to have a long-term victory. 

ii. The Teamwork

In 2010, HTC hired many former managers from Sony and Microsoft. Their abilities were not good enough to lead this company to reverse the situation. Teamwork has become an omnipresent phenomenon all over the world. Companies have transitioned to teamwork as a vehicle to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, and productivity.

Reference

Millward, S. (2015, September 2). Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem. https://www.techinasia.com/htc-rise-and-fall-infographic. 

How The World Economic Forum Aims to Approach Education for Increasing Entrepreneurship Worldwide?

 

The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a not-for-profit, independent, and impartial international organization for public and private cooperation such as political, business, and cultural leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. 

How The World Economic Forum Aims to Approach Education for Increasing Entrepreneurship Worldwide?

The World Economic Forum emphasizes innovation and economic growth since they depend on future leaders who have skills, attitudes, and behaviors to be entrepreneurial in their professional lives. They thought also that entrepreneur who has entrepreneurship is the engine of the economic growth that could create new ideas to solve current challenges in the global economy. And, a great strategy is needed to scale them up. The World Economic Forum has launched some initiatives focusing on the evaluation and assessment of entrepreneurship education practices to facilitate policy changes. By creating a common framework and crucial resources available to all stakeholders to help build collaboration and partnerships.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Entrepreneurship is the skill of starting new businesses, especially when this involves seeing new opportunities. I think starting new businesses means more jobs, more innovations, and of course, more opportunities. However, saying is much easier than doing. To start a new business and to maintain its success, need an excellent strategy to connect and use all the resources. Although strategy can be trained by a great education system, those necessary resources also play crucial roles in the developing processes. Even though you are Albert Einstein, you still need a great team and resources to make your ideas come true. 

For example, Tesla is a successful electric car manufacturer found by Elon Musk. However, he doesn't always so successful. In the beginning, most people don't think electric cars are our future vehicle because they cannot find chargers easily enough, and the battery performance was not good enough as well. But, electric cars can solve our carbon emission issue. Elon Musk sees the need and takes the financial risk to do it. It has created new opportunities for moving on to a better future. So, in general, an entrepreneur means someone who sees a need and takes on the financial risk to start a business to fill that need. In this case, Elon Musk sees the need for zero-emission cars and takes the risk to start the electric car business, even though it was not sharp in the past. 

But, how can a country or the world encourage more people to pursue their dreams like Elon Musk? According to an Initiative published by the World Economic Forum Global Education in June 2011, it can be achieved by a great education system, provide essential resources, and proper policies. For example, we may easily find a need but hard to take action. Therefore, create incentives for action to help them overcome the barriers is the start point of the initiative. Then, build trust and an interest in collaboration can help the entrepreneurial ecosystem to create opportunities for key stakeholders from various sectors to get to know each other.

Academic institutions are central in shaping students' attitudes, skills, and behaviors, including new entrepreneurs. Education should be better linked with practice to ensure that future skills match future jobs. For example, more well-educated people mean higher chances to build a good team for a startup company to provide good services or products. In addition, foundations often helping to link various stakeholders, mostly capital or human resources for building the entrepreneurial ecosystem. As mentioned above, the founding systems and the links to various stakeholders can help the entrepreneurs by lowering their financial risk, encourage them to fill the need they found.

When someone pops up with a strategy, the next step is to prioritize efforts and measure the results. Therefore, appropriate policies must be in place to set metrics. And, the proper incentives need to be in place for the key stakeholders involved in implementing the policies such as employ students before graduating so that they can be more readily integrated into the workforce. It is obvious that greater coordination is needed at any level. 

In today’s environment, technology plays an increasingly important role in the educational process, both as a delivery channel and a teaching tool. Technology provides a mechanism for reaching greater economies of scale as well as providing broader sharing of practices. For example, with the lack of better battery technology and faster construction of its Gigafactory, Tesla's success can be far less than it is today.

Why They View This As A Priority?

The Forum does strive in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. For better competitiveness to create more opportunities, sustainable growth of the economics, and positive changes of the future, the Forum invests in developing entrepreneurial and innovative skills to build sustainable economic development, create jobs, generate renewed economic growth and advance human welfare. 

Reference

Unlocking Entrepreneurial Capabilities Report_2011

Apply sustainability, ethics, and corporate responsibility principles in your workplace

 Intro

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is the way a company takes responsibility for its actions and their impact on employees, stakeholders, and communities. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines CSR as the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of workforces and their families as well as the community and the society at large. Under the premise, it suggests how companies should conduct their businesses such as how they manage their impacts on the environment and how they treat their employees. However, simply donate money to charity does not mean your company has conducted the whole CSR. Companies' operations have to earn the trust of consumers and investors by meeting their expectations of ethical and responsible behavior.

How can you apply sustainability, ethics, and corporate responsibility principles in your workplace?

Before digging into how to do it, I tend to think the "why" first. Why CSR makes business sense if it means higher costs? I think the idea is to attract better-skilled people to work for them. And then, by treating them responsibly, costly employee turnover will be minimized. It also helps a company differentiate itself. If even your employees do not trust the products they are producing, why do you think your customers do? In addition, if a company adopts improved environmental practices, it will show the public that it cares about the planet they rely on and maintaining customer loyalty. For instance, Costco offers COVID-19 in its pharmacies firmly committed to helping protect the health and safety of its members and employees, and to serving the communities. Now, how do think about the behavior? Costly? Or, worth it? I think it will reverse some bad images and improve the positive reputation. And, its share price has told us the result.

After the COVID-19 Vaccine Updates on May 13, 2021, the share price of Costco Wholesale Corporation(COST: NASDAQ) has increased from 331.14 per share to 378.27 per share, it gains approximately 14%. The public company has got the public's supports. 

i. Set A SMART Goal and The Code of Conduct

Now, back to the topic, how companies do it? Adopting a business code of conduct or ethics is a great start. The code of ethics will outline the culture of how their employees conduct on issues and customer services. Set a clear social and environmental goal can help it even better. 

ii. Workplace Health and Safety Programs

A clear workplace health and safety program can be a reliable system to protect your employees, prevent accidents, increase the efficiency of a company's operation. 

ii. Protect The Environment

CSR is not just a paper or a report. It's more than that. For instance, Nespresso is committed to doing business responsibly, looking for ways to make a difference wherever they can. By adding the capsules recycling to your coffee ritual, the coffee capsules won’t just taste good. Now, Nespresso capsule recycling program includes 39 countries.

iv. The Suppliers Should Be Part of This

Ensure all the suppliers have met the expectations of responsible behaviors such as fair pricing, better working conditions of their employees, or more.

Look back at the entire Course. How will what you learned to change the way you work or your future aspirations?

Look back to the course, topics like cultures, globalization, communication, the risks, and CSR this week, have given me a better program putting inside my mind. I think I will start a business in the future and what I learned in this course will be very useful. For instance, my father's pork processing factory will conduct a better code of ethics and safety rules. The suppliers will all need to be tested on their pork.

Reference

7 tips for corporate social responsibility. BDC.ca. (2020, September 12). https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/business-strategy-planning/manage-business/corporate-responsibility-7-key-steps. 

Case study: Growing a Company by International Acquisition

 Case study: Growing a Company by International Acquisition

https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/1183241/mod_workshop/instructauthors/UNIT%207%20-%20Case%20Study%20-%20dsgplc_13_full.pdf.

i. Describe two major ways in which a company can grow

The two major ways in which a company can grow are organic and inorganic growth. Organic growth means the company expands its current business without launching new products or services for a whole new market. For instance, if Tesla can now manufacture its model 3 from 5,000 vehicles per week to 6,000 per week, build its gigafactory more quickly, or improve its battery performance without introducing any new products is called organic growth.

 

On the other hand, inorganic growth occurs when a company expands to a new territory or product line. For instance, if Starbucks merges with the Oatly group for providing more oat milk drinks, both of them will have a newer product line and it comes under the rubric of inorganic growth.

ii. Businesses grow when they have the resources to expand and opportunities exist for growth. Explain how the acquisition of Berendsen provided such a good opportunity for the Davis Service Group

Intro

The Davis Service Group is the company group that provides textile maintenance services in the UK and Europe, includes linen hire, workwear rental, dust control mat, laundry, and washroom services. The Group operates across Europe from its London headquarters and used to be a conglomerate. In 2001, the Davis Service Group consisted of three main operating companies, Sunlight (hiring sheets to hotels, hospitals, and private businesses), Elliott (building systems), and HSS (operating through 450 outlets in the UK). Instead of operating only in the UK, it seeks overseas opportunities for growth. 

So, how the acquisition of Berendsen provided such a good opportunity for the Davis Service Group? 

Berendsen is a company operating in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, and Germany. It is the first advantage for the Davis Service Group to acquisition it. It providing textile services in its geographical area and none of them overlap the areas of the Davis Service Group was operating in. Therefore, if the Davis Service Group acquired Berendsen, it can build on Berendsen’s local experience, local market contacts, and integrate the networks and customer relationships. By taking over Berendsen, rather than merging with it, gave Davis Service Group the control to manage the system of Berendsen. 

By closing down some locations where Berendsen has operated in the same area, the operating costs can be reduced. It also saves the fixed costs, by cutting out the central headquarters of the company. Lower costs mean higher profits. Moreover, Sunlight and Berendsen are specialist companies in the same field. The knowledge and expertise of the two companies are very likely to be both benefited.

However, there are many common barriers to international growth such as language differences, cultural differences, and currency. In this acquisition, Berendsen’s business operates across several European countries and uses English as a common language. So, the first barrier is overcome. Next, the consumer behaviors and the culture where Berendsen operates are similar to the UK. Finally, the currency, countries in which Berensden operates already used the Euro. I think Berendsen has already created a processing practice to deal with the Euro, but the managers still face the challenge of the exchange between Euro and British pounds.

iii. What aspects of European Union markets have particularly encouraged horizontal growth of the Davis Service Group? 

A horizontal growth strategy means expanding products or services to new markets such as developing a new market, penetrating an existing market, or apply existing assets to a new business domain. For the Davis Service Group, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, and Germany are whole new markets. The Davis Service Group can get the ticket to enter by purchasing Berendsen. However, this may increase the competition, but European Union may tend to lower the prices by encouraging such competition.

What aspects of European Union markets have particularly encouraged organic as opposed to inorganic growth?

Organic growth is the growth a company achieves by increasing output and enhancing sales internally. But, it does not include growth attributable to mergers and acquisitions, it is an increase in sales and expansion through the company's own resources. In contrast to inorganic growth, which is growth related to activities outside a business's own operations and arises from mergers or takeovers rather than an increase in the company's own business activity. The European Union market may particularly encourage organic growth since it means more companies or organizations will be set up and more companies mean more competitors to operate in the same market. 

iv. If the company were to expand into new areas of the globe, where would you recommend? Why? 

I think I will highly recommend the company to expand into Asian developing countries. Because it all about growth. As of 2020, about 59.51% of the global population was living in Asia.

What factors might encourage or discourage this choice?

The demographic factor is one of them. As I mentioned above, As of 2020, about 59.51% of the global population was living in Asia. It is a huge opportunity for growing a company or an enterprise.

Of course, there are also some disadvantages. One of them is skills and knowledge. They may not have the skills and techniques that foreign companies need to operate and manage their businesses.

Reference

Controlling International Expansion (Vermeulen, 2001)

What is the responsibility of Western countries toward the economic development of developing countries?

 What is the responsibility of Western countries toward the economic development of developing countries? 

Most of the time, when we talk about globalization, it is all about economic growth, international trade, and information interchange. Like previously discussed, Nike benefits from globalization. However, does it really benefits those developing countries where Nike is operating? In the beginning, Nike just tried to lower the cost of production by producing its products in those low-income and low-wage countries. After some negative effects on its brand, such as child labor and poor working conditions in Nike's foreign factories, Nike changed its strategy to redeem its brand image. Nike improved the working conditions and published detailed information about its supplier policies, audits, and remediation processes. 

But, do these processes enough to help and those developing countries? I think it is more likely to unequally distribute the benefits back to where they came from. This is one of the basic business rules. If there is a profit, there is a business. A company like Nike is trying to benefit from those direct investments, not doing charity to take care of the local laborers. However, after some remediation processes, the local laborers did get jobs, get paid more, and learned some new skills. They can grow from the accumulated knowledge they learned and build their own empires. Instead of just rely on the teacher to teach you something, you can choose to learn more by yourself. If a country always imports anything they need, it is very likely to be controlled by other countries. During the pandemic of COVID-19, vaccines have become a life-saving product. However, those poor countries seem they do not have the ability to produce vaccines of their own.

One of the key factors is the crucial resources, techniques, technologies, and knowledge is controlled by these big companies and Western countries. Education is the key to better competitive advantages. If those developing countries can build their own excellent education systems, they may not be just developing countries anymore. However, most developing countries are dragging by their corrupt bureaucracy. High efficient governments can lead their residents to follow up the steps of a better future, whereas corrupt bureaucracy just makes things worse.

Do the math. Suppose that Nike invests and builds its own factory in Indonesia. Then, it produces the products at a lower cost of $5 per pair of shoes instead of $100 cost per pair in the US. If Nike sells one million shoes worldwide per year, it will gain $95 million more profit per year due to the lower cost of production. Now, compare to the wages that Nike paid to the laborers, suppose it is about $4 per day, $9,600 per year. If Nike hired 1,000 workers to produce the products, it has to pay $9.6 million per year. It is almost 10 times less than it gains $95 million more profit per year. For Indonesia, the 1,000 jobs only contribute $9.6 million per year to overall income growth. But for Nike, it is more than that. 

In conclusion, I think there are no clear responsibilities for companies or Western countries to do anything for developing countries since it is an ethical issue and making money is all business owners care about the most. However, if enterprises do their businesses more kindly, honestly, and with integrity, it is also a way to gain their profits by increasing sales and consumer loyalty. 

Reference

New Idea. (2019, December 11). Nike Sweatshops: The Truth About the Nike Factory Scandal. New Idea. https://www.newidea.com.au/nike-sweatshops-the-truth-about-the-nike-factory-scandal.  

What do you think is the most important aspect of international risk management for a manager? Why?

 What do you think is the most important aspect of international risk management for a manager? Why?

Every international transaction and business has its own inherent risks such as political risk, non-payment from foreign buyers, non-delivery from foreign suppliers, or foreign exchange risk. I think there is no such thing that one risk is far more important than others. Like a human body, the heart and brain are important. But can you say that liver, kidney, and pancreas are not so important? They may not instantly cause death, but they take your life bit by bit if they are losing their functions. For many people, it far more painful than death. However, I think the most important aspect of international risk management for a manager is to understand the priority and processing them correctly. If you keep the heart beats regularly, you will have time to fix other diseases. 

Various Aspects of Risk Management

Risk management refers to the identification, assessment, planning, and controlling threats from factors such as social, economic, or natural disasters to the organization. However, the truth is the process of risk management is not only restricted to controlling the threats or reducing their negative effects. And, even though we have a systematic approach to treat risk, it is not absolutely going to help. Therefore, simply designing and implementing a risk management plan is not enough to treat risk. 

Risk management varies from firm to firm and industry to industry and testing companies' ability to develop and implement a risk management plan effectively. So, do business owners actually need a plan? I think it needs a thorough examination such as how are situations before you make any decision. After you made a plan, that follows a second question. Is the plan feasible? As we learned from "How to set a SMART goal", your goal or plan must be feasible not just a new film like Mission Impossible.

Conduct a SWOT analysis can help you find out the strengths and weaknesses of your plan. And also, it should meet your company’s major objectives. In addition, examine if you can avoid the risk or not. Finally, you need to check if your risk management plan has been backed by clearly defined activities or not.

Reference

MSG Management Study Guide. SWOT Analysis - Definition, Advantages and Limitations. (n.d.). https://www.managementstudyguide.com/swot-analysis.htm. 

MSG Management Study Guide. Various Aspects of Risk Management. (n.d.). https://www.managementstudyguide.com/risk-management-aspects.htm. 

Based on the risk assessment models explained in the material, how likely is a multinational corporation to expand in your country? Why or why not?

 Based on the risk assessment models explained in the material, how likely is a multinational corporation to expand in your country? Why or why not?

Risk assessment is used to illustrate the overall process where you recognize potential hazards, evaluate the risks associated with that hazards, and determine appropriate strategies for eliminating the hazards. After identification, you can analyze and evaluate how severe the risk is. Although there is always something happening unexpectedly, with appropriate strategies, we can effectively eliminate or control the harm from happening as best as we can.

i. Hazard Identification

When we experience an issue, the first thing we should do is to identify what the issue is. If you can precisely identify the issue, you have already solved half of it.

ii. Risk analysis

After the hazards have been identified, now, we can start a process for comprehending the nature of the risk.

iii. Risk control

Get to the actions of implementing risk evaluation decisions monitoring these actions.

Case in Point

Decathlon, as an example of a multinational corporation trying to expand its business in Taiwan. According to a survey conducted by Decathlon, Taiwan’s sports population has increased by 85% in 2017, a record high and attractive business opportunities. From France, Decathlon, the world’s second-largest sporting goods store chain, and Europe’s largest sporting goods store chain saw the trend of the Taiwan market.

In 2012, Decathlon opened its first store in Taichung. Its expansion plan to open more stores has never stopped. So far, it has established 11 branches, has become the largest sports goods retailer in Taiwan. Back in 1996, Decathlon was just tried to sell bicycle products in a secluded corner of Taichung City. And, amazingly, it turned out that there was a huge demand for its products. When you come to Decathlon’s first branch in Nantun District, Taichung City, you can find that there is a sports field outside the store. Friends of all ages can play basketball, biking, and skating there for free. 

90% of Decathlon products are made by itself instead of outsourced and the price is cheaper than many other big brands. It is characterized by high quality and low prices. Originally, Decathlon came to Taiwan just to purchase parts and raw materials for its production and sold them to Europe. From cost control, quality management, to the integration of the brands, logistics, retail, and even design, testing, production, export, Decathlon can find the suppliers to satisfy all its needs in Taiwan. Decathlon has developed multiple partnerships in Taiwan and cooperated with 60 local suppliers to assist in production in Taiwan and market them to countries out of Taiwan.

Decathlon has been operating in Taiwan for more than 30 years and maintaining a good relationship with consumers in Taiwan is Decathlon's key to success. Politically, Decathlon can quickly improve its performance with the help of the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs and the government for their assistance in understanding investment laws and participating in the BOT case. For instance, Taichung City Government was responsible for finding the land for the first branch in Taiwan, and it was allowed to operate it for 40 years. 

So, how likely is a multinational corporation to expand in Taiwan?

I think the first thing the multinational company should understand is, do Taiwanese or the market really demand your products? In the case in point mentioned above, Decathlon successfully satisfied the needs of sports goods in Taiwan. However, not every company is so successful. Many companies from China are much more difficult to do direct investment in Taiwan. Why? Politically, they have to correspond more laws than other companies since China and Taiwan are two very antagonistic countries. China is always saying that Taiwan is part of them, but the Taiwanese don't think so. 

Reference

Controlling International Expansion (Vermeulen, 2001)

Business Strategy Review, 2001, Volume 12 Issue 3, pp 29-36

How has diversity in the world benefited you?

This class is a multicultural team by itself. How has diversity in your class and at UoPeople benefited you? 

In the discussion forum, students commented on how each member added a different perspective and helped classmates to see things from different angles. A larger part of an iceberg is below the surface which led to the expression "tip of the iceberg" to illustrate a small part of a larger unseen issue. If we see things only from the surface, our classmates can help us to see a different world below the surface. News and media are the same. BBC, CNN, ABC news may report and process new in very ways. So, we see very different angles if we read the same news from different reporters.

What communicating issues within virtual intercultural teams have you experienced at UoPeople?

I did experience a communicating issue within virtual intercultural teams at UoPeople. When I was in the basic accounting class, a classmate messaged me and said he has trouble composing his written assignment. I want to help him, but on the condition that he totally understands what I was trying to say since I must explain the concept in a simple way. And, to do that, I have to understand it deeper to even teach him.

How did I address them?

I read the materials once again and tried to organize it and took some notes. After I understand the key concepts deeper, I recorded a video about how to solve the issue since I know words and text messages have their limitations. With useful tools such as videos, photos, charts, or animations, tough issues can become much easier to understand. So, it kind of overcome the language barrier to show the solution clearly. After the favor, we become good friends. I am so happy to make friends by helping people. However, I think language efficiency still plays a key role in communication. If you talk to a man in a language he understands such as English, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his native language, that goes to his heart. 

How does diversity strengthen a team?

 In your opinion, how does diversity strengthen a team?

Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." So, I am trying to explain the concept as simply as possible.

As apps are more and more commonly used on smartphones, we can now play real-time tactics and battle games almost everywhere with a mobile phone and a connection. Many games emphasize teamwork such as Mobile Legends and Gerena Arena of Valor. It is a 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena. In each battle, you have four allies(plus you, there are both five players in a game) and five enemies from different players. There are five types of heroes you can pick to play this game, warrior, tank, archer, supporter, and wizard. Each type has its own special abilities and skills. For instance, some supporters can control enemies' ability to move. This skill can be very useful while chasing an escaping enemy. If the enemy has been controlled, allies such as wizards can easily give him a terrible thunderstorm. In addition, when a wizard is enchanting, he(or she) is very weak. So, he needs a tank to protect him from interruptions and absorb those serious attacks from enemies. As we can see, the teamwork leads them to succeed in this contest. If the five people all choose to be warriors, they cannot work as a team as I told you before, and that will lead to a higher chance of failure. Diversity brings a broader range of skills and strategies to projects.

Now, back to real life. As global companies rely more and more on virtual teams to conduct many crucial projects, business owners need to be prepared to manage intercultural teams regularly. Technology and the communication it enables give companies a competitive advantage in the international environment. Net collaboration technologies also help companies work with multinational partners to bring new products to market with significant savings in time and money. For instance, workers in different countries in different time zones can work together as a team to synchronic the same project and increase efficiency. Although time zone is not a skill, it is still a diversity that can strengthen a team. 

Moreover, approaches to project management tasks such as scheduling, goal setting, task assignment, and leadership differ across cultures (Milosevic, 1999). Mutual trust plays a crucial role in successful multinational partnerships, even though it is not easy to achieve. Trust among global team members depends on their perceptions of each other’s ability and integrity. It is one of the essential skills for an excellent manager to have all the partners in a team that are willing to trust one another. However, trust is hard to build but easy to lose. 

To ensure each ally understands how diversity strengthens an intercultural team and each person is willing to bring different perspectives to the task, leaders should recognize the value each member contributes to the team. For instance, a team member with excellent time management skills builds a timeline and keeps others on track for project completion. Another team member might be weak with time management, and strong in interpersonal skills or technical expertise.

Although we all hope we can and have the ability to do everything we want, due to so many limitations such as time, life, and resources, we can try to be better than ever but cannot always be perfect. Everything has its own pros and cons and these pros and cons also changing over time. What we can do is to improve and adjust ourselves over time, and during the process, we may establishing new friendships and enhanced the experience for all members. In this discussion forum, students also commented on how each member added a different perspective and helped teammates to see things from a different angle. As we know that in the Arena of Valor, getting to know players' strengths and backgrounds at the beginning of the game proved to be a valuable strategy.

Reference

Ackley, J. & Barker, R.T. (2001). The presence of five intercultural dimensions in Mid-Atlantic managers: An exploratory study. Paper presented at the 2001 ABC European Convention in Dresden, Germany. May 24-26, 2001.

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