THE BEST BLOG!

I visited 5 blogs, but i like a lot the one of Manuela Gomez G. because she has very interesting and critical articles, also her blog has a good organization and aspect. Also I encourage you to vist the blog of Daniel Botero, because he has also very interesting information and ideas, and the blog of Viviana because she put a lot of interesting images of the world, its places and its cultures.

FEEDBACK

I learned a lot about different countries, regions, some organizations around the world in this class.

For me the activity of the blog is very interesting because you need to make some research and the most important thing is that you can read the work done by your classmates, view and understand different perspectives about the same topic.

The academic research is also very interesting because you are "creating knowledge", and also because in order to do that you need to investigate a lot. I really like it because the topic was free, which is very important because you have a greater motivation.

Finally the presentations in my point of view are good because the people can interact with the rest of the group, but I see a weak thing in this process and it is that not all the people is good at transfering knowledge in an oral way. So i think that the best way could be if the time of the presentations last only 15 minutes and the rest of the time the teacher could explain deeply the topic.

Thank you!

DEBUENAFE

When I was asked to look for an interesting group or organization in Latin America, I began to search about organizations that help entrepreneur women and I found a very interesting one in Chile named DEBUENAFE. This is an NGO that has 10 years giving micro credits to women that want to have a business, and they help them with advice and training with the principal objective of helping them to go out of poverty. The interesting thing is how they acquire the money to give loans for those women; they have a recycled program where the people can donate anything in good state and then they select those things and sell them in their own stores, at very low prices.

For me this is an excellent way to diminish poverty, because they offer tools to entrepreneur women for making their business succeed; but they need to borrow the money, that is given at low interest rates and good periods of time, which makes them work for going out of poverty. In the other hand the NGO is also helping the environment because they recycle and reuse products and then sell them. And finally is a very good process, because those products are sell at low prices, so poor people can buy them.

I think in Colombia, will be a very good idea to have an organization similar to this one, because for me is one of the best ways of diminishing poverty!! A good example of the success of micro credits is the labor done by the GRAMEEN BANK in India with entrepreneur women; here in Colombia exist some organization that have microcredit programs, but the add value of this project is the recycled process!

TAKE A LOOK AT THEIR WEB PAGE: http://www.debuenafe.cl/

BEST OF BLOGS BOBS 2010

I red some of the best blogs and I liked a lot the one called "Ciudad Juarez en la Sombra del Narcotráfico” for some reasons:

1) The topic:
- Its very interesting because nowadays Ciudad Juarez is the most violent city in the world (800 people killed/hour), due to the drug trafficking; and is a paradox to look at El Paso city ,which is divided from Ciudad Juarez only by a river, that is one of the securest cities in USA.
- Also because what is happening there is what Medellin, and in general Colombia lived decades ago. We as Colombians lived that insecurity, pain and sadness that this war brings in the hearts and minds of every citizen.

2) The way the author writes about it.

- I like the fact that the author takes cases from the real life and tries to explain from them, the pain, sadness and insecurity the “juaritos” are facing nowadays. One example he mentioned were girls that try to take out all the feelings they have, singing rap.

3) The fact that the author is immerse in the conflict and its opinions aren’t influenced by political, economical interests like many of the information the media exposes.

http://juarezenlasombra.blogspot.com/

E-COMMERCE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

Due to the globalization process and the fast development of technology is relevant to explore in a deeply way the e-commerce process and the impact it has in different cultures around the world, in order to have successful businesses experiences. The purpose is to explore the perspectives that have Muslims countries in e-commerce transactions; as they have a strong relation of every aspect in their lives with their religion which is the Islam.

First of all is important to know the definition of e-commerce that ” is the process of buying and selling goods and services electronically with computerized business transactions using the Internet, networks and other digital technologies” . Based on this definition is relevant to highlight that the process of buying and selling generates a contract, that has some changes in regulation terms, depending on the cultures involved.

Due to the fact that Islam is the core of the Muslim life, the Quran which is its holly book is the one that sets the parameters in the society, including business ones, it “regarded business as lawful, good and beneficial for both the individual and the society”, so e-commerce as part of a business activity is accepted. Also the Syariah (Islamic Law) ratified it use saying that is a new way of technology that facilitates economic transactions and also says that the “contract in E-Commerce is legitimate because all the four pillars of Islamic contract are fulfilled”; however for its validity it must fulfill some requirements.

The purpose is to highlight the basic aspects that someone who is willing to do this process with a Muslim person required.

• For the validity of a transaction, in the Quran exists to prerequisites: must be permissible by the Syariah and must not be harmful for the parties that are doing the contract or for the people in general.
• In order to have specific guidelines to achieve the transaction, the Syariah has five stages to reach the validity of it:

1. Initiating a contract (Al-Ta’aqut): offer and acceptance, two contracting parties, subject matter, and mode of expression.
2. Confirming the validity (Sihha): the contract must be free of: interest (Riba), because the Quran says: ‘‘O you who believe! Devour not usury, doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah; that you may (really) prosper’’ (3:130), uncertainty (Gharar), deceit, duress and/or gambling.
3. Implementation (Nafath): the offer is the real owner of the product sold and it is free for any liabilities.
4. Binding (Ilzham): before signing the buyer must verify the company and the product sold. After signing keep the contract copy.
5. Delivery (state of exchange). Muslims must avoid using credit cards because are against “Riba”, so they will use the “MURABAHAH SYTEM”

As you can see the first four stages are very similar to the procedures that are follow for many countries around the world, for contracts. What is interesting to highlight is the fifth one, where the use of credit cards must be avoid; e-commerce is an example of the globalization the world is living, so is necessary to have similarities in some processes in order to have easier results, the credit card is one example of it; but at the same time is very important for a business person to understand that cultures influenced the way of doing business and more in countries such as the Muslim ones where the religion is extremely important, and they will not adapt easier to international usual processes.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Evk0-NEhFUsJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_commerce+is+the+process+of+buying+and+selling+goods+and+services+electronically+with+computerized+business+transactions+using+the+Internet,+networks+and+other+digital+technologies&cd=1&hl=es&ct=clnk&gl=coç

NORAZLINA Zainul, Fauziah Osman, Siti Hartini Mazlan. E-Commerce from an Islamic perspective. 2004

TRADE UNIONS: EUROPE AND COLOMBIA

The situation of the trade unions in Europe is very diverse in terms of density which varies from 70% in Finland and Sweden to 8% in France. Due to this is difficult to generalize the actual situation of them, so is necessary to divide Europe depending on that density. In the north countries like Belgium, Norway, Germany, Holland, Switzerland among others, the trade unions are strong, unify and centralized by the decision of the workers and have good relations with political parties. In the southern countries such as France, Portugal and Spain the density of members is less than the north countries, the Trade Unions are more pluralized but they have influence in the decision making processes due to some reasons one because of the good relations with political parties and/or they are part of a strong sector of the economy in each country. In the eastern part, conformed by ex-communist countries, the trade unions have being facing problems of credibility, because some were transformed in bureaucratic organs.

Comparing that diverse scenario, with the trade unions in Colombia, are some similarities with the southern countries of Europe in terms of density and the fact that the Trade Unions are more pluralized; the big difference is that because they are many and small (an affiliate density in average of 200 per union) don’t have influence in their context. An important thing to highlight is that the density of affiliates in general is too slow compare with other countries similar to Colombia; and one of the reasons is the constant threat they have from guerilla and paramilitares (almost 2000 trade union members have been killed).

Trade Unions in Colombia are principally from the public industrial sector, and women, young people, and people with professional studies are the ones who have the smallest participation. Also exists many small trade unions from the informal sector.

http://www.sp.nl/nieuws/spanning/201002/vakbewegingeuropa.jpg
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sp.nl/nieuws/spanning/201002/vakbewegingeuropa.jpg&imgrefurl=http://international.sp.nl/bericht/43305/100319-the_trade_union_movement_in_europe.html
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dA569NJgn_gJ:www.worker-participation.eu/National-Industrial-Relations/Across-Europe/Trade-Unions2+european+trade+unions&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uYSGweewKZ0J:www.tusalario.org/colombia/Portada/organizacion-sindical+sindicatos+en+colombia&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk

DISCRIMINATION TOWARD INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

The case of Australia is one example of discrimination toward minorities, what is important to highlight is the fact that the Government was the one who promoted it trough polices, which is a paradox of what the State is aim to do . Policies that forcibly separated the indigenous children from their families and communities; under the name of “assimilation” were forced to put away their languages, their ceremonies, their lifestyle in conclusion their culture, Cultures that linked “ the Australian continent to the most ancient prehistory of our planet “ with the sad purpose of learn everything about white people and in that way destroy their aborigines heritage.

For the wrong polices and laws the Australian State made in the past, in 2008 the Prime Minister Kevin Rod, apologized to Australia’s indigenous people for the pain, the suffering and the loss caused to the stolen generation. This speech of sorry was very touching because more than words he purposed to act, giving equal opportunities to these minorities through education, housing, employment, and diminishing mortality rates, with the intention of filling the gap, creating and crossing the bridge that divide indigenous from non-indigenous Australians. Is important to highlight, that the State needs to get into their position, in order to understand them better and knowing what are their really needs, because maybe they could have different ones.

This is only one of many examples of discrimination against indigenous, but it is remarkable because in this case was the government who promoted it and is a recent one (XX century). Looking at history, the cases where this kind of discrimination was evident is in the colonization processes all around the world, where a culture came to a territory and wanted to impose their one tradition, religion and language. Actually there are many examples; in Colombia are some cases where the government violated some native communities’ rights for creating projects, such us the government’s authorization for creating an hydroelectric in part of a territory where live three indigenous communities: Emberá-katio, Zenú and Tule. They flooded ancestral lands, destroyed sites of spiritual value for them. Other example was in 1999 when Colombian government approved the exploitation of the Gibraltar’s well in an ancestral territory of the U’wa community.

In general minorities’ present discriminatory issues that can be diminish with the help of organizations and the private sector. Organizations, such as the excellent work that do the United Nations in promoting the rights of the minorities around the whole world, NGO’S of each country that are aware of the cases of minorities’ discrimination and can make them known to the population. In respect of the private sector, is important to highlight that for companies, profits are their principal objective but they need to be conscious about the rights natives has and the importance that has for them its territory.

http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/embera_kids2.jpg
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://kenoath.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2009/11/Avatar-Poster1-418x600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2009/11/27/an-inside-look-at-avatar-the-creation-of-a-scene/
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_MlXlS78v94J:www.cooperacioninternacional.com/descargas/pobreza_col.pdf+indigenas+discriminacion
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Qh7D2dR-l8oJ:www.eniar.org/stolengenerations.html+australia+aborigines+sorry&cd=18&hl=es&ct=clnk&gl=co

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:IUZLASkWHPIJ:www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_colombia.shtml+hofstede+colombia&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

Cultural factor affecting leadership

A Colombian salesperson is highly influenced by the society where he/ she lives, and based on the Hofstede analysis, the Colombian people have a lower individualism, which means that the people is very collectivist, and for this reason loyalty and long term commitment are very important values for strong relations. Analyzing power distance, it is a little bit high and it means that the society is hierarchy oriented, exist an inequality in terms of power and in terms of wealth.

Relating these two factors high collectivism and high power distance, is possible to conclude that leadership characteristics in a Colombian sales person could be hampered by the high power distance factor; because she/he accept to obey orders from their superior and do exactly what their boss says to do, it means they have a strong dependence on them. This is way it is more like a “trickle down” process and is very difficult to be viceverza, based on the hierarchy pattern of this society, and also is important to highlight the high uncertainty avoidance Colombian people have, because they attached to rules, and they don’t like to take risks, in this case for example do things different from what was assigned.

Organizational Commitment

The Colombian sales personnel tend to follow rules give from their superior because they think, that in that way their job will be more “secure” in the organization, and thus they can continue working there. Is very important to highlight that due to the economical environment Colombia has (unemployment 14,6%) [1], the employees are more willing to keep working there, even if they don’t really want it. Talking about affective commitment, as Colombian society is very collectivistic the employees tend to be more loyal with their group, in this case the organization so they will accept the beliefs and values it has.

Leadership Behaviour

A Colombian sales personnel know which is their position and their roles on the pyramid, because is root on their culture the existence of a hierarchy order, thus the person limits their work on what she/he must do in the position that is located, based on the instructions made from their leaders ,on what and how the tasks need to be done. On the other hand, the leader likes to give orders, in a respectful way, and that generates a good work climate, because the subordinates are expecting that role from him/her.

Role Stress

Colombian sales personnel have low role ambiguity because they accept to receive orders from their superiors due to the fact that this society has a high power distance; and this at the end causes that employees have enough information of what they need to do. At the same time Colombian sales personnel have low role conflict because they know very well their position and from whom they need to receive orders.

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[1] http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:M8im0vxOv_4J:www.dane.gov.co/+tasa+de+desempleo+colombia+2008&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

COLOMBIA MANAGMENT STYLE

In Colombia is very difficult to analyze a defined management style, because there are many Colombian companies that have managers without a good preparation in the administrative science and for that reason they tend to use more empirical practices. This is because many of the companies are family owned, and usually the positions are inherited by the family members, no matter if they studied other fields such as engineering, legal profession among others.

MANAGMENT STYLES

	JAPAN	KOREA	COLOMBIA
Strategic goals	· They focused more on market share	· Emphasize on market share and profit maximization. -Scale based cost reduction	· Emphasize on profit maximization
Environment analysis	· Large firms are active on the environmental analysis of substitute goods and service suppliers.(potential threats)	· Large firms are less active about the environmental analysis than Japanese ones. Focus more on monitoring the rivals (oligopolistic).	· Focus more on monitoring the rivals.
Closeness with customer	· Emphasize information exchange with customer	· Managers don`t highlight to much information exchange with customer · But highly internationalized firms are as closed to the customer as Japanese ones.	· They don’t emphasize to much on the information exchange with customer.
Marketing	Large firms · Managers emphasize more on those aspects. Internationalized firms · Is similar the develop of corporate brands/trade mark	Large firms · Emphasize on development of corporate brands/ trade mark Internationalized firms · Is similar the develop of corporate brands/trade mark of Japanese firms	· They usually don’t invest to much in market research, they tend to use “ensayo, error” (empiric)
Human resource management	Growth/internationalized firms · Information sharing with the organization and corporate values · Group oriented	Growth/internationalized* firms · Information sharing with the organization and corporate values · Hierarchy oriented.	· Hierarchy oriented.
International Orientation	For the large/ internationalized firms · The same as the large/internationalized firms from Korea	For the large/ internationalized firms · Conduct customer analysis globally · High involvement in the direct international marketing	· They are aware of international markets but they try to focus more on the local area.
· Supplier relationship	Large and internationalized firms · Cooperative supplier relationship is very important; its one of their competitive advantages	Large and internationalized firms · Try to do the same as Japan with suppliers but in terms of new product development and longterm relationship with them.	· Weak the relationship with suppliers (be afraid of sharing information, but the managers are doing efforts to create stronger relations with their suppliers.
Technology development and manufacturing	· The same issues tend to converge between japanese and korean internationalized frims · Emphasize on flexible manufacturing	Internationalized firms · Long term technology, use of economies of scale in manufacturing are very important · Managers less emphasize on flexible manufacturing	· Less flexibility because of the lack of high technology