Canada Sued Over Years Of Alleged Experimentation On Indigenous People: Implications For Global Management Strategies

Challenges faced by global managers

Discuss about the Culture and Ethics for Global Management Model.
 

The article “Canada sued over years of alleged experimentation on indigenous people” is about native people being forcefully subjected to medical tests in residential schools¹. The lawsuit which was filed holds the federal government responsible discriminatory actions against the indigenous people. Firstly, the government is accused to operate on isolated healthcare system[1]. The healthcare system is inadequate and segregates the people who are not Canadians. The lawsuit also accuses the Canadian schools to forcefully assimilate the indigenous students into the Canadian society. The indigenous people have been used by researches to carry out their finding. The students on which these tests have been done are malicious as their families were not aware of such a thing. The experiment which was being done on these students was about a nutritionally deficient diet. The schools involved thought it a better idea to test it on the minority students. The identified schools have been accused to spot an indigenous group of children, hold them captive and compulsory impose these tests of foods and drugs.

The researchers have been accused to treat the children unfairly by depriving them of beneficial nutrients. The awful acts were established after a principal in a residential school demanded that all children be given vitamin tablets and a researcher opposed claiming that it would interfere with the medical experiments. The children were also being used to test drugs on hearing imparities were nine children with this problem were excluded.  In the article the government has been accused of testing drugs such as tuberculosis vaccines on reserve people. The purpose of this analysis is to enhance an understanding of the global management model. the analysis will discuss the challenges which global managers encounter, areas which global managers need to understand, the global management strategies, benefits of a successful global  management strategy as well as the ethical implications depicted in the article.[2]

A global manager is a leader with the capabilities and skills to manage or lead people from divergent cultures. For example, from our article, the federal government of Canada is supposed to be a global manager. The government has been equipped with the responsibility of handling diversified people including the indigenous people[3]. The people expect the government to be responsible and manage everybody with equalities, fair treatment and without discrimination. A global manager is however faced with some challenges.

Cultural understanding for global managers

The first challenge that a global manager faces is lack of transparency. Different people especially those with different native tongues speak different languages. This brings out the problem of common understanding. Different languages impose difficulties in managing people since it becomes tough to communicate problems in different languages. The global manager may also be faced with the problem of communications. Simply because someone is a global manager does not mean that they understand all the cultural languages associated with his or her people^[4]. A common language helps to unite people and enable effective communication.

Global managers face difficulties in decision making. For example, the federal government of Canada is composed of diversified individuals. For any decisions to be made, a meeting has to take place which comprises of these individuals. Arranging a government meeting is tedious and would take several days[5]. The meeting has to fit within everyone’s schedule including the president and ministers. Not to mention, all of these people are mostly busy as they have other roles and responsibilities of serving the nation. Decision making can, therefore, be very slow.

Global managers face challenges associated with conflict resolution. It is difficult for any manager to handle conflicts amongst diversified people. This is because everyone wants to emerge as the winner of the conflict. From the article, the major problem is unfair treatment of indigenous children in residential schools. This problem has resulted in the whole government being sued. Although there are other claims of discrimination against indigenous people in Canada, the residential school cases have resulted in the big mess[6]. The indigenous people will expect punishments for those mistreating the children. However, if an unsatisfactory action to the indigenous people is not taken, it could result in more conflict. What the government may see as right actions for the case may not be what the indigenous people view as satisfactorily actions. Whatever decision is made could have a negative impact on the federal government of Canada.

 Success within global companies is defined by the implementation of a corporate culture. The same happens with a country. The federal government of Canada, for instance, would succeed in serving the people only if they have established a corporate culture. The major challenge, however, is that it is difficult to define and implement the culture among diversified people. Corporate culture involves establishing a common culture for the people which do not favor or discriminate any person[7]. It is difficult for a global manager to get diversified people to interact and bond as members of a single culture. The people will even discriminate each other.[8]

Understanding organizational environments

Area(s) (cultural, organizational or situational environments) a global manager needs to develop a good understanding of 

A global manager has to develop a cultural understanding based on the cultural variability of different people. The major cultural constraints that a global manager might experience include local attitudes. Local attitude is the assumptions people make towards a situation. For instance[9] the attitude that a particular community may have towards a given management style is different from the attitude that a different community may have. Global managers are bound to come into contact with people of different religions. The people have different spiritual beliefs and it is important to respect each and everyone’s religion. Diversified languages emerge from the fact that people have different native languages. The manager may face challenges in understanding the languages. There are communities who practice gender discrimination. Some communities value boys over girls and some value girls over boys.  As a global manager, the aim is not to support gender discrimination but to make people understand the importance of equality. A global manager will first have to show their respect and understanding of their belief but not to support gender inequalities. Global managers are also required to understand the cultural variability different tastes and preferences[10]. Each community has their own tastes in regards to food, clothing and even communications. In general, a global manager is supposed to understand all these cultural differences for smooth management. 

Organization environment involves the forces which surround an organization which is likely to affect the performance or operations of the business. Managers need to understand the internal and external environmental factors which affect the organization. For example from our case of the federal government of Canada, the internal factors include the personnel working with the government, the culture of the government, the mission and vision statements and the leadership styles within the government[11]. A global manager is supposed to have an understanding of these factors so as to ensure morale of the personnel.

The external environment is composed of factors outside the organization that affects its operations. The external factors that managers need to understand include competition. For example, the Canada government faces competition from other governments. The way the government treats the citizens’ matters as it has an impact on the reputation of the government. A global manager needs to understand the government regulations which affect the business. The rules and regulations set by the government include taxes. The federal government of Canada in our case is the global manager. The government needs to set rules which ensure equality. The laws should be beneficial to all people without any possible discrimination.

Global management strategies

A global manager needs to understand the methods put in place to analyze the organizational environmental factors discussed above. While understanding the situational environment, managers need to consider the rate of environmental changes. This will enable the managers to easily cope up with these changes[12]. The managers also need to understand the strategic risks and opportunities which are presented by the environmental factors. 

The first strategy that needs to be developed is the formulation of organization strategies within each strategic business unit. Every organization is made up of different departments such as the accounting department, finance, human resource department. All the strategic departments need to be defined by strategies. The major purpose of these strategies is to ensure achievement of business objectives and goals[13]. The same case applies to the federal government of Canada. [14]The government is comprised of the judicial, executive and legislative divisions. The branches work together to ensure effective decision making, lawmaking and proper interpretation of the laws. Each branch should, therefore, have defined strategies which govern the functioning of the branch. Each branch should also be defined by specific personnel who work under it to ensure achievement of goals.

The other global management strategy that needs to be developed is a customer-focused organization. The reason for the existence of any business is to serve the customers. Businesses which are customer focused have more chances of continued growth. This is because customer satisfaction ensures customer loyalty to the business. The best global managers understand the needs of their customers as well as their complaints. The same case applies to the issues posed by the article. The federal government of Canada is supposed to understand the needs of the citizens as well as their complaints. The biggest complaint, In this case, is discrimination and unfair treatment of the indigenous people[15]. The government is supposed to take actions which prevent any future related actions. The government needs to take action on the researchers who are mistreating the indigenous children. Being customer focused means putting the needs of the customers a priority to ensure their satisfaction. Satisfaction of the people will ensure continued support towards the operations of the government.

An organization needs to develop willing and committed teams for the operations. A global leader creates a team which is able to influence other people to achieve the business goals and objectives. Committed teams also assist managers in their day to day operations of the organization. The teams have the ability to spot any trends within the business environments and take the right actions. The trends are mostly associated with the external environment, for example, the team could be able to note changes in technology which is likely to have an impact on the operations of the business. Being able to spot the changes enables the managers to make the right decisions concerning the organization. The same case applies to the Canadian government. The personnel in each branch of the government should be able to note the changes in needs and preferences of the people. Since the people are of diversified culture, the changes are likely to be different for different people. An analysis of the changes should be developed to determine the common and crucial needs of the people. This will help eliminate the discrimination cases of the indigenous people. The teams formulated should be able to note such cases and stop them before they happen. This will ensure effective running of the government.

Customer-focused organization for successful global management

Successful management strategy contributes to cost reduction. For instance, the federal government of Canada can ensure that the chosen teams or personnel are efficient for accomplishing the set goals. The team will thus focus on the assigned areas. This will ensure completion of tasks in the required time. Teamwork is also ensured when an organization formulates teams. Costs related to time are therefore reduced[16]. The expenses which would be incurred by an individual person are combined reducing the overall costs. From the case, the federal government of Canada can be able to reduce its operating costs by establishing committed teams in those government branches. Committed teams will help save the government resources while ensuring maximum benefits.

A global management strategy ensures formulation of a common input. The strategy will involve understanding the cultural differences which could pose challenges. The cultural differences include the tastes and needs of each group of people. For example, the federal government of Canada will first understand the needs of each ethnic group. Understanding the groups will ensure the development of products, policies, laws which are equal and not discriminatory. [17]This reduces the effort of formulating laws or developing products which are unacceptable and which are likely to bring up chaos. Developing products or rules without first understanding the cultural needs of every person can result in a huge disappointment for the government. The people can’t be forced to accept laws that they feel are preferential to some people. [18]For instance, the families of the indigenous children who are being mistreated are not likely to accept the discrimination being practiced on their children. The same happens to the citizens if they feel that the rules are dictatorial or pose a threat to their cultural beliefs. Management strategy, therefore, ensures fulfillment of the customer expectations within and outside countries.  

There are various ethical implications associated with global management model. As an organization decides to enlarge the business to global levels, there are ethical considerations they have to put into place. For example, the ethical issues they have to consider include laws of different countries, the ethical standards practiced by different people and even ethical jurisdictions[19]. The case presented in this article poses ethical implications in that there are discrimination and unfair treatment of the indigenous people. The residential schools of Canada subject the indigenous children into research experiments concerning food and drugs. The children are given food which is deprived of nutrients. The children are also used to test the tuberculosis vaccination if it is efficient to administer. This is unethical as according to the global management model, there should be equal rights and treatments concerning everybody despite their culture. The indigenous children are also being forced to join the Canadian society. This is unethical as people have different cultures which they believe in[20]. The federal government of Canada should, therefore, revise their laws to ensure equal treatment of its citizens. A global leader ensures an understanding of the cultural differences. The leader also knows that these differences should not be used against people simply because they are different. Every culture deserves its respect and there are consequences for violating the cultural beliefs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the case of the article provides a projection of how global leaders are supposed to act and manage corporations across different countries. This case is within the government of Canada and it provides a reflection of the challenges indigenous groups face. The major challenges include discrimination and unfair treatment. The global management model requires global leaders to understand the cultural differences between different people and develop products according to those differences. Global leaders are also supposed to ensure satisfaction of customers. This highly contributes to the success of the corporations in different countries. The benefits associated with global management strategies include a reduction in operating costs and acceptance of products. 

“The Guardian: “Canada Sued over Years of Alleged Experimentation on Indigenous People”,” Turtle Talk, last modified May 11, 2018, https://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/the-guardian-canada-sued-over-years-of-alleged-experimentation-on-indigenous-people/.

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