Modern Management: Concepts and Skills, Essay Example

Discuss the three types of organizational members found in multinational corporations.

The three types of organizational members sound in multinational corporations are expatriates, host-country nationals, and third-country nationals. Expatriates are members of an organization who both live and work in a nation in which they do not have citizenship, host-country nationals are members of an organization who are citizens of the nation in which the organization has been founded and in which the organization is primarily located, and third-country nationals aremembers of an organization who are citizens of one nation and who work in another nation for an organization that is headquartered in still another nation.

It is important to acknowledge that the three types of organizational members that exist in multinational corporations are different because expatriates and third-country nationals tend to have difficulty in adjusting to the culture of the host nation, which is an issue that all members of the team should consider. For multinational corporations to be maximally organized, it is important for the expatriates and third-country nationals to recognize these cultural differences and how they should interact with the host-country nationals in order to ensure that communications are effective and decisions will reflect the approval of everyone involved. On the other hand, it is also essential for the host-country nationals to learn more about the culture of the expatriates and third-country nationals so that all three parties can come to a consensus as to how they should conduct business in an efficient manner.

Since multinational organizations focus on components that are relevant in the international arena, business goals for multinational organizations could include: establishing a new sales force abroad, establishing new manufacturing plants abroad through purchase or construction, financing international expansion, and determining which nations represent the best choices for international expansion. In order to make meaningful business plans, it is important that all three types of organizational members found in multinational corporations remain on the same page. In many situations, this will require shifting a cultural focus to be successful and it is important that the multinational corporation is able to rely on its employees from the country of interest in order to define project requirements in terms of the country’s needs.

An example of a cultural consideration in light of the three types of organizational members involves management of PepsiCo. Although it was founded in the United States, this company has expanded to the foreign market to include business partners in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The company has been so successful abroad because it has been able to take advantage of its different categories of organizational members in a manner that helps reflect the wants and needs of host-country nationals in comparison to the expatriates and third-country nationals. An important decision that relies upon this kind of communication involves developing new manufacturing plants in other countries through purchase or construction. Ultimately, this reflects supply and demand to some extent, and the locals of each country of interest are the most eligible to determine how much of the product that people in their country will want. On the other hand, it is also the responsibility of the expatriates and the third-country nationals to collaborate with the host-country nationals to determine the appropriate business action. Therefore, communication between all three groups remains an important requirement in multinational corporations and to communicate effectively, all three groups must have a reasonable grasp of one another’s culture.