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Excerpts from latest interview:
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International business strategy
(i.e., internationalization, foreign direct investment, and
international mergers and acquisitions) and the overlap between
modern business management methods and traditional ones in
developing countries. Discussing: |
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Competitiveness
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Cultural convergence/divergence
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New-old management concepts
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Socioeconomic development
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Global Sustainable Business
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On competitiveness |
“The more these resources become equally available to everyone, the more
important will be the effect of intangible factors (or what we call
culture) on the performance of an organization. Managers everywhere can
copy and replicate each others’ best practices. For most companies, the
competitive differentiating factor is no longer exclusive access to
resources or exceptional management and operational methods. The
competitive differentiating factor is becoming the environment where
work is performed, what in the recent discussion at the Academy of
International Business (AIB) was called the human environment....
I prefer to call it the cultural environment because it is
culture that defines human behavior and, consequently, performance.” |
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On cultural convergence/divergence |
“We often misunderstand standard ways of business interaction, trading,
or economic relationship with cultural convergences. …globalization of
business and economies reduces the importance of national boundaries but
not the cultural differences. We are not at a stage of humanity when
individuals can identify themselves as a member of humankind. That is
too vague to grasp for most people. We need smaller and more
recognizable boundaries to relate to and draw our identity from. When
national boundaries become blurry, people turn to ethnical, regional,
and faith boundaries to form an identifiable group with which they can
relate based on common values, behavior, and history. We can use an
economic region such as European Union (EU) as an example. Do you think
that French and Germans or Italians have become more culturally similar
as a result of the creation of EU? Will Turks, when they join the EU,
become similar to the Irish or the Dutch? Do you think that Turks and
the rest of EU will have a unified fundamental values and common views
about existence and life? Yes, they will do business more freely. But,
in my view, they will hold on to their own values even more than before
because that is the way they can distinguish themselves from others.” |
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On new-old management concepts: industry
cluster, corporate social responsibility, etc. |
“…consumers’ influence, we will see more involvement from non-government
organizations (NGOs) in globalization and trade relations and this will
greatly affect business policies and both private sector and government
actions toward social responsibility, ethical sensitivity, and
sustainability. Keep in mind that some of these issues have existed in
traditional societies. What is happening now, in most cases, is that we
are modernizing and creating a systematic way of dealing with these
issues by institutionalizing both the definition of these issues and the
way we should be dealing with them. For example, if you talk to older
generations in the Bazaar in Istanbul, you will see that the major
merchants have always had to be, to some extent, ‘socially responsible’
in order to keep their status and to be respected. This would even involve
helping young merchants starting out in their own industry, therefore
potential competitors. We can learn from these traditional societies and
draw lessons for modernization and creating harmony between economic and
social transformation. Developing countries should revisit their own
culture and combine their traditions with modern education. Using the
same example of a Bazaar in Istanbul, you will see the concept of
industry cluster that has existed through centuries.” |
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On socioeconomic development |
“There are now e-readiness assessment standards that consultants use
regarding what the IT industry needs to close its gap with international
standards. This is good. But the flip side of that is that economic
growth creates social changes, often ignored in the planning. You need
to see how the society is going to deal with this change and plan for
it. I always insist on a social readiness assessment for any
socioeconomic development. I believe that different aspects of a country
(economy, social, institutions, and global integration) should move in
harmony. Otherwise you create social trauma and resistance. Remember,
you are modernizing for people to have a better life (based on their own
definition and not yours) and they should buy in on this, have the time
to adapt, and be guided and supported during this transformation.
Economic growth affects people’s behavior, something that is not easily
modified by a series of new rules and regulations. A social readiness
assessment will help to identify the gap between existing values and the
effect of modernization on these values. E-readiness and social
readiness are complementary assessments providing a better picture of
what is happening in society.”
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Mehdi Majidi (2008); AUP, Paris, France |
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