Please read the article “Managing Across Cultures” by Golnaz Sadri. Discuss how

Question

Please read the article “Managing Across Cultures” by Golnaz Sadri.

Discuss how the three American managers depicted, Peter in Mexico, Alan in Japan and Paul in the Middle East, might have increased the chance of success of their first overseas business experience.

Also, describe specific things each manager could have done, given what the article teaches us about that particular culture.

Managing across cultures Sadri, Golnaz Industrial Management; Jul/Aug 2014; 56,4: ABNFORM Complete PS. IS Managing across cultures BY GOLNAZ SADRI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY h a global marketplace where every shop and business can ieteract worldeide, managers often must deal with people from different cultures Puzling coss-cultural interactions can be ameliarated- or even avoided-by knowing the traits inherent in cifferert societies.

Explanation / Answer

Peter:

In case of Peter, workers in Mexico were looking forward to a new boss who could tell them what to do and how to improve things rather than letting them decide on their own and giving them leadership power. They expected more of a leadership stance from Peter.

Mexico is a high power-distance culture. In high power-distance cultures, there is more of an acceptance of differentiation between boss and employee. In high power distance cultures, it is customary to use titles rather than first names, and communication among higher-status and lower-status employees is more structured. So Peter must give clear nstructions to the workers in Meico if he wants to succeed there.

Alan:

Japan is a high context culture country. High-context cultures use subtle situational cues, such as age, status and degree of comfort with the other party, when they communicate. They adopt less direct communication patterns and often will refrain from openly disagreeing with the other person. High-context cultures are less explicit, often using stories to illustrate a point rather than stating the point directly. Because of the implicit nature of communication and way of conducting business, it is important that members of high-context cultures establish a relationship and develop social trust. Negotiations in high-context cultures tend to be slow and ritualistic, and agreement is based on trust more than written documents.

Hence Japanese client's desire was to get to know Alan and establish rapport and trust. The weeklong series of lunches, sightseeing and getting acquainted with his potential clients was a great investment. Once relationships are established and trust is developed, business with the Japanese clients is likely to flow much more smoothly.

So Alan could have invested more time in knowing the people and enjoyed his luncheons with them. This helps to create a strong bond and future business dealings can be carried out smoothly in Japan if personal repo is maintained.

Paul:

Paul noticed that some aspects of the interaction made him uncomfortable. In business meetings, people seemed to sit and stand very close to him, and he had a feeling that they were breathing on him and seriously invading his personal space. Whenever he could, he would step back to ease the situation, but it felt like each time he stepped back, the other party would step forward. So it was a week of people chasing him around the room.

Had Paul been informed of this cultural difference, he would have been more prepared for the closer negotiations. Even during interactions where the other party was making him uncomfortable, he would have stepped back with a greater understanding of the situation and empathy for the other person. Oftentimes, the understanding of what is happening allows us to accept the situation with greater ease.

Another thing that frustrated Paul was the sense that things were rather unorganized: People would arrive at meetings a little later than they had promised, and once or twice a potential customer excused himself from the meeting to take unrelated phone calls. Reflecting on his trip, he admits to feeling a little overwhelmed with the whole situation.

Middle Eastern countries typically adopt a polychronic sense of time. Meeting times are a little more flexible, and schedules tend to be more fluid.

Had Paul been informed of this cultural difference, it would have helped him recalibrate his expectations about how things would progress during his trip, and he would have been able to adjust his time accordingly. He could have carried something to read while he was waiting for others to arrive, or even taken the time to enjoy the new surroundings while he was waiting.

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