Organizational Behavior

Salido, Maurren F. June 12,

2020
Section 1

Case Study of J.M. Smucker

Summary:

Black Diamond is a globally competitive company. They are manufacturing different

equipment that is used in sports climbing, mountaineering, alpinism, and alpine skiing. During
the start of their business, they looked for connections that could help them in spreading their
business to other countries. But they came to the conclusion that only those who are members of
the company truly care about Black Diamond. To move forward they send their employees
instead to start overseas. They experienced difficulty in each of their company which is in North
America, Asia, and Europe, because of variety of cultures. Yet despite all the trouble they still
managed to be global, this is by trusting that they can do their job and be confident by choosing
them. And to achieve their strong bond they are going out in the woods and do sport their
company is focusing on.

Questions:

1. To start-off, Black Diamond is not just a company but an extension of their own attitude,
culture, ethos, and value, which became the foundation of their company. They have a passion
for providing well-manufactured extreme sports equipment by having original equipment
manufacturers that were produced globally. Social responsibility was engraved in their culture
and passed through each of their members by different employee engagement based on their
culture. That is why the people they send overseas still portray their culture, and as they fulfill
their social responsibility.

2. Black Diamond is a company that is global in nature, where they send members who have
the same passion and competent enough to lead the production in other countries. They regularly
visit branches overseas and make sure everything is running smooth. By being global in nature
they need to adjust with different cultural values depending on the country. This is from
expanding their employees in different countries, recognizing and learning about their culture
and thinking in their perspective. Which broadens the culture of the company even in their
headquarters, because being culture competent is one of the keys to be global.

3. As they conquer Asia they organize a weekend out of the woods to strengthen the bond. In
that way, they can learn what are their attitudes and philosophy not just in life but at work as well
so that they will know how to interact with them. This initiative is a smart move to make their
employees feel they are valued. The trust that they give to their members shows how strong their
ethics are. They also ensure their employees’ benefits just like in Bangladesh by providing them
three meals a day and health care benefits. For me, it is appropriate to scrutinize the partner
factories because employee engagement is an asset to the company. Letting them be part of the
process of making a decision and part of the leadership team contribute to competitive
advantage. This shows that they apply cultural competence that has a positive impact on them
being global in nature.