Intercultural Competence

Culture is often a source of conflict rather than synergy. 

Hence as part of a global organization, cultural competence is an essential skill to thrive in an environment of diversity.

Thanks to the Intercultural development program delivered by professor Linda Hui Yang, PhD which was an enlightening experience that helped me become a lot more aware of this key area. Here are three key messages from the program I want to share.

1. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
More often we rely on stereotypes and a shallow understanding of cultures. Understanding the deep-rooted values and beliefs of different cultures is the first step.

2. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞s
Often pride in one's culture makes them look down on others. This does not have to be the case, respecting differences without being judgmental is the key step to being comfortable with all cultures.

3. 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Based on the cultural background of people we need to adapt our communication not only to avoid disrespect but also to make it more effective. Adapting to differences in aspects like power distance and individualism can make a huge impact to achieve effective communication.

#diversity #management #culturalawareness #culturalcompetence
𝘈𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘪3 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 on new topic.

Behavioral Economics

 

Understanding the role of human phycology in economics to explain why people behave the way they do in the real world. Sharing three of its interesting concepts below.

1.   Bounded Willpower

People sometimes make choices that are not in their long-term interests. They succumb to short-term temptations e.g., watching YouTube videos.

2.   Bounded rationality

People have limited cognitive capacity, limited information, and limited time to make fully rational decisions. This contradicts classical economics.

3.   Loss Aversion

Humans are more strongly affected by losses than by gains and hence commit more resources to cut the losses rather than putting them to use for another gain.

Economics is the foundation on which business operates. We had a great time in Economics class with the leading economist in Ireland Jim Power.

Learned ropes of supply-demand, monetary and fiscal policies. Class enticed me to explore economics further and the topic which I found most interesting is behavioral Economics

#economics #management #business #lossaversion

Human Capital Management

One thing that has always bothered me is the term 'Human Resources', as it equates humans to consumable and exhaustible resources, which is not true. Humans can learn and grow with time just like capital assets so Human Capital Management is a much better term to describe this crucial business function.

Here are three key concepts which are key to success in a human-centric organization that are so crucial in the knowledge-based service industry.

1. 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 
The team-based operation cut across functional and hierarchical lines with more horizontal patterns of communication, which are better suited to dynamic contexts.

2. 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎
Providing employees with stock options creates shared capitalism and leads to an increase in effort and profits. The gains are realized by reduced turnover, interest in firms’ performance, and willingness to cooperate.

3. 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓
Human capital business partners include themselves in business functions and can add real value to the bottom line. They need to move away from a transactional and procedural HR role to a more strategic and proactive HCM role.

It was so noteworthy class to learn from professor Bill Roche who has spent huge time in the field and had so many insights to share.

What are other important considerations in human capital management? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

#humancapital #humancapitalmanagement #sharedcapital #organicorganization #management

Gamification for Community building

The traditional one-way approach of advertising to influence customers is not enough in today’s age of information dominated by social media. 

Games appeal naturally to humans as they provide competition and good times. Thus, gamification has a great impact on business outcomes.

1. Attention

In the crowded world of advertising, gamification provides a differentiator that grabs the attention of potential customers.

2. Engagement

Delighting customers is key to net promoter scores and an increase in sales by the greater adoption of products and services and realizing the lifetime value of customers.

3. Community

Turning customers into active members of business by moving away from a transactional approach to long-term relationships are rewarding for both.

As part of the International, consulting project had a great opportunity to travel to Lisbon and work with Letsrock a Ukrainian gamification company that shifted to Lisbon due to war.

Over a week, we had the opportunity to work with founder Eugene Yastrub who is a serial entrepreneur with a great vision for the company. Our assignment was to create a market entry strategy for UAE market for LetsRock.

Sharing a few lessons about Gamification as a new-age CRM add-on. In case your company is looking at this exciting space do connect with Eugene to learn more about how LetsRock can help. 

A great treat: you can try RockPaperScissors for free with your friends at the below link.https://letsrock.net/

#gamification #letsrock 

Corporate Stratergy for growth

^{To keep growing profitably, firms need to have a corporate strategy for expansion.}

 ^{Here are the three possible growth vectors.}

^{1.   Value chain}

^{Move across the product value chain by backward or forward integration to capture more value.}

^{2.   Geography}

^{Enter the new markets by expanding geographically starting with familiar markets.}

^{3.   Product/Customer}

^{Expand product portfolio to offer a range of product choices for different}

^{segments of customers.} 

It was such a great learning experience from the Global & Corporate strategy module, it summarized a lot of MBA lessons by concretizing key concepts. 

Cannot thank enough Patrick Gibbons for the fun and immersive sessions last week.

#globalstrategy #corporatestrategy #learning #mba

Win-Win Negotiation

              "There is value left on the table in most of the negotiations". 

^{Even though we may not realize it, negotiation is part of everyday life. We often think of it as bargaining, but it is a way of creating more value by the value exchange to create a win-win deal for both parties.} 

^{Here are three takeaways that will help negotiate better.}

1.      Self-awareness 

Soft negotiators overestimate their assertiveness while tough negotiators underestimate it. Be aware of your emotions it’s a game of mind and heart.

2.      Preparation 

Work out a strong best alternative option to fall back in case of a no-deal. Research the reservation point and best alternative of another party. Set the most ambitious target point which can be justified.

3.      Perspective-taking 

Expand the value pie by active listening to find out opportunities to create value for another party and think from their perspective. Build trust by staying positive about the possibility of a deal.

Thanks a ton to professor Stephen Boyle for delivering the most valuable module in a highly engaging manner. One of my core goals in pursuing an MBA was to improve my negotiation capabilities.

#management #negotiationskills #leadership #winwin
My MBA lessons: Ni3 - Three insights from Nitin