Chinese Checkers!

A couple of days ago, a student of mine asked me, as to what I considered, the most important aspects of International HRM. After mulling over the question, I said, training of expatriates and setting up policies to deal with crises that your employees faces when working abroad, would top my list.

I think I was bang on, with the Rio Tinto brouhaha in China. Rio Tinto, a London based metals major, follows a Geo Centric approach to staffing, and in doing so, placed Stern Hu, an Australian, as its rep in China.The issue is further confused because Hu was Chinese prior to turning Australian!

Hu, Rio Tinto's executive in charge of iron ore negotiations in China before his arrest last July, was sentenced in a Shanghai court yesterday to a total 10 years in prison on charges of corruption & bribery. Three Chinese colleagues were imprisoned for between seven and 14 years.

The case was closely watched by foreign companies operating in China. The rulings suggest Chinese authorities are taking a sterner stance toward foreign companies caught violating the country's often selectively enforced corruption code.

It is clear that the Chinese are playing hardball here, obviously miffed by the reluctance that the western world shows in signing extradition treaties with China. The lack of a treaty precludes China from getting its citizens back home to face trial, for offences committed against China.

The Australian's are obviously not pleased. Australia's leader Kevin Rudd said today that secrecy surrounding China's trial of four Rio Tinto workers for commercial espionage leaves room for doubt about the convictions.

Canberra says the jail sentence handed to Australian citizen Stern Hu on bribery charges was harsh, and has criticized the decision to keep media and diplomats out of the court while it considered the other charges of stealing commercial secrets.

I have that that bad feeling that seems to suggest that, this international fracas, is fast spiralling out of control.Rio Tinto said if would fire Hu and his colleagues.

"I am determined that the unacceptable conduct of these four employees will not prevent Rio Tinto from continuing to build its important relationship with China," CEO Tom Albanese said in a statement. The company is increasingly dependent on its business with China.

However corporations would be disappointed at the secrecy of the commercial secrets elements of the trial and chronic corruption that plagues industrial China.China continues to be opaque in many areas.Much of the foreign interest in the case stems from the commercial secrets portion of the charges, because government information controls add a layer of uncertainty and risk to operating in China.

Some of the information the Rio execs are thought to be accused of obtaining illegally -- including detailed mine production and operation rates -- is considered vital market intelligence in China, where official statistics are unreliable.This episode has also placed China, as a business destination,under the scanner, following closely on the heels of Google exiting China, in the recent past, over a spat with the Govt. of China & intense pressure on its business practice, back in the USA.

This is IHRM at its best!It has got all elements of a wonderful drama- International Politics, Business wheeling & dealing, industrial espionage and of course the human touch. A wonderful case study, except that poor Hu, would definitely not be downing 'Fosters' beer & watching Kangaroos, skip across the great Aussie outback, for a while, while politicians across the world indulge themselves in a war of words!

The Tiger on religion!

The case of Tiger Woods, gets more and more curious.................Just when I thought that the Tiger was navigating his troubled life rather nicely, he seems to have said in a press meet, something to the effect that he strayed from his marital vows, because of his abjuring religion in the recent past.

Apparently Woods, was raised a Buddhist, but as he grew famous and wealthy, he jettisoned the faith and took recluse in more worldly pleasures, or like I like to call them- the better things of life!

Woods seem to have arrived at this startling discovery rather late in the day, after being involved in various romantic alliances with women of various shapes, sizes & hues & being caught by a rather indignant wife, who like all good wives seems to have got wind of his dalliances last.

Wood's disclosure, surprised me because, it is not very American, to shift the blame for one's follies on to something as abstract as God. Americans, culturally, have a stronger internal locus of control and so are more likely to take responsibility for their actions, as against cultures which attribute, events in their life to external focus, be it fate or God.

I'm also a wee bit disappointed by Wood's lack of wisdom.While accepting the fact, that he should not have shunned his chosen faith, it is more pertinent that he forgot his core values........................which are not negotiable. One core value would be honesty and the strength to resist the temptation to cheat. Core values are core values because they span religions and are not open to debate.Woods, not wanting to take any chances, has chosen to return, to golf with the Augusta National Golf Club, which bars women from membership.

Mr.Wood's should know that if his value system is skewed, no religion in the world is going to act as his compass in life and bring him succor.I thought the great man would have had the chutzpah to appreciate that.

I think there is a lesson, in there for all of us!It is also scary, when we refuse to distinguish between religion and values.If not getting lost in the woods,is our mission, then having a clear set of values is imperative.

A spirit that never dies!

Only babes in the woods would suggest that politics and sport are not mixed. ‘Invictus’ is one flick of the genre which reinforces that they are. South African sport, went through a roller coaster ride, from 1970, when they refused to play an English cricket team, which had a former South African, who was not white, to winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995. Refusal to play the English team resulted in South Africa being shunned by all sporting nations and they were the skunks of sport.
In 1995 South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup. Their team known as the Springboks (“Antelopes”) was made up of white players and one colored. Many black South Africans saw the team as a product of the apartheid era and wanted it dismantled and replaced, possibly with black players. Mandela disagreed and saw the situation as a means of bringing about greater unity among his people. He called for the captain of the team, Francois Pienaar, encouraging him to reach out to the community in a bid to gain support for the coming competitions. The team responded by going to the slums and teaching black boys how to play the game.
As South Africa prepared for the World Cup, the Minister of Sports told Mandela: “According to the experts, we will reach the quarterfinals, and no further.” Mandela replied: “According to the experts, you and I should still be in jail.” Just before the start of the games, he gave to team captain Pienaar a copy of the poem “Invictus.”

The last stanza reads:

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul………………………

In the finals, South Africa went on to defeat the heavily favored and marauding New Zealand All-Blacks in overtime, with their captain Francois Pienaar, leading from the front, cheered on by their president Nelson Mandela & a frenzied but united black & white crowd. The one event helped unite a nation, divided by suspicion, fear and acrimony!

“Invictus” was written in 1875 by English poet William Ernest Henley from a hospital bed after undergoing amputation of a leg due to tuberculosis of the bone. It originally bore no title, being part of a series of poems, but a few years later Arthur Quiller-Couch added the title “Invictus” (Latin for “unconquered”). Apparently it was Nelson Mandela’s favorite poem and helped him through the twenty seven years that he was imprisoned on ‘Robin Island’. The win by a South Africa reeling under a divided population, where hate was the predominant emotion must go down as the triumph of spirit over all odds!
Two disparate people inspired a nation, one an aging legend, Mandela and the other a determined sportsman Pienaar.Both men lead from the front. For me the book and movie are classics and show how the spirit of the soul can get you across all odds……………and it once gain underlines the importance of sport in our lives and campuses. Sport exposes one to diverse management concepts from leadership, to team work & teaches one to accept both defeat and victory with grace, including an ability to stand up and be counted when the chips are down! Even if it a game like rugby, which is said to be a hooligan's game played by gentleman.

It is sad to see sport disappearing from campuses........................

Did I play Rugby? It is one sport that I hated, but after Invictus, have developed a modicum of respect, for the rough & tumble!

International Shame!

While India readies itself for yet another IPL, it’s a year to this day since Capt Aroza, from Mangalore, found himself in jail in the tiny island nation of Taiwan. His crime! Involuntary manslaughter, since the ship that he was commanding did not go to the rescue of a sinking fishing skiff off the Taiwanese coast. The greater tragedy is that the Captain was not on the bridge at the time of the incident.

From an international standpoint, the case gets a little confused, because though he is an Indian, the ship that Aroza commanded was a Panamanian vessel and so not Indian sovereign territory. Also, since the case, is being tried in Taiwan, Aruzo’s advocate is a Chinese gent, with what is said to be limited English speaking skills.

From a human standpoint, the Captain’s family (his wife) runs from pillar to post, to get redress for her husband. Her appeal for support has fallen on deaf government ears. A government which has forgotten that, these same people, contributed vast resources to this country’s foreign exchange reserves till the economy opened up in 1991.Their three young daughters would soon forget, how their father looks, if the Captain is ensconced in jail for greater time.

The captain was held responsible, because it was under his command that the accident occurred. How many of our CEO’s would go to jail, for accidents might occur in their organizations or for the carelessness of their subordinates.

The following case of negligence is rather enlightening……..
D a ship’s captain followed an unsafe course and relied too heavily on his engines even though he knew the fuel was contaminated. The ship foundered off the Cornish coast and three crew members were drowned.

Held; It is up to the jury to decide whether or not negligence is gross negligence even though negligently endangering a ship is a statutory offence. The question for the jury is whether it amounts to the crime of manslaughter.

Guilty

On how many occasions do you recollect our bureaucrats going to jail for negligence? If you know of an incidence please do let me know!

What's in a name?

A few days ago a gaggle of kids from my class, (IHRM- Minor), approached me for permission, to leave early to meet for their finance club activity. Apparently the club is called Prometheus after the Greek God, who goes by the same name.
This set me thinking…………because here is what we know of Prometheus!

Prometheus was the son of Iapetus who was one of the Titans. He tricked the gods into eating bare bones instead of good meat. He stole the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods. Prometheus did not tell Zeus the prophecy that one of Zeus's sons will overthrow him. In punishment, Zeus commanded that Prometheus be chained for eternity in the Caucasus. There, an eagle (or, according to other sources, a vulture) would eat his liver, and each day the liver would be renewed. So the punishment was endless, until Heracles finally killed the bird.

Considering that finance managers are expected to be ‘watch dogs of industry’, I thought it was a rather strange name to choose for their club, considering that his main activity seems to have been thievery and scheming!

Talking about names…………………………I have a few experiences, to share-

First, from my school, harking back to my 2nd standard.
There is this young kid, hair shiny with oil, standing with his head bowed, tears overflowing & staining his pale face, eventually dropping in big splotches on to his trousers. His crime- he had colored the beak of a parrot blue & had the audacity to be named as ‘Vidya Sagar’( Ocean of knowledge ), or so thought our teacher, who made him the subject of ridicule, much to our amusement. (How cruel can we be?) Vidya Sagar was never the same again!

My Principal at school was called ‘Mercy’, which was even stranger, as she slashed, whipped and struck her way through my eleven years at school, hitting everything in sight with a short, thick leather belt. I can still see her bulging biceps & glistening brow, in my mind’s eye, though I’ve ceased to shudder……………………………………& I'm sure many of my buddies have not!

My Physical instructor at school was called ‘Chiranjeevi’ (immortal), but the good soul did not live up to his name and departed rather prematurely, at a young age.

However, I’ve saved the best for the last! When we docked at Kolkata Port, a frequent visitor was one ‘Kachara Seth’ ( never got to learn his true name )……………………,who came on board to dispose our garbage. The gent looked really pathetic and wore the weirdest of clothes, added to which his manner was irritating, to say the least! I generally held my peace with him, thinking of how poor he was till, I learnt that he owned a couple of shops, at the ‘Fancy Market’ off Kiddarpore & also had a couple of houses in Kolkata. He was rich!

So then, what’s in a name?

When the chips are down!

I remember a scene from a flick where this very drunk rich guy, staggers past his parked Merc, on to his beautifully manicured lawns to piddle, even while his PA ( these days fashionably called Executive Assistant ) attempts to get him to enter his house to do the deed!

What is that, which gets us to return to our more basic instincts, when we have lost our inhibitions or social conditioning is overpowered by other factors! A case in point definitely is the sinking of two ships, over the last century. Two great marine disasters- one the famous Titanic & the other a more staid ‘Lusitania’.
While the Titanic, has been made famous by James Cameron the Lusitania is a very famous ship, because its sinking, dragged the United States into World War 1.

Research into the two tragedies has thrown up the following:
Women and children came first when the Titanic sunk but not when the Lusitania was torpedoed, a study has claimed.

The difference in behavior was due to the speed at which the two maritime disasters struck, researchers said.

The Titanic took more than two hours to sink when it hit an iceberg four days into its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, on 14 April, 1912.
But the liner Lusitania sank in 18 minutes in 1915 when it was torpedoed by a U-boat during World War One.
The passenger ship was heading for Liverpool from New York when it was sunk by the German submarine off the Irish coast with the loss of nearly 1,200 lives.
Both historic tragedies involved similar vessels, passenger populations and death tolls.

But in the case of the Titanic, it was a case of "women and children first" in the best maritime tradition, according to researchers writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

'Selfish behavior dominated'

A study of the disaster showed that females, children and people accompanying a child were more likely to survive than males, adults and passengers without children.
Of the 2,207 passengers and crew on board the ship when it set sail, all but 690 perished.
Children on the Titanic had a 14.8% higher chance of surviving than adults and a person accompanying a child was 19.6% more likely to survive than someone without a child.
Being female increased a passenger's chance of survival by more than 50%.
In contrast, fit passengers aged 16 to 35 stood the greatest chance of surviving from the Lusitania disaster.
Among the 1,949 passengers and crew on the Lusitania, there were 636 survivors.

Time pressure seems to have been key in determining who lived and who died. The study says that on the Lusitania, selfish behavior dominated and on the Titanic, social norms and social status (class) dominated, contradicting standard economics.
"One of the major implications is that people really do behave differently when they are under enormous stress. Then the animal-like aspects and survival of the fittest really come to the fore.

When the Titanic hit the iceberg the norms upheld themselves surprisingly well. Many people think that when there is a disaster, a natural hurricane or whatever, everything breaks down, there is chaos and the norms do not apply any more.
"But it's only when they are under extreme duress: there's an explosion on the ship, the torpedo hits and you are in the water, then survival of the fittest becomes active but not otherwise.

Next time you feel 'uppity', remember that at a basic level & when the chips are down, we are all in the same boat, irrespective of your education or social standing!

A sobering thought pardner!

Light & Dark!

I read a rather interesting article a few days ago, which spoke about, the effect of dim lighting on a persons levels of honesty & guess what, research has shown, that dim lighting does cause a person to dip to lower levels of honesty and ethical values. Apparently people tend to lie a great deal more as well, when the lighting is subdued.

These findings send some rather salient signals to us:

# 1. Exams are to be held in brightly lit rooms.This would probably induce students to cheat less.

# 2. Do not negotiate with persons wearing dark glasses and wear dark glasses while you negotiate.

# 3. When out on a date, select the darkest corners, if you want to lie to your bf or gf, otherwise go for the bright spots.....

The reason, dim lights make us believe we're less visible and give the feeling that no one is watching us, triggering more moral violations.Thief's often wear masks, hoods, and disguises, which make them feel concealed from view, and people who believe they are hidden really are more likely to commit criminal acts.

Studies have found that people who wore sunglasses felt greater anonymity and so were inclined to play footsie with the truth.The most important point is that, lighting does effect our mood & behavior, so beware!

Also, it's the reason why, I have the lights at their brightest, in my class room, while I teach........................it gets my spiel to be nothing but the unvarnished truth!

The Guru!

A few years ago I had a boss, who was an ardent 'chela' of Swami Nityananda. My boss was, to say the least, a painful man. Obese and suffering from hyper tension he would erupt for all the wrong reasons. It made me wonder, how the Guru would be if the chela behaved like a bandicoot.............

Nityananda stayed on my radar screen,as a passing interest, as I frequently passed his, sprawling estate,at Bidadi, on my way to Mysore & back..................till yesterday, when all hell broke loose. Apparently, the "Guru" was caught ( on camera ) in a rather delicate and 'compromising' position, with an actress ( as yet unidentified )and has since gone into hiding, after vigorously protesting his innocence and godliness.

If true, then we have one more God Man biting the dust.............................I have no love lost for self styled God Men, but what surprises me is the following that these gents have amongst the hoi polli! Why do we head for these folk, in droves, place them on a pedestal & when we find that they are just as human as us, mere mortals, our anger is unbridled ?

My take is as follows:

1. Indian's are very high on the Uncertainty Avoidance Index, which means that anything, which is not certain is anathema to us. This results in us making a beeline to astrologers, Guru's, palmists & so on to secure our future and make it more secure!
2.We are very strong on External attribution................Attribution theory is concerned with how individuals interpret events and how this relates to their thinking and behavior. Attribution theory assumes that people try to determine why people do what they do. A person seeking to understand why another person did something may attribute one or more causes to that behavior.
According to Heider a person can make two attributions 1) internal attribution, the inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about the person, such as attitude, character or personality. 2) external attribution, the inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation he or she is in. Blaming other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving attributions. We will also make attributions to defend what we perceive as attacks. We will point to injustice in an unfair world. We will even tend to blame victims (of us and of others) for their fate as we seek to distance ourselves from thoughts of suffering the same plight.Since external attribution is external and situational and so cannot be controlled, we need divine assistance, in this area.
3. A lot of Indian's have an external locus of control ( http://capnagaraj.blogspot.com/2009/11/yesterday-young-lady-boxer-from.html)


Does education make a difference ? Please do let me know what you feel! As for me, I'm heading into a short round of meditation!