Intercultural Issues Affecting Business Management
Case-study scenarios
Scenario #1:
John is a UK manager who has been tasked to lead a team on a new and exciting project, starting in September. Team members are located in Australia, Malaysia and the UAE (Abu Dhabi). The team is quite diverse, with colleagues from India, Germany, the US and Poland. John is preparing thoroughly to lead this new team. He consults the relevant cultural guides for expats and notes down the characteristics of each culture, trying to anticipate the cultural issues that may arise in managing this team. He learns that Polish and German employees don’t like small talk, as opposed to Americans, and that employees from India are used to hierarchies and transactional, top-down leadership styles. On the basis of this information, he is planning his first Skype meeting with them in August, and he is going to set the rules early on, give everyone precise instructions and monitor the project’s development closely. He has already set out the targets and deadlines and plans on sticking to them strictly to ensure consistency.
Do you think John’s approach will be successful? What advice would you give John for his August meeting, and in preparing to manage the new team? Please use relevant academic literature, refer to the case study guidelines and follow the given template.
Scenario #2:
Wei is Chinese and works for a large company in Guangzhou. The company is in the process of negotiating a business deal with a potential partner in the US. The initial meetings took place in Guangzhou, but the actual negotiation and signing of the deal would take place in the US company’s headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Wei speaks English, which is why his boss decided to send him on the trip.
Wei arrived for the meeting tired after a very long flight. The American colleagues were very friendly but keen to start the meeting, as they were operating on a strict schedule and agenda. Wei had brought gifts for the team and made sure he handed each gift to each colleague individually with both hands. He was surprised to see that the US colleagues did not have a gift for him. They introduced themselves with a handshake and went in the boardroom. During the negotiations, Wei listened attentively to the proposals put forward by Ben who was leading the US team, but did not make any comments. Ben was explaining their position over and over again and Wei would nod but say nothing. They stopped for lunch and Wei noticed that the US team discussed other work matters. In the end, Ben was frustrated at Wei’s prolonged silences and lack of engagement and Wei was put off by the fact that Ben didn’t seem to care about him, but only about the deal. The partnership did not materialise.
What went wrong? Please use relevant academic literature, refer to the case study guidelines and follow the given template.
