Term paper on Difficult Policy Challenges

Unfreezing, internalization and refreezing are essential stages in cultural changes and they should taken into consideration when cultural changes occur. In fact, cultural changes occur frequently within an organization, community or nation. For instance, a company entering a new market and opening its outlet abroad undergoes a profound cultural change because the company hires local employees and transfers managers and employees, who have experience to train new employees and manage the outlet effectively. The company may face the problem of cultural differences. In such a situation, the company should undergo the three steps of unfreezing, internalization and refreezing to change the behavior patterns and organizational culture. In fact, the company can suggest the code of conduct which defines norms and standards of behavior that are acceptable for all employees of the company regardless of their cultural background. Employees should participate in the elaboration of the code of conduct as they provide feedback to the code offered by the company. At the unfreezing stage, managers introducing the code should conduct active communication with employees and to encourage them to share their ideas and make propositions concerning the improvement of the code. This is the unfreezing stage, when managers and employees share their values and present their vision of the basic norms and standards of conduct. When the communication of managers and employees results in the creation of the code of conduct acceptable for all employees and managers, the implementation of the code begins and this is the internalization stage. At this stage, employees and managers try to follow the established code of conduct. In the course of time, they may reveal drawbacks of the code of conduct and introduce changes to make the code effective and applicable to all employees and managers. After that the refreezing stage begins, when employees and managers of the organization follow the established norms and standards of behavior automatically, without considering whether they match the code or not. In such a way, the cultural change can be completed successfully, while in the contemporary business environment, cultural changes are extremely challenging.

The empowerment of women and reduction of trade barriers seem to be unrelated to each other but still they can be resolved through the use of similar organizational, cultural and technological approaches. For instance, the empowerment of women and reduction of trade barriers may involve considerable cultural changes since in many societies women hold inferior position compared to men. Therefore, the empowerment of women should be conducted along with the cultural change. The education of people is important to complete the cultural change successfully. At the same time, people should have positive examples or models of behavior which prove the effectiveness of the change. For instance, if men see a woman, who has reached a tremendous success in politics or business, they may consider the possibility of changing their superior attitude to women. Similarly, the elimination of trade barriers may confront cultural resistance because some people may believe that the reduction of trade barriers will put under a threat economic interests of their country. Hence, if the country creates a import tax free zone, a city, for instance, and this experiment brings positive effects and stimulates the fast economic grows of the city, then people will understand that the reduction of trade barriers is really beneficial and effective. In such a way, the suggested approach can help to enhance and facilitate the empowerment of women and the reduction of trade barriers. In addition, the empowerment of women and reduction of trade barriers will need organizational changes. For instance, the empowerment of women leads to their wide participation in the political life that will need legal changes to grant them with equal rights and liberties compared to men. Similarly, the reduction of trade barriers will need legal changes along with the development of transportation and infrastructure that are essential for trade.