Scenario “Clever Clogs International”: You work for an international company, which provides management advice to a number of multinational organisations, such as Al Jazeera, Google, Shell International and a new FINANCE company called Clever Clogs International.Your company has been invited to tender for a contract to deliver cross-cultural training to this major new client Clever Clogs International. The client is expanding its international activities and needs to send a manager from Lebanon to
Amsterdam, The Netherlands for a 2-year assignment. Clever Clogs aims to change the way the banking system works to avoid another economic crash.
The manager to be transferred is female, Muslim and in her mid-thirties. She joined the company four years ago and has performed exceptionally well, earning two
promotions in that period. Company evaluations (which you have been permitted to read) indicate that she has the right skills-set and that she would be an ideal
candidate for this assignment. However, no formal training has been carried out, and this would be her first international work assignment.
Your company has been invited by the client to deliver a cross-cultural briefing report to this new manager from Clever Clogs International. You MUST make reference
to the industry of Clever Clogs International in each section.As a final year student, the relevance to management in practice must be made
clear (answer the ‘So What?’ question by using practical examples from the news).The report should include the following sections but make sure you guide the reader
and link (sub)sections through an organised structure.
1. a brief introduction of the aim of the report on behalf of Clever Clogs International and of the current state of globalization relevant to an
executive in the finance industry. Give a practical example of the current challenges.
2. a brief overview of macro-level facts of The Netherlands (e.g., socio-political environment, economic environment, etc.) that are relevant for an executive to
know. You should use reliable sources such as Financial Times, CIA handbook and government websites.
3. a brief value comparison of the country of The Netherlands based on Hofstede’s work in comparison to Lebanon. You should also include a graph
as shown in class and ensure that you make the analysis relevant to the reader.
4. a critique of Hofstede’s work in terms of the relevancy of macro-level indices for daily management practice (NOT critique of Hofstede in an academic
sense)
5. An analysis of the business and management challenges that an international manager faces, using the reading from this module, integrating appropriate
cross-cultural theory and evaluating the challenges the manager is likely to face. For example: “As an international manager, regardless of where one
lives or works, it is useful to be aware that decision making is based on XXXX theory (Bloggs, 2013) and cultural variations exist in terms of A, B and C.”

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