International Cultural Differences Affect Business

Doing business with a different national culture can bring up many challenges, especially in the ways that different cultures approach the solution to a problem. Many international business projects do not get done on time or efficiently due to a lack of understanding of another cultures practices and beliefs. I feel that in order for businesses to be successful with international interactions, companies and corporations should follow some general strategies such as:

• · Research: Prior to meeting international business partners, companies should research some customs and cultural business tactics so that no one is overwhelmed or very surprised when an unfamiliar approach is proposed.
• · Be patient: It may be frustrating to listen or consider solving a problem in a new or different way, so businessmen should be patient and allow their co-workers to propose a procedure, then propose their own approach and ultimately reach a conclusion by merging procedures or giving insights to the other culture.
• · Be Enthusiastic: Meeting a new co-worker from a different culture can be intimidating and uncomfortable, so business partners should try to be as friendly and excited as possible in order to create a friendly working environment so work can get done more efficiently.

My Guide to International Meetings

Reading this gave me an idea. I should come up with my own rules to doing international business. I have been around the world and some of my best friends are from different countries. I know as much as the next guy.

My rules to International Business

1. Be Open – You are dealing with different cultures. It is could to always keep a open mind about what ever is going on. If you look at it from the other person’s point of view, you might get a understanding for what he wants or how he feels.

2. Go with the flow – Try following the other persons lead. If they want chit chat with you, then shot the breeze. If they want to talk all business then you need to do that.

3. Know the Topic – You must know the topic that you are meeting over. Even if you have the personally of a rock, if you know the topic they have no reason to complain.

4. Show Respect – I am not saying you have to bow to your knees to every person. You should at the very least attempt to show the respect expected in that culture.

Teams: We're all different, but not really.

In the article we were given to read, it discussed the way in which combining people of different cultural backgrounds to form business teams can be difficult. Some of the examples that were given were German and American companies, German and British companies, and American and Japanese companies working together. They contrasted how German companies are very job and quality focused where as American companies are job and cost focused, as well as stress the importance of knowing who you are working with rather than blindly trusting your partner. The German and British companies run into the same issue as the German and American teams. According to the article, the British also stress the importance of small talk and getting to know your partners before becoming a productive, highly focused team. The way Japanese companies were described was that they do not separate the two issues, the personal and job focused concerns.

Articles, or any other form of media, like this sometimes frustrate me. I recognize and accept that there are different cultural norms. But it is the generalizations that are made that drive me crazy. That every German behaves in this manner. Every American, British, and Japanese behave another specific manner. That frustrates me. While it may be a vast majority that behave in this way, making claims like this bother me. It came up this summer at the camp I was working out. At this camp, there is a scholarship program for inner city kids who couldn’t afford to come to camp without the scholarships provided. We had a training session on how to deal with these inner city kids. I found this absurd. Yes, they have a different background than a suburban raised child, but the core of it is that they are still children. They have all the basic needs of any other child. They all need us to be sensitive to their needs. The same idea carries over to when people of different backgrounds come together to form teams. We are all humans and have things that we need. We need each other to be sensitive to one another. Respect and accept that we are all different. Accept that truth, learn from that truth, and move on with the job at hand. Cooperation takes respect and if we respect each others differences and accept them, cooperation and productivity can start instantly. If we can get off our own high and mighty pedestal and put the needs of other people before our own, unnecessary disputes will arise far less. I make this statement not to say, let people walk all over you and ignore the cultural differences, but to not make differences the reason things don’t work, like the case where the German and American companies failed to put out a product and lost $20 million. Make note of the differences each culture holds close to them and learn from those differences. Why does one thing for one company hold so much importance? How can combining the things that we find as a necessary component to team work, and the things that our culturally different teammates find necessary make for the most productivity?

Rhetorical Analysis Paper

For my rhetorical analysis paper, I plan to find an underlying argument in the game Zoo Tycoon. I have played Zoo Tycoon for many hours over the years, giving me much experience with the game mechanics. One of the underlying arguments in Zoo Tycoon is about the treatment of animals. The game is centered on creating suitable exhibits for each species of animal in the player’s zoo. If the player uses the correct kind of terrain, foliage, other animals, toys, and amount of space in the exhibit, the animal will express happiness. The happiness is expressed through a green smiley face that pops above the animal; the overall animal happiness of the zoo can be monitored at the bottom of the screen, where a bar shows the average animal happiness on a rating scale of 0 to 100. If the animal happiness drops below a certain level, the player can no longer adopt animals into the zoo. The player must increase the animals’ happiness and maintain it for a certain amount of time in order to be able to adopt more animals. Zoo Tycoon also promotes animal conservation and research. The player has the option of funding conservation projects and research projects with monthly donations. As these projects are completed, the player has access to new animals and objects to put in the zoo.

Cross-Cultural Engineering Teams

In Eric Lynn’s The Challenges of International Management Teams: How Different Cultures Affect Business Decisions, I read about the different views of engineering from both German and American perspectives. The report illustrated one of the main differences as what each kind of engineer defines as a quality product. The Germans prefer to design a product that cannot break and is, therefore, perfect. American Engineers tend to define a quality product as a solution that meets most of the criteria, and will be improved when issues arise. The report then gives a storied example of American engineers working with German engineers. The team was 50% American and 50% German, and cooperation quickly declined. The German engineers weren’t happy with creating a sub-par product, while the Americans were content with finishing the product and working out the remaining issues later. When concerns were brought up with the other half of the team, cultural boundaries and miscommunications led to feelings of insult and suspicion. The communication was so poor, the project wasn’t completed and over $20 million was wasted.

Adidas Launches Barefoot Shoe

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/breaking-news/adidas-launches-barefoot-shoe-the-adipure-trainer/story-e6frg90f-1226120952457

Adidas has just recently revealed its first “barefoot” training shoe, whose purpose is to mimic the experience of exercising barefoot while providing the traction, protection, and durability of a shoe. The shoe encases each toe separately with a sock-like fit and allows more natural foot movement. Adidas is trying to bring this trend to the United States and keep up with their rivals, Nike. There was a lot of engineering that went into this project through the theory that running barefoot is better for the feet, producing less impact stress than traditional running shoes. Running in barefoot shoes has been somewhat of a controversial topic has their unique and “raw” look has stricken some skeptics as too revealing. Some race organizations will not allow runners to run in them. Although the shoe is supposed to provide the most natural and healthy way to run, not all people are ready to accept them culturally because of their odd appearance. Adidas might have a harder time selling this product in more conservative countries, so they are pushing to make this product a success in a more liberal United States.

Australia's Resources Could Influence Engineering and its Culture

In The Australian’s article Challenge of our times: harnessing the resources boom (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/challenge-of-our-times-harnessing-the-resources-boom/story-e6frg9if-1226140353839), the author discusses how the abundance of resources, and the plentiful investments in those resources, are going to create an economic boom for Australia, which has felt the impact of the global economic crisis as much as most countries. One of the most promising resources for Australia is LNG, or liquid natural gas. Australia currently supplies about 10% of the world’s natural gas. I think that trying to get to some of this natural gas will be difficult, and will require innovative thinking on the part of the engineers working for the LNG companies. One of the things, the article mentions, that Australia should do will its future wealth from its resources, is invest heavily in its education system. I think this is a very wise decision, and the money couldn’t be better spent. Increasing its academic prowess would put Australia closer toward the forefront of the world powers.

Week 5 Post engr 103

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/careers/lack-of-engineers-stymies-growth/story-fn717l4s-1225956334981

http://www.smh.com.au/national/its-boom--and-gloom--in-the-west-20110424-1dt2i.html

In this article, Jo Studdert discusses “the resources boom” and the shortage of engineers and other skilled workers in Australia. The article was written roughly a year ago, but there is still a shortage of workers and excess of resources. An article on the Sydney Morning Herald website confirms that this issue is ongoing. It seems that because these skilled employees are so few in numbers, they feel they should be paid a comparatively steep salary. Studdert refers to two of the issues that have resulted due to this phenomenon. Employers are having to compromise the quality of employees they hire and due to the competitive market, workers will change jobs frequently. This makes it difficult for employers to fund projects when they are having to pay so much to hire and train workers. The resource boom has been ongoing for the last couple of years. Such an event is referred to as the Dutch disease which is a concept that address the relationship between the exploitation and focal shift from manufacturing to the mining of natural resources. So the issue in Australia is that they have discovered a large amount of mineable natural resources, but have no way of extracting them because they do not have enough properly trained workers. According to Studdert, there were only 60 draglines in Australia at the time, all of which were in use. The consequence of the draglines constantly being in use is that no new, needed workers can be trained to increase the amount of minerals mined. From this article my idea of how separate the world's economies are is more clear. While the job market for engineers in the States is competitive, jobs are readily available. Desperation for engineers in the States has not hit yet. In Australia they are desperate for skilled workers and engineers. Here we have graduates with masters working at fast food restaurants. If we were to globalize our economies, while no country would become and economic superpower, there would not be high unemployment rates, nor employee shortages.

My zombie survival plan

My plan to deal with the Zombie Uprising

Note: This is a real step by step plan that I have spent time planning. This is not for HvZ, but for real life, and should only be used in extreme emergencies.

1) Establish what is going on. Learn what is going on in the world. Are their safe Zones? What caused the zombies? Is there a cure? All these you need to know. Use TVs, Internet, or what ever you have at hand to learn as much as you can about your enemies.

2) Hide Out. This might seem counter-productive to escaping the zombie uprising, but if zombies start to rise in full force, wait out the first attack. Let others die and be heroic while you live on in hiding.

3) Get resources. There are some main things you need to survive the zombie uprising. Transportation, protection, and food. This is priority number one for survival.

A) The car. Steal it. There are many ways on the Internet. Learn one fast and be able to use before you go out looking for a car. Also don’t go for the sports car, go for the van, It has plenty of space, which is what you need. And Mileage, mileage mileage, don’t get a gas guzzling truck with 10 miles to the gallon, there is no sham in a Prius in the post apocalyptic world.

B) Food and Protection. Wal-Mart. It has every thing. And it will be stocked . That is the placed to go for all means of food. Also a got placed stock up on guns and machetes, for protections.

4) Goal. Everything may seem lifeless and dead, but you need a goal. If its getting a Twinkie, or going to your home town, always have a destination in mind, because in this world, it’s the little things that count.

5) Long term. Have a plan to survive the long term. Yes the hardest part is surviving those first couple of weeks, but then what. You are going to a long-term plan. If there are safe zones, seek it out, survivors, go for it. You got to find a place to survive.

6) The little things. Always take plesure in the little victories. Putting down a zombie for good, seeing a wonder of the world, take plesure in the little things because life can be hard.

The Crocidile Hunter

One of best friends is Australian. He told me something I never new about Australia; they had a national holiday for Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter.

In this Article “Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's life remembered at Australia Zoo” we learn about the legacy Steve Irwin left. There is a national Steve Irwin day in Australia, were kids get off from school. It is November 15, the day after Steve died. At the Australian Zoo, Steve Irwin’s Parents founded, they have a celebration. The use this time to celebrate Steve’s life as well as carry one his legacy. They take about marinas and other issues that will affect the environment and endangered species. Through the different quotes from local people, we learn that Steve Irwin was not only a beloved figure of Australian Entertainment, but was also a motivated environmental activist. Though the Zoo is going on some hard times do the economy, this event will defiantly bring money to the zoo, with millions attended.

Tips for Survival- Zombie Apocalypse

Ok so I’ll be honest and tell you first up that, before this assignment, my knowledge about the zombie apocalypse could easily match up to that of a new born baby. The reason for that is possibly my lack of interest in sci-fi movies. However, after being hit with a blog prompt that was connected to the zombie apocalypse, I feel like I could talk for over 2 minutes on the issue. So here goes my list of the top 10 survival tips one would need in order to survive a zombie apocalypse:

1) Look for a Zombie Survival Guide handbook. Chances are that the advice written in that handbook would be far superior to what you are going to get from my blog post.

2) Okay, so this one is serious. Keep a first-aid kit with you at all times. Remember, you can’t hurt a zombie (because they are zombies and cutting off their arm isn’t exactly fatal for them) but a zombie can always hurt you!

3) Always keep a gun/pepper spray with you in your purse or pocket. Now, to be completely honest with you, I have no clue about the effects these things would have on an actual zombie but hey, I’d feel safer with either one of those two weapons.

4) Keep away from hospitals. The reason why I say this is because hospitals house dead people and dead people could actually translate into zombies. Now, you wouldn’t want that, would you?

5) Fill that car of yours with petrol. It’s got to be ready when you need it. Remember- an efficient escaping technique is key!

6) I probably sound like a heartless person saying this but if your friend or close relative gets bitten by a zombie, don’t waste your time crying and mourning. Get on your feet as soon as possible and RUN because chances of you being the zombie’s next meal are quite high!

7) Pray.Pray.Pray. God often tends to be more reliable than most of us mere mortals so ask him for help! If you are an atheist, ignore this tip and jump to the next one!

8) Tell your family and friends that you love them. These are critical times and all of you have a cloud of death encircling you from above so it’s nice to tell people you love them before dying, right?

9) So my friend tells me that a chainsaw can actually knock off a zombie’s head. Hence, I’m guessing it’s a good idea to carry one along with you at all times, just to be safe. But then again, the lightest chainsaw weighs around 25 pounds. Oh well, there is no harm in trying, is there?

10) Lastly, keep pinching yourself at regular time intervals. Who knows, all of it might just be a dream!

I’d like to end by saying that I found this blog prompt to be utterly hilarious and creative at the same time. I hope a zombie apocalypse NEVER takes place. Even if it does, I hope no one resorts to my list of survival tips because chances are that they might just get themselves killed a lot earlier than the zombies had planned.

The Chunnel Project - engr 103

I think that the Chunnel project was a perfect example of engineers of two different cultures working together, especially because of the great rivalry between the French and the British people. I think that there are pros and cons to the idea of “racing” to see who can get to the middle first. The good thing about that idea is that it motivates the workers/engineers to work and get the job done, however it can cause flaws in the structure/design if they were to work too fast. The design is ingenious, especially with the middle tunnel that is used as a service tunnel and also serves for an emergency tunnel if something ever happens. I think that the engineering cultures of both France and Great Britain developed from each of their past engineering features. If I were to start an internship at either country, I would travel around their major cities to see the type of engineering that goes into their society. Immersing yourself in the country’s culture is the best way to get a sense of their engineering style and design.

Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide

If there is ever a zombie apocalypse, here are some essential rules (in no particular order of importance) you should follow to stay safe and survive (and maybe have fun).

1. 1. Stay together with friends/family that you can trust. Try to avoid picking up strangers and stay away from people that would slow your traveling down or go crazy later.

2. 2. Move to a decent sized city that has the resources you need to survive, such as: lots of food, water, supermarkets, hospital (or pharmacy for medicine), gun/weapon store, high rise buildings, and a car dealership.

3. 3. Live in a big shopping mall because it would be easy for you to eat, sleep, do something fun, and use resources available.

4. 4. If you are in a big group (10+ people), assign different roles for people and have people take shifts for “looking out” for zombies.”

5. 5. Always have cars/modified tanks outside ready to go in case of an emergency. You need to plan an escape route because hungry zombies will not top chasing you until they get food (your brain)!

6. 6. Always travel in pairs (preferably someone not too important to you) or more no matter where you go. You never know when a zombie can attack, so it’s better if your (less significant) wingman gets eaten instead of you.

7. 7. Eat healthy food from food courts/supermarkets. If zombies ever sneak up on you, you want to be in good shape to outrun them.

8. 8. Keep yourself occupied so that you do not get bored (and go insane). You should play video games, watch TV, play sports, go on zombie hunts once in a while, play zombie sniping games, or do anything that you consider fun.

9. 9. Keep up with the news and social media. There could be people out there that need help or can help you.

10. 10. Whatever you do, always watch your back. Do not get too comfortable and always be with people that you have (or can build) a good relationship with. You do not want to be with people that will cause you trouble or cause you to get eaten.

Week 4- Prompt 4

If I were to participate in an internship in Great Britain or France, I would try to study past projects that have been completed by companies and engineers from either country. More specifically, I would study the interactions between the engineers, how the engineers communicated with other members of the project, and what processes they would use to complete a project or solve an unexpected problem. After analyzing the engineering culture of the particular nation, I would research the country’s history to find the reason behind such behaviors and beliefs that form the culture, because the “why” and “how” is just as import as the “what.” One of the most important things I could do is to try to contact an engineer from the country in order to learn what things I might expect while working in an unfamiliar place. If I can’t get ahold of an engineer from that country, I would then try to contact an engineer who has either worked in that particular engineering culture, or worked with engineers that are natively from that engineering culture.

Response to Prompt 4

First off I want to say that I have been in the “Chunnel.” It is a marvelous engineering design, and as I went through it my day, a materials engineer, could not stop going on about the design of the tunnel.

London is the top place I want to engineer. One of the reasons I want to get there is because of its rich culture. Even though I plan on interning or studying abroad in Great Britain, I plan to learn nothing about its “Engineering Culture”. There is now way to learn about a culture better then experiencing it first hand.

Each country’s engineers have its own way of looking at a problem. You are being hired as intern to bring your own view on the problem. I would not look at how others approach the problem and do it my own way. That is what they want, a fresh way to approach the problem that will mix with their own ways of thinking.

10 Point Plan for the Zombie Apocalypse

1. The first thing I would do in the case of a zombie apocalypse is to contact my friends and family to try to get everyone together in one place so we can form a militia to fight off the zombies. Our top priority for weapons would be guns, but I don’t know many who have guns, so any other weapons would be acceptable, such as bats and axes, as well as multi-tools.

2. The second priority would be to find a place to set up a base. If the zombie apocalypse started while I am at college, which will be the basis for my scenario, I would make my base in one of the older dorms, like Cary, because they have fewer windows and are easier to quarantine the floors in case of a perimeter breach.

3. I think Cary would be the best choice because it is right next to Ford dining hall, so teams of survivors could raid it for food.

4. We would have regular patrols of the floors and people would stay in separate rooms to minimize the risk of mass zombie virus infection. The doors to the stair wells will be either locked or jammed shut with pipes or another strong object. The elevators will be shut down by pushing the emergency stop button while the elevator is on a floor. The mechanics of the elevators could also be destroyed in the basement of Cary.

5. Next, we would try to obtain vehicles and get as much fuel as possible, in case an evacuation is required. The vehicles will be kept in the unloading area in between the Southwest and West buildings of Cary, and the Southeast and east buildings. We will also try to obtain bikes to put in the vehicles, in case they run out of gas and we need to escape quickly.

6. Possibly using the vehicles, we will try to get to the nearest hospital to get as much medicine as possible.

7. We will try to capture a zombie to study it (find its weaknesses).

8. We will use any available source of media to try to communicate with other survivors, i.e. radios, internet (if operational), cell phones (if operational), land lines, etc.

9. We will try to find generators or turn damaged vehicles into generators for electricity, which will be critical for keeping food fresh, running AC, and being able to see at night.

10. Worst case scenario, we will try to get to the nearest airport and try to fly to a secluded location.

Brainstorming for Parallel Essay

For my parallel essay, I plan to compare the use of Facebook and other social-networking sites to express condolences to the deceased and their loved-ones. In the past two months, I have lost two close relatives who both had Facebook profiles. First, my great-aunt died about two months ago after a two-year battle with cancer. After she died, everyone she knew (which was a lot of people) started posting messages to her as though they were having a final conversation with her. I think many of the posts were from people who had made it to the funeral, but I know there were a few who couldn’t make it for whatever reason, and they used Facebook as a means to say goodbye and share their memories of my aunt with each other. Then, my cousin died last week, quite suddenly, and as soon as people heard, they began posting on his Facebook page. Messages were being posted to him as well as his family and friends. It seems to me that people were using Facebook to connect with other people who loved my cousin so they could share the good memories they had of him. One of his school-friends made a Facebook page to honor his memory. I think all of this parallels the behavior of people at funerals, where people talk with each other and share the memories they have of the deceased. They offer condolences to the family as well as to each other, and try to get some closure by saying goodbye to the deceased. Even if a friend or family member can’t make it to a funeral, they usually send a card and flowers to the family, much like sending messages to the family via Facebook. There are differences between the two, however. The contact and bonding with people is limited over a media like Facebook, and many people need the closure of being in the presence of the deceased to say their final goodbyes.