Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 6th Edition by Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart,Patrick Wright

Exercise 15

Global Mindset Gives Renault-Nissan a Strategic Edge
Carlos Ghosn's outlook is extraordinarily global. The chief executive of the Renault-Nissan Alliance was born in Brazil to Lebanese parents, spent most of his childhood in Lebanon, and earned engineering degrees in France. He went to work for Michelin, rose to management positions, led a turnaround of Michelin's South American division, and then moved again to head Mi-chelin's North American division. His career caught the attention of French automaker Renault, which was looking for someone to lead a turnaround of Nissan after Renault had acquired a large stake in the struggling Japanese business. Ghosn returned Nissan to profitability and later became head of both automakers as well as the alliance they founded. He works in both Paris and Tokyo, also traveling to facilities in other countries.
Ghosn's global outlook has strengthened the alliance between Renault and Nissan, which has lasted longer than other such attempts in the industry. The companies share designs and hold ownership stakes in each other. Ghosn sees not only cultural barriers to overcome but also opportunities for applying each culture's strengths. For example, in Japan, Ghosn discovered a concept called monozukuri , which literally means making things but also implies a spirit of working together creatively over time to make improvements that result in excellent
products. Ghosn found that monozukuri enables higher quality and lower costs by uniting employees across job categories in a common cause. So Renault-Nissan has taught the concept in its operations outside of Japan as a way to stimulate improvement.
Applying such lessons requires certain qualities. Two that Ghosn has identified include a thirst for learning and a humble attitude. These qualities promote learning from others. Another is what Ghosn calls "common" sense, by which he means a perspective that people share common ground, which helps them understand and listen to one another. Yet another important quality is mutual respect. According to Ghosn, the best way to acquire such skills and attitudes is to make a point of working with people from other cultures-say, by seeking out foreign assignments or collaborating with others from a position in one's home country. Nissan, for example, promotes this kind of communication by setting up leadership development programs in which employees from different countries participate in virtual classrooms online.
The global mindset remains important for Renault-Nissan's strategy of becoming one of the world's top three automakers. The alliance partners are deepening their relationship, with the goal of developing 70% of their vehicles jointly. The alliance also has set up a technology-sharing partnership with Daimler, based in Germany. Among other projects, they will produce luxury cars in Mexico. Daimler's Mercedes and Nissan's Infiniti will share engines and other parts with a common design.
Would you categorize the Renault-Nissan alliance as an international, multinational, or global organization Why