Susana´s thoughts!!!

The course Organizations and Cultures

2010-05-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

This course it was very interesting and dynamic, I like the way that the proffesor teach us and i learned about the different coultures around the world and the way that they see the world, do business and live.

I like it very much, it was very interesting and usuful for my career as a International Negotiator.

IMAGE TAKEN FROM:

Google Images (2010) http://www.google.com

Organizations in Latin-America

2010-05-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

An example of an organization in Latin-America:

The company BIMBO is Mexico's biggest baker and food company.
Grupo Industrial Bimbo, is a Mexican multinational conglomerate that derives about two-thirds to four-fifths of its revenue from bakery products, of which it had 94 by 1992.

It controls 85 to 95 percent of the commercial bread market in Mexico.

Bimbo also produces a variety of other baked goods and has broadened its base to include salted snacks, tortillas, and deli and frozen foods. The company's scope of operations has expanded to take in the United States and Latin American countries as distant as Chile,Argentina and Colombia.

Bimbo, which means "child" in Italian, is the name for the company's cartoon-character mascot, a little white bear, and is almost synonymous with bread in Mexico. The company's products are oriented toward families with children.

It was founded in 1965 and with 44.087 employees.

Products: Bakery products

SELECTED RELEVANT SOURCES:

Finding Universe-Bimbo[Online] Available at:
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Grupo-Industrial-Bimbo-Company-History.html

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:

Bimbo-[Online] Available at: http://www.bimbo.com/default.cfm

Blogs of My Classmates

2010-05-13T10:47:00.001-07:00

After visiting 5 blogs of my classmates and make somme comments, there was one that caught my attention: Margarita`s blog since it was very well organized, presented strong and good arguments and at the sime time very creative.

Here is the link for you to ckeck it out:http://margaritaolarte.blogspot.com/2010/05/trade-unions-in-europe.html

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:

http://www.google.com

Arizona Law

2010-05-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

This law it is considered as a discriminatory policy because the rights of the citizen could be violated and it is an invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.

The law claim to strengthen the security of the Arizona state,to reinforce the illegal immigration policy crisis and it provides an indispensable tool for the police in a border state that is a leading magnet of illegal immigration.
As it was explained in the New York Times.

Flagstaff City Councilman Rick Swanson saids: "We are going to be the laughingstock of the nation and it is not funny -- it is horrible and racist," according to the Arizon Daily Sun.

It is clear that not everyone in Arizona are agree with this law, due to the fact that the law would crate a spiral of pervasive fear, the community distrust and it would increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions.

SELECTED RELEVANT SOURCES:

The New York Times. [Online] Available at:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html

ABC News. [Online] Available at:
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/New-initiative-could-delay-Arizona-immigration/bi90_qoz6USbXd9pud09lQ.cspx

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:

http://www.google.com/ [Graphics].

Movie Questions "The stolen generation"

2010-05-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

1.From your own point of view it useful to say sorry after years of wrong policies towards a minority? Why, What else is needed?

From my point of view, I think that after many years is no longer usufull to say sorry, but in the other hand, it shows the regrets of the "new australia´s" possition towards the aboriginal people and the indigenous communities.

Sorry. Sorry. And sorry again.

I really don´t hink that this words could heal people form the stolen generation but for them it means a lot:

“Sorry heals the heart and it goes deep,” said Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor, an Aborigine watching the ceremony on a large screen in the largely indigenous Sydney suburb of Redfern.

“This really means a big thing to us - a weight that can be lifted so that we can start our healing.”

But,in the Aboriginal community, not everyone is so pleased with Kevin Rudd's apology.

Nick Bryant spoke to some who believe it is too little, too late.

Here is a link for listening to Nick Bryant's repor

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/worldservice/meta/dps/2008/02/080213_bryantpkg?nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&size=au&lang=en-ws&bgc=003399

Sources of Research:

BBC News- The stolen Generation (2008).[Online] Available at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article3362062.ece

BBC News- Australia says sorry. (2008).[Online] Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2008/02/080212_oz_sorry_bj.shtml

Images taken from:
http://www.google.com

Trade Unions in Europe

2010-04-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Doing some reserch, I found out that most of the strong, centralized unions are in the Nordic countries, such as Germany, Belgium, Sweeden, Finland, among others. where every type of industry has a specific union, which are then gathered in large national union confederations.

The largest union confederation in Europe is the German Confederation of Trade Unions and France has one of the lowest union densities in Europe.

What happen in Europe is that Unions concentrate in some specific areas, especially in the public sector.

The situation in Colombia with the trade unions is the following: activists are murdered for the simple fact of their trade union membership and activities and some campaigns are been made to defend labour rights in Colombia.

Sources of Research:

Trade Unions across Europe.[Online] Available at:
http://www.fedee.com/tradeunions.html

Best of Blogs BOBS 2010

2010-04-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

The Blog that i like the most, among the winners is definetly Ecoplaneta, with the special category climate change.

Among the hispanic blog, Ecoplaneta was the most shocking, well structured and most interesting blog, in my opinion.

This blog raises consicence on people and have a lot of information kool pictures, interesting information and very good arguments.

Specially the part on the blog that talks about animals it was very interesting and promote the good treat to them. "Stop la matanza de delfines"!!!! an interesting and open-eye article about dolphings that are been killed.

Link to the article:
http://ecoplaneta.mangasverdes.es/2010/04/11/stop-a-la-matanza-de-delfines/

Here is the link to the blog for you to check it out!

http://ecoplaneta.mangasverdes.es/

Images Retrieved from:

http://ecoplaneta.mangasverdes.es/2010/04/13/top-31-vinetas-ecologia/#comments[Graphics].

Banking in the Arab World

2010-04-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

SOME RESERCH ON THE TOPIC!

E-commerce has been an amazing driver to the growth of the economy in the arab world and slowly the people, the culture and the states are becoming more and more globalized in terms of technology and e-commerce.

The Arab Advisors Group finds that the Arab World is ready for serious e-commerce and online ventures.

Doing research I find out that in the case of Egypt, has Tradeegypt.com and its a platform that provides services of exports and imports to egyptian companies and the world.

In order to companies and countries acquire a share of the international marketplace, different kinds of techniques are used, as the promotion of the export sector by means of a global marketing campaign.
To create an efficient and integrated global campaign that uses online marketing tools, Egypt came out with Export Gateway Online (EGO) a company created to enhance the export of Egyptian products.
The online marketplace was the most cost effective strategy to achieve the company´s objective, to do that tradeegypt.com offers a virtual marketplace that are used by the Egyptian exporters to interact with global importers, etc.
A global campaign, as the one used in Egypt, has to have the innovative factor that improves the regional market that drives global marketing performance.
With a good leading and good implementation on a global campaign that is reflected in the case of tradeegypt.com, the amount of advantages for Egyptian exporters, Egyptian importers, non-Egyptian exporters and non Egyptian importers, the success of this virtual marketplace is uncountable and unimaginable for most developing countries.

SELECTED RELEVANT REFERENCES:

Arab Advisors Group.[Online] Available at:
http://www.arabadvisors.com/Pressers/presser-230101.htm

TradeEgypt.com [Online] Available at:
http://www.tradeegypt.com/

Case 2.1. EC Application. Tradeegypt.com

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:

http://images.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://www.letralia.com/124/arabes.jpg&imgrefurl=

Blog that I like the most

2010-03-01T06:47:00.000-08:00

The blog that I like the most is the one of Manuela Osorio.

This blog it was very creative and I really liked the answers that are in it.

I recommend that you visit this blog!!

http://www.19890522.blogspot.com/

"The Corporation"

2010-02-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

Should corporations be entitled to the same legal rights as individuals? Where should the line be drawn?

As the word said: A corporation is an institution that is granted a charter recognizing it as a separate legal entity having its own privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of its members.

My arguement is based on the Personhood debate, wich refers to the controversy over the question of what subset of rights afforded under the law to natural persons should also be afforded to corporations as legal persons.

"Proponents of corporate personhood generally believe that corporations, as representatives of their shareholders, were intended by the founders and framers to enjoy many, if not all, of the same rights as natural persons, such as the right to free speech, self-incrimination, right to privacy, and the right to lobby the government."

The oppponents of this argue, said thar there was a confusion between natural "God-created" persons and legally-constituted corporations.

Definetly there must be a line, corporations are now dominating elections, intemidating candidates and generating corruption and this due to the fact of expending a lot o f money in elections and to the freedom speech rigth.

As John Marshall, one of the most famous and respected Chief Justices in US history, wrote in 1819 that corporations are “an artificial being, invisible, intangible. Being the mere creature of law, it possesses only those properties which the charter of its creation confers upon it, either expressly, or as incidental to its very existence.”

But we can see in many different dictionaries, such as the Webster Dictionary, where include corporations in definitions of persons.

"one (as a human being, a partnership, or a corporation) that is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties."

Regardless definitions, corps have no moral consciences like persons, corporations are not natural persons, so have fewer rights, corps are not citizens; can't vote or run for office and How do corps. exercise right to life, marriage, etc???

There is obviously certain rights that corps. doesnt have: right of life, right to get married, etc (Natural Human Rigths) that corporations doesnt receive.

SELECTED RELEVANT REFERENCES

Definition of Corporation. [Online] Available at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/corporation

Personhood Debate. [Online] Available at:
http://wiki.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Corporate_personhood

Definition of Corporation. [Online] Available at:

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:

http://www.thecorporation.com/ [Graphics].

Comparison between Corporative Culture and Cross-cultural Management

2010-02-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

For me, corporate culture it´s difficult to explain, but you know it when you see it.

According to "Thinking Managers", managers have to establish it and run it all the way through a business, with clear values and beliefs, successful business principles and operations, and a suitable emphasis on human resources and customer satisfaction.

Corporate culture describes and governs the ways a company's owners and employees think, feel and act. You can use it to bring out the values and practices you want for your company.

In the other hand, with have Cross-cultural Management, that is when two people from different cultural backgrounds, meet, interact with, understand and deal with person from other cultural background.

Totally different from the corporate management wich function is to offer significant competitive advantages over rivals, when it´s a positive one.

The two of them are also connected: people come from diverse social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, with different personalities and experiences. In a work environment, these factors manifest themselves in a wide variety of ways, and "over time a dominant set of norms arise which guide the way work is accomplished", according to Dr. Fathi El-Nadi, expert on the topic.

For instance, business has different interpretation. "IN USA , doing business means creating organizations wealth. In India doing business means "Individual wealth". On recruitment, In USA it is the process of selection, In India it is the process of rejection."
And the difference goes on.

SELECTED RELEVANT REFERENCES
Corporate Culture, What is Corporate Culture?. [Online] Available at: http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/business-management/corporate-culture.php

Corporate Culture, Definition. [Online] Available at:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82104.html

What is cross cultural management?.[Online] Available at:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_cross_cultural_management

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:
http://www.google.com.co/ [Graphics].

What culture means?

2010-02-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

"Culture is what is left over after you have forgotten all you have definitely set out to learn"

Is the definition that mentions the author of the book: "The meaning of Culture". Here it is explained culture from different perspectives. One that caught my attention was the one that talks about culture and happiness.

"One thing is certain. We cannot claim that nature put her seal of approval upon our culture until we can prove that it results in greater happiness for the individual who practises it."

"...the art of culture imply that we must retain a bold and clear awareness that we are seeking happiness."

"Culture is the way we live. It is the clothes we wear, the foods we eat,the languages we speak, the stories we tell and the ways we celebrate.
It is the way we show our imaginations through art, music and writing"

As it is express by the author, who is an and inmigrant and a refugee: "Culture is also about roots".

"Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future." Albert Camus

Personal Opinion

I think that culture is an integral part of every society wich function is to bind people together. It is learned from the family and the surroundings and it is necessary for people to communicate among themselves,creating a feeling of belonging and togetherness among the society.

Every society has a specific culture and it´s up to the people who own it, to maintained and to love it, but taking into a count that is evolving constantly and is in fact somewhat influenced by the other cultures and societies.

I think that culture gives people an identity that makes them unique.

"Culture is roughly anything we do and the monkeys don't." Lord Raglan

SELECTED RELEVANT REFERENCES
Cowper J. The meaning of Culture. Retrieved from:
http://books.google.com.co/books?id=9cyFwQI1Fd0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=what+culture+means&ei=aLxoS471EInEywS5wMDNCg&cd=1#v=onepage&q=what%20culture%20means&f=false

Kalman,B. What is Culture? Retrieved from:
http://books.google.com.co/books?id=gyn7z2pFzpkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=what++is+culture&lr=&ei=fbxoS-n-IZS4zQTq3MHPAQ&cd=5#v=onepage&q=&f=false

IMAGES TAKEN FROM:
http://books.google.com.co/. [Graph illustration of the cover books].

http://www.google.com.co/ [Graphics].