Intercultural Management in Business: A Case Study on Cross-Cultural Problems in Joint Ventures

Intercultural
Management In
Business

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report is based on a case study about a joint venture of a US sport equipment
manufacturer and a Japanese company. It has been discussed that Japanese company as well as
US sport equipment manufacturers want to enter into a joint venture because of the enormous
interest of Japanese people in the game of golf. Moreover, it has been identified that three
representatives from each of the firms from US and Japan met in San Francisco to establish a
joint venture. The joint venture never did take place because of the inability of both the parties to
understand inter cultural requirements. The report has discussed the cross-cultural problems that
have led to the failure of joint ventures with the help of various theories. Finally, it has advised
about various theories and frameworks that can be helpful in understanding intercultural
management and behaviour.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
American Representative Failed Due to the Problem of Intercultural differences................1
Problems found in Cross-cultural management of joint venture mergers..............................2
Multicultural Theories to understand the difference between the cultural behaviours of the
people across US and Japan...................................................................................................2
Understanding Intercultural awareness by American Representatives for understanding
intercultural problems.............................................................................................................3
Comparison and contrast of the distinct features of different management behaviours across
two cultures with the help of Hofstede’s Six Dimensions of Culture....................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
It is very important that the people who are entering into joint ventures from various
locations must understand the culture and the practices of people from different places.
Intercultural Management can be explained as the management of people from various
diverse/similar backgrounds, traditions, religion, societies, Nations, beliefs etc., their existence
with each other by mutual understanding and respect. The case-study has discussed the joint
venture for the US sport equipment manufacturer and the Japanese company that has failed due
to the inability of the representatives to understand intercultural requirements. In a brief manner,
intercultural management can be explained as the mutual understanding and respect of each
other's cultures within an international context. Intercultural management is very important for a
business in order to acknowledge the cultural differences and manage them effectively, instead
of ignoring them so that better work conditions can be maintained at the workplace. The report
will describe various inter-cultural requirements for these international organisations. It will also
discuss various problems that have led to the failure of establishing a joint venture. In the end, it
will discuss various differences in the management behaviours across the cultures of the USA
and Japan.
MAIN BODY
American Representative Failed Due to the Problem of Intercultural differences
The American representative failed to understand the intercultural differences that led to
the failure of the joint venture. The main cause of the failure was the problem of intercultural
communication that is described as the ability of people from different cultures to interact with
each other by mutually understanding and respecting each other's cultures, behaviours, traditions,
values, etc. The representatives of the US sports equipment manufacturer have not recognised
behaviour and culture of people in Japan, as well as the representatives of Japanese company do
not recognise behaviours and cultures in the US that lead to the lack of understanding about the
behaviours of people from both the countries. The representatives from Japanese companies and
US sports equipment manufacturers were not aware of how to behave in front of each other. The
representatives met in San Francisco where the American representatives showed inadequate
behaviour by taking off their jackets, rolling up their sleeves and talking in a manner that is seen
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Intercultural Management in
Business
1

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Case 2...............................................................................................................................................3
Where did Bob go wrong?......................................................................................................3
How could you help the company better understand this cross-cultural problem?................4
Use intercultural theories to explain it and support your discussion......................................5
What would be your advice to Bob?......................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
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INTRODUCTION
Intercultural management is basically defined as a process in which organisation
acknowledge cultural differences and manage intercultural communication and other aspects
effectively. It is important for an organisation who perform their business on international
platform to have efficient form of intercom cultural management skill in order to understand
cultural aspects of different individuals and country efficiently (Aleksandrova, 2021). This will
help them to significantly acquire more growth and development opportunity. Intercultural
management plays essential role for companies as nowadays organisation work across culture
and countries. In this with help of understanding different culture companies can develop
positive relationship with suppliers and consumers in more effective manner. It is essential for
management leaders and other executives of business to have good understanding of diverse
form of culture in order to manage business in more efficient manner. Present report has been
conducted on the case study analysis of Bob Tunis.
MAIN BODY
Case 2
Where did Bob go wrong?
Before making sales presentation to plywood wholesaler in Tokyo, Bob Tunis must have
proper understanding of the cultural and language aspects of Japanese culture and language.
Along with this, Bob must also require to have proper and efficient knowledge and
understanding of respective country cultural aspect as well as language (Barmeyer, Bausch and
Mayrhofer, 2021). It is the place where Bob Tunis goes wrong, as if Bob with having proper
intercultural skills, can have better form of understanding of negotiation process. Along with
Bob Tunis also required to identify local knowledge and sense of communication as to
effectively deal with Japanese executives. With help of having deeper understanding of their
cultural and language identity Bob Tunis can seamlessly promote company business idea in front
of them. According to the case study analysis it has been identified that after the presentation
there was no response from all the three Japanese executive, this states that they did not
understand that single thing that Bob said. Thus, with the help of having proper cultural
preferences understanding of Japanese culture Bob can assure success. Proper understanding of
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