Essay editing

Name: DAVINDER KALSI

Student Number: M00692171

Course Name: INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND ETHICS

Course Code: MGT3146

Module Tutor: Mr. Rhoderick Romano

Word Count: 1943 (Excluding References)

Assignment Type: Consultancy Report

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon unforeseen circumstances to various organizations operating in different sectors. While some have seen a boom in their growth, there have been many who have had to face the hardships and tough times caused by the pandemic. One of the significant challenges for any multinational organization has been to manage the workforce who are not domestic workers and how to avoid losing talented and skilled employees. There have been various measures which have been taken to work around the problem and we will see some of them.

Introduction

Covid-19 pandemic is one of the deadliest pandemics that the world has ever had. Most organizations are finding it tough to operate normally due to the ministry of health's set measures to curb the spread of the disease. It has affected economically, socially, and also emotionally to people around the globe. Nevertheless, most governments are in line with coming up with the best drug to cure the disease. This report will outline how the pandemic has affected the gulf marketing group, which is one of the international organizations.

Gulf marketing group is a unique company that majors on rebranding itself now and then. They aim to make the world a better place to live and do everything possible to achieve this. The company specializes in sports, living, logistics, healthcare, consumer, and properties (Welcome to Gulf Marketing Group - GMG Dubai, n.d.). The company is known globally due to its consistency in the production and sale of sporting items.

Why it is cross-cultural

The company is based in the United Arab Emirates, owned and managed by the Baker family. The company has introduced at least 90 brands, and its currently the leading company in the middle east, which indicates that its services are in demand in the area. The company has cross-cultural management because it has been able to sell its products to the country of origin and other countries worldwide (Review & 2003, n.d.). The company is coming up with an innovative product that meets the growing population's needs around the globe (Bodolica et al., 2019).

How COVID-19 19 has affected the organization

Due to the temporary closure of most retail shops in the United Emirate Arabs, there has been a great business challenge. The pandemic which has forced people to stay indoors has slowed the supply of good and services to the company's customers(U.A.E. – C.E.O. of Gulf Marketing Group for Al Eqtisadi: Digital Channels Are Essential for the Sustainability of the Retail – Economical – Local Market | Saudi 24 News, n.d.). In his interview with one of the local news anchors, the C.E.O. of the company indicated that the company is facing one of the biggest challenges it has never had in terms of the sale and supply of goods. Also, due to the sports activities not happening, the company's sale has dropped drastically. The company has plans to incorporate innovative methods to ensure the company is not affected if there is such a pandemic in the future.

Also, to adhere to the government measures to control the spread of the virus, the gulf marketing group had to reduce some of its employees. It means that the company reduced the production of products, which also affects the company's profit. On the other end, the demand is also low since most organizations are not in operation. This leaves the company with the option of holding too much stock.

How it is linked to globalization

The gulf marketing group majors in sports, which is one of the most demanded activities worldwide. Sporting acts as a way of entertainment to vast people, which makes the company famous for its quality sporting items. The company also holds global sporting events such as the Dubai duty-free tennis championship.

The company distributes its products worldwide and has had a vast impact among many organizations, requiring products in bulk. The company is currently using innovative methods to ensure that every customer in need can get the items anywhere around the globe. The company is known for the distribution of medicines in various parts of the world in the health sector.

Comparison using Hofstede's

When it comes to the United Arab Emirates, power dominance is something that is highly rated. People in this country accept hierarchical order; hence when it comes to managing the company is much better while compared with the united states. The subordinates have to be told what to do when it comes to the job market. The boss of the country is given the charge to distribute off the duties to the workers.

When it comes to individualism, U.A.E. is a collective society meaning that people live in groups and take care of each other when there is a need. It is a group member's commitment to ensure that the other group has been able to get all the basic needs within the due cause. When it comes to the united states, people incorporate individualism where every man for himself. People here believe what they own is theirs and there is a likelihood they do not share. That also counts for the management, where individualism is different from that of the collective.

Masculinity indicates that a particular society is driven by achievement and success, whereby the winner is said to be the most successful. When it comes to the U.A.E., the score is 50 which is an indication that it is neither masculine nor feminine. For a feminine, one enjoys what they do and as masculine one wants to be the best. The U.S.A. falls under this category where their score is 60. Hence the organization in the U.S.A. is always looking for success while in U.A.E., it is in both.

Uncertainty it referrers to worrying about the future. It aims at coming up with solutions to a situation that may arise shortly and affect people. The United Arab Emirates has a score of 80, which indicates that the country has measures put in place in order to protect the community from things that might affect them. People here work hard to achieve the best and focus much on security in the areas.

The organization faced many challenges, a few of them being the following.

Decision making

Decision making is a process that involves coming together and deciding on how the company should run or how things should be done differently. When it comes to the gulf marketing group, it has been the worst challenge they have faced. The pandemic has coursed the availability of people in most places to be minimal. This means that there are no huge crowds to purchase the item or even do business. In time, the company tried to start going digital and use the recent innovative method to make more sales during this challenging time.

It has been hard to convince the decision-makers on the way forward for the business. It is hard for the decision-makers to decide on the best action to take due to the current situation (Al-Alawi & Kuzic, 2007). This is the time in business history, where even coming together and listening to one another's point is hard and have made things worse on management. The company is unwilling to take a risk and thus have been lagging behind when it comes to decision making. Some are not sure to absorb the changes that have been brought by the pandemic. At the same time, some are proposing that the excellent decision to make is that of using innovative methods.

Negotiation and communication

Communication is one of the critical elements of every organization. There is a need for proper communication to enhance better service delivery to the customer and even to its management. Also, communication acts to negotiate for better deals, between the management and even the employees and customers. This is another great area that the pandemic has affected with a more significant margin. People are finding it hard to communicate with the organization.

Before the pandemic, it was easy for the stakeholder to meet and negotiate on behalf of the company. The management would make the decision based on the report the stakeholders give them. It has been hard to meet, which has necessitated the management to have an online meeting, which is very hard for people to offer full concentration. Again, it is hard to negotiate on something when there is not a physical meeting. The company has recently faced some decision-making challenges due to the communication problems brought by the pandemic.

Leadership

This is the process of leading people or being the person who makes most decisions on what needs to be done. If not well assigned to trustworthy people, the company may easily fall and start making losses. When it comes to leadership, the company has also had some challenges that have been posted by the covid-19 pandemic. The top managerial staffs have had difficulty meeting, which means that few people only make the decisions. This process is simple but in the long run, it leads to many mistakes shortly. Some will ask why some things were done while some were not.

Amin Nasser, the C.E.O. of the company, has excellent leadership skills but with the pandemic, he has been left with little to do. He has been making several online meetings with different departments' team leaders to see what they can do. The pandemic has left them in a position where they cannot impose their plans without much consultation. He has had some challenges trying to make innovative ideas work.

The C.E.O. also aims to make the employees aware of the innovative ways the company can undertake(Innovation From The Inside Out: Gulf Marketing Group C.E.O. Amin Nasser, n.d.). Employees are one of the organization's people who are essential as they will be the people who will do the implementation. He is planning on how they can be trained to perform better when decisions are made, but the pandemic is hindering him from doing all this. There is no proper training that can be done with the current situation, thus waiting for the pandemic to end.

What team needs to know about cultural differences

Cultural differences are something that everyone in any organization needs to know. It involves understanding that different cultures have a different way of doing things and people will always do according to what they were taught. When it comes to managing an organization, there is a need to know addressing people's needs from every part of the world. Some will work in organizations, others are potential buyers, while others will love certain company's products and commit to being using them as always.

Some will always be against the company due to the first impression it had towards certain cultures. According to research, there are people from a different culture in every place. Even where the company is located, one will find that there are people of different cultures in a particular school, workplace, or town (Cultural Diversity: Definition & Meaning | Purdue Global, n.d.). It is essential to understand and produce products that are acceptable to everyone. This may be challenging, but with the right analysis and research, one will be able to make this a reality.

Conclusion

This report has outlined that the COVID-19 19 pandemic has brought many challenges to organizations worldwide in terms of decision-making, communication, and leadership, as seen in the gulf marketing group. The companies have also reduced the production of products, which has led to a decrease in profit. There has arisen the need to understand that different cultures have different ways of doing things and that every organization needs to understand that they produce something that meets everyone's demand.

References

Al-Alawi, A., & Kuzic, J. (2007). Challenges of e-Business in Dubai's development industry. Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Technology Interfaces, I.T.I., 471–475. https://doi.org/10.1109/ITI.2007.4283817

Bodolica, V., Spraggon, M., & Soueid, M. A. (2019). Innovation drivers and trends in the retail industry: an application to emerging markets and the case of the Gulf region. International Journal of Comparative Management, 2(1), 51. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijcm.2019.100130

Cultural Diversity: Definition & Meaning | Purdue Global. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2020, from https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/social-behavioral-sciences/what-is-cultural-diversity/

Innovation From The Inside Out: Gulf Marketing Group C.E.O. Amin Nasser. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2020, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249386

Review, G. R.-I. B., & 2003, undefined. (n.d.). The challenge of creativity and culture: a framework for analysis with application to Arabian Gulf firms. Elsevier. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593103000398

U.A.E. – C.E.O. of Gulf Marketing Group for Al Eqtisadi: Digital channels are essential for the sustainability of the retail – economic – local market | Saudi 24 News. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://www.saudi24news.com/2020/09/uae-ceo-of-gulf-marketing-group-for-al-eqtisadi-digital-channels-are-essential-for-the-sustainability-of-the-retail-economic-local-market.html

Welcome to Gulf Marketing Group - GMG Dubai. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://gmg.com/