MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVES FOR GLOBAL BRAND MANAGEMENT IN MULTINATIONAL CONSUMER BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES Gehan D. Shanmuganathan, DBA Adjunct Professor of Business and Management, School of Management, Metropolitan College of New York, USA 1

Introduction Globalization and branding Importance of brand customization Consideration of multicultural factors of immigrant employees of multinational consumer banks operating in the United States 2

Study focus Whether leaders in multinational consumer banks operating in the United States consider cultural factors (values, beliefs, colors, religion, taste, rituals, and symbols) of their immigrant employees in developing their global brand strategy when going global in order to reap above-average profits 3

Conceptualization Effective Global Brand Management as Organizational Core Competency Effective Leadership and Application of Multicultural Perspectives of Immigrant Employees in Global Brand Management Above Average Profits for Corporate Growth Independent Variable Mediator Variable Dependent Variable 4

Research Question “What multicultural factors (values, beliefs, attitudes, education, religion, myths, colors, taste, and rituals) are considered when designing global brand strategy by multinational consumer banks where there immigrant employees are employed AND the magnitude of the consideration of each cultural factor in comparison to indigenous banks with their implications to the industry”? 5

Research Hypotheses Hypothesis 01 – effective leaders consider cultural factors such as values, beliefs, education, religious values, symbols, and myths of immigrant employees of multinational consumer banks operating in the United States in their global brand strategy development. 6

Research Hypotheses Hypothesis 02 – Multinational consumer banks operating in the United States utilize multicultural perspectives such as values, beliefs, education, religious values, symbols, and myths of immigrant employees in their global brand management compared to indigenous consumer banks operating in the United States. 7

Research Hypotheses Hypothesis 03 – Charismatic leadership style is the most effective management style when considering cultural factors such as values, beliefs, education, religious values, symbols, and myths of immigrant employees in their global brand management. 8

Summary of Literature Review Adams (2008), Asser (2009), and Gaal (2009) contended that multinational organizations significantly use multicultural perspectives in their international business Franken (2009), Bolten E, Liza (2010), and Shitaro (2010), argue that multicultural perspectives of immigrant employees in multinational organizations affect leadership in global brand management 9

Summary of Literature Review Vadivelu, M. (2008), Whiteaker (2006), and Small, (2008) argue multinational organizations use values and attitudes as most critical cultural factors used in global brand management compared to indigenous organizations Niranjan, Michael, and Grasse (2008, 2009, and 2009) argue that charismatic leadership style is the most effective leadership style when conducting international business 10

Summary of Literature Review Javidan, 2006; Kelly, 1988; Lewis, 1999; Morhart, 2009, have concluded that there is no specific leadership style that could be applied in managing global brands in organizations, and it depends on market size, potential, competition, potential market share, industry mechanism, demand, cultural aspects to demand, marketing capability of the organization, team dynamics, organizational structure, strategy, shared values, systems, and skills of the employees managing global brands 11

Identified Gaps in Literature Review There were certain areas that were not available for survey in the literature and these areas are, – Application of cultural factors in financial industry – The importance of immigrant employees in organizations 12

Methodology A mixed, non-experimental, correlation (explanatory) and causal-comparative (exploratory) cross-sectional survey research design was used to examine the explanatory variables (global brand management, cultural factors of immigrant employees, and effective leadership) 13

Methodology cont… Sample size is 60 consumer banks branches (30 local banks and 30 multinational banks) Online Questionnaire was used to gather data Sample units were drawn under quota sampling method from three strata and they are senior managers (senior level), immigrant employees (operational Level), and brand managers (functional level) employed in multinational and indigenous consumer banks operating in the United States 14

Methodology (statistical aspect) ANOVA - indigenous and multinational banks Regression analysis -Y=a+bx Correlation- r 15

Results Total number of participants were 175 Total valid responses were 160 (complete responses) used for analysis Response rate was 91.43% 16

How culturally diverse is the organization in terms of employees on 1-10 Scale? Answer OptionsResponse PercentResponse CountIBMNCBTotal 14.50% % % % % % % % % answered question skipped question24 N=154 17

Cultural Diversity of Employees in Indigenous and Multinational Consumer Banks Operating in the United States on a 1-10 Scale 18

Consideration of Cultural Factors When Developing Global Brand Strategy 19

Cultural Factors and Degree of Usage when Developing Global Branding Strategy 20

Correlation between Charismatic Leadership and Cultural Factor Consideration Charismatic Leadership (V1)Cultural Factor Consideration (V3) VAR00001 Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Sum of Squares and Cross- products Covariance N204 VAR00003 Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)0.393 Sum of Squares and Cross- products E+08 Covariance E+07 N44 21

Multi Regression Analysis Effective Global Brand Management (V4) Charismatic Leadership (V1) Cultural Factor Consideration (V3) Types of Commonly Used Leadership (V2) Pearson Correlation VAR VAR VAR VAR Sig. (1-tailed) VAR VAR VAR VAR N VAR VAR VAR VAR

Discussion Compared to indigenous consumer banks, multinational consumer banks operating in the United States reported a higher cultural diversity The consideration of the cultural factors such as values, beliefs, attitudes, education, religion, myths, colors, taste, and rituals when developing global brands is significant in multinational consumer banks compared to indigenous consumer banks operating in the United States. 23

Discussion Despite the degree of consideration of cultural perspectives of immigrant employees in multinational consumer banks, most critical cultural factors are not considered with a significant magnitude when developing global branding strategy- Zheng (2009), Tyler (2009), Snow (2005), and Sebenius (2002) 24

Discussion Mostly used cultural factors with a high significance by the multinational consumer banks are beliefs, colors, symbols, and myths compared to other cultural factors such as values, attitudes, taste, and rituals that constituted a higher degree of cultural importance for global branding 25

Discussion Multinational consumer banks do not consider the most critical cultural factors such as values and attitudes that play a critical role in global brand strategy development, compared to indigenous consumer banks Contradicts with study conducted by Vadivelu, M. 2008; Whiteaker, 2006; and Small, 2008 (argument - multinational organizations use values and attitudes as most critical cultural factors used in global brand management compared to indigenous organizations) 26

Discussion Data suggest commonly used leadership style is situational leadership (delegating leadership style with the recorded response rate of 29.13% followed by coaching 25.59%, directing 22.89%, and facilitating 22.38%) Delegation with the ample authority of the leader induces the commitment level of the followers, especially in succeeding global brand management in multinational consumer banks. 27

Limitations Lack of literature and previously conducted seminal work on key variables – Cultural factors for branding 28

Implications and Relevance to Business Industry Efficient local and global brand management Use of cultural factors that serves as secondary data for other decision making (human resources) To increase stakeholder value 29

Recommendations Leaders of multinational and indigenous consumer banks both must maintain a human resources data base to collect, analyze, and retrieve information for their brand management either locally or globally in order to manage their respective brands effectively in achieving above average profits 30

THANK YOU…. 31