Question
This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.
The Chairwoman of Board of Directors has selected you to lead the effort to create an international internship program for your organization. You will be leading a cross-cultural virtual team, including the vice president (VP) of human resources and department heads from all areas of the organization from its locations throughout the United States. The team is responsible for developing a 3-month summer program for 50 international interns. The international interns will be selected from university programs in their home country, will travel to the organization’s U.S. locations, will live and work in the United States, and then may have the potential to be offered a permanent position with the organization.
Using the Bloomberg Businessweek B-school connection program, research global organizational culture and respond to the following questions:
What best practices do you recommend for leading a virtual cross-cultural team?
What is the difference between leading a U.S.-based virtual cross-cultural team and a global virtual cross-cultural team?
What are the legal or regulatory factors that the team needs to consider for the interns to be employed in the United States?
How will the organization onboard the interns and introduce them to U.S. culture? What types of activities can be hosted for the interns to celebrate their diversity?
What are the benefits of the international internship program to the interns and to the organization?
Provide a reference list at the end of your primary task response of at least 5 articles from Bloomberg Businessweek B-school connection program, and include in-text citations for the articles in APA format.
Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:
What did you learn from your classmate’s posting?
What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?
List at least 1 article from Bloomberg Businessweek B-school connection program The deliverable length for the full Discussion Board is as follows:
Primary Task: 400 words, 5 CTU Library articles
Reference http://www.corpedgroup.com/resources/pm/6BestPracticesMVT.asp
Sample paper
Global Initiatives Capstone
There are various best practices for leading a virtual cross-cultural team. The first best practice is to develop a communications management plan (Dargin, 2017). This is a tool providing details on the basic essentials or elements of the communication, including the message, the receivers, frequency of communication, medium of communication, and among others. Another best practice involves taking time in executing each facet of the plan. As the leader of the cross-cultural virtual team, it is important to take time in planning the delivery of the entire project. For instance, it is necessary to ensure all tools are available before learning takes place. Another best practice is to use the right or appropriate technology to enhance team interactions (Dargin, 2017). For instance, using video conferencing may be appropriate where the members are in different physical locations. Lastly, it is important to ensure the virtual team meetings are effective and exceed the expectations of those present (Dargin, 2017). Different legal and regulatory frameworks and unique cultures guide global cross-cultural teams. On the other hand, the U.S.-based virtual team is under a similar culture as well as legal and regulatory environment.
The team must consider the U.S. employment law for the interns to receive employment in the U.S. The employment law states that any individual wishing to work in the U.S. must obtain a work visa (Eagan, 2017). The employer files for a work visa for the foreign workers to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. Prior to obtaining a work visa, the individual concerned must receive a Foreign Labor Certification. This ensures that the foreign worker does not interfere with the available job opportunities or wages of American workers. The regulatory factors to consider are those guiding temporary employment of foreign workers and those guiding employment for permanent employment of foreign workers. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 656 regulates employment of aliens for permanent positions. CFR part 655 guides the temporary employment of aliens.
The organization can onboard the interns and introduce them to the U.S. culture in various way. First, the work environment can provide a conducive environment that allows the interns to learn more about the company’s culture (Raisinghani, 2017). By interacting with non-alien workers in the organization, alien workers may gain some understanding of the organizational culture. Secondly, the organization may onboard interns through training and education. Training will allow the organizational to shape the values, behaviors, and work ethics of the alien interns. Thirdly, there is need to treat alien interns the same way to the local interns. For instance, there is need to offer equal opportunities for advancement as well as equal wages and salaries. This may eliminate the issue of discrimination. Lastly, the organization may onboard interns by teaching basic language acquisition. This would improve their communication skills.
The organization should include various activities to celebrate diversity. Examples are using an inclusive calendar where religious observances of diverse groups are recognized. Another activity is to celebrate the UN World Diversity Day. Another possible activity is diversity training, where employees are briefed on diverse groups.
The international internship program is of great benefit to the interns. First, it will help in building language proficiency among the interns. Secondly, it will enable the interns to develop independence (Coco, Truong, & Kaupins, 2013). Third, it provides an opportunity for the interns to acquire cross-cultural skills as well as sensitivity. Fourth, internship programs help in networking whereby the interns build a network of contacts (Caskey, 2012). To the organization, internship programs minimize cross-cultural conflicts and tensions. Secondly, internship programs improve employee cohesiveness. This encourages teamwork and thus improved productivity. Lastly, internship programs may be a platform for aliens to acquire the organization’s culture.
References
Caskey, E. (2012). The 10 benefits of interning abroad.
Coco, M., Truong, A., & Kaupins, G. (2013). Student and company reactions to a university internship program: Content analysis. International Journal of Education Research (IJER), 8(1), 89.
Dargin, S. (2017). Top 6 best practices for managing virtual teams. Retrieved from http://www.corpedgroup.com/resources/pm/6BestPracticesMVT.asp
Eagan, J. V. (2017). H-Bb Visas Hit The Cap, Sending Companies To Plan B. Available from https://resourcecenter.businessweek.com/reviews/h-1b-visas-hit-the-cap-sending- companies-to-plan-b
Raisinghani, M. S. (2017). Silicon Valley’s secret source of foreign workers. Available from https://resourcecenter.businessweek.com/reviews/silicon-valleys-secret-source-of- foreign-workers
