Samsung Organisational Commitment Case Study

  Samsung is a Korean multinational firm. It has plans for expansion into Africa as incomes are increasing and a middle class starts to develop. Growth in the extraction of natural resources has meant that many African nations are seeking to use and enjoy technology and Samsung sees this as a strategic priority for its business. Its strategic goals in the context of the Africa expansion are: 1. Enter at least Ghana, South Afric and Nigeria with product offerings and an office presence in the next two years. 2. Develop a management transfer of knowledge plan that can create an African workforce that is aligned to the “Samsung Way” 3. Develop a fusion of cultural and technical product development that allows for Africa-specific products to be developed by understanding the African consumer and the African worker. Before your task begins, let us agree the following terms: Power Distance: the acceptance by the employee that they are led by a senior manager and the respect they show to that manager. It also includes the adherence to the managers set goals. International Management: is the art of managing staff in an international business assignment where the two national cultures of the host and the source country are different. The aim is to achieve a common set of values that can lead to the implementation of Organisational Commitment (OCM). Culture within a Country and within a Firm: this means that the culture of a country is powerful and can affect the culture of the firm. The firm in the host country needs to respect the national culture of that country. This can help in developing employee OCM. Ethnocentricity: this means the focus on one’s culture and the assumption that this culture is right and should be preferred over others. Organisational Commitment (OCM) Employee’s desire to remain a member of the organisation Questions to ask: 1. Employee wants to stay (why?) 2. Employee wants to leave (why?) 3. Who was involved in the rationale for your decision? Types of organisational commitment (OCM) 1. Affective: individual’s attachment to and involvement with the organisation which is emotional. 2. Normative: Feeling that the employee is obligated because of other reasons that are not emotional. 3. Continuance: Staying in the job because the employee has to due to a lack of other options Withdrawal Behaviour Actions that the employee undertakes to avoid work or the workplace or management. Low Withdrawal Behaviour leads to high OCM. Question: What are the things that Samsung can do in Africa that will increase the level of OCM of staff to the “Samsung Way”? Answer: There are a range of initiatives that Samsung could pursue including: 1. Training and development of local staff 2. Send the workers from Africa to Samsung’s factory in Korea to experience “the Samsung Way”, how it is applied and how their new family (Samsung) functions. This will create a sense of belonging and may increase OCM. 3. Provide future plans for the staff that encourage them to use their skills and earn promotions. 4. Provide extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to staff. 5. Respect the local culture and how staff interact with it and try where possible to integrate into that culture. Examples of this include things such as attending local sports events, granting leave for everybody during festive holidays and the like. 6. Employee empowerment and that granting of decision-making rights to staff at various levels.