Q. 1-4 1. Who has responsibility for the situation? What is the nature of variou
ID: 434180 • Letter: Q
Question
Q. 1-4 1. Who has responsibility for the situation? What is the nature of various stakeholders responsibilities? Headquarters HR? Japan HR? Fred Bailey? Jennifer Bailey? Dave Steiner, companymanaging partner? Management development?2. What does the situation say about the firms human resource department?
3. What are the root causes of the problem is that Fred Bailey experienced?
4. What should Fred barely do now? What are his options and what are the pros and cons of his various options? E 1: Fred Bailey: An Innocent Abroad Study in Cross-Cultural Management (US/Japan) A Case Stewart Black he window of his 24th-floor office at the tranquil beauty of the Imperial hstle and bustle of downtown Tokyo. It had been only six months since cey had arrived with his wife and two children for this three-year assignment as the frea tor of Kline & Associates' Tokyo office. Kline& Associates was a lrge multinatonal Palace a director o ld to somehow Given osulting firm with offices in 19 countries worldwide Fred was now trying to decide if he simply pack up and tell the home office that he was coming home or if he should try convince his wife and himself that they should stay and finish the assignment. about the assignment to begin with, it was a mystery to Fred how things had gotten to this point. As he watched the swans glide across the water how excited they all were in the moat that surrounds the Imperial Palace, Fred reflected on the past seven months Seven months ago, Dave Steiner, the managing partner of the main office in Boston, asked Fred to lunch to discuss business To Fred's surprise, the business they discussed was not about the major project that he and his team had just finished, instead, it was abouta very big promotion and career move. Fred was offered the position of managing director of the firm's relatively new Tokyo office, which had a staff of 40, including seven Americans partner Most of the Americans in the Tokyo office were either associate consultants or research analysts. Fred would be in charge of the whole office and would report to a senior Steiner implied to Fred that if this assignment went as well as his past projects, it would be the last step before becoming a partner in the firm. less-than-enthusiastic response. His wife, Jennifer (or Jenny as Fred called her), thought it would be rather difficult to have the children live and go to school in a foreign When Fred told his wife about the unbelievable opportunity, he was shocked at her
Explanation / Answer
1. The organisation owes the responsibility to bridge the communication gap created by cultural differences. The company HR at the headquarter should have trained the teams of both locations in cultural diversity and sensitivity related issues at the workplace so as to avoid the trouble as they come face to face. The Japan HR should, have trained the local manpower to deal with foreign cultures and understand their work style before going head on. The company CEO should have ensured that the cross cultural issues are addressed to in a positive and effective way. All this, could have avoided the clash of cultures as it is happening here.
2. Yes. The HR lacked foresight to see what is coming, as it put the two teams with entirely different cultural and work outlook without making them ready to work with each other.
3. The root cause of the problem lies in the cultural difference which makes them different from each other in terms of communication style, perception, work style, attitude and viewpoints and ability to deal with situations. As both teams do it differently, they find it difficult to coxist at workplace, delivering the desired performance.
4. Fred must arrange a comprehensive training session that addresses the issues caused by the cultural differences at workplace. Then he should hold a workshop on cross cultural assimilation, tolerance and sensitivity by a bilingual expert who can prepare both teams to deal with each other. Fred, himself should also attend thse session to have the necessary insights that will help him to manage the cross cultural differences with ease. The pros of the action are that this is the most harmless activity that can be done to put the house on order. The cons include the increased interruption on work due to trainings that may increase the pressure further due to little time left to complete the project, or it might be too late to address the issue and the activity might backfire to make matter even worse.
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