Individual Reflection: Cross-Cultural Management Podcast Project

This assignment is an individual reflection on a cross-cultural management podcast project, focusing on the challenges and complexities of managing in a Tanzanian context. The student, acting as a manager, explores strategies for navigating cultural differences, preserving organizational culture, and addressing issues like power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. The reflection incorporates Hofstede's cultural dimensions, Tuckman’s stages of team development, and social cognitive theory to analyze the impact of cultural values on workplace dynamics, conflict resolution, and ethical considerations. The student discusses personal experiences, team dynamics, and the importance of ethical conduct in cross-cultural communication, emphasizing the role of supervisors in providing guidance and support. The reflection highlights the significance of learning, open forums, and ethical codes of conduct in fostering effective cross-cultural management, with references to various academic sources.

Running head- MANAGEMENT
Cross cultural management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1
MANAGEMENT
Part 2
Individual reflection
According to me, cultural symbols reflects the etymological origin of the people.
Culture is podcast for the projected in the behavioural expressions. I felt myself lucky upon
getting a podcast for the project on the Tanzanian culture. The perspective, which I adopted
for the podcast for the project was of a manager, planning for installing dams and plants in
the factories and outlets. My focus was on the strategies adopted by the managers for
preserving the organizational culture and nation’s pride. Through this, I intended to shed light
on the aspect of how values influence the workplace culture. This was my subtask under the
topic of National Culture, an important segment in my podcast for the project. For collecting
the data, I referred to the websites, journals and books on Tanzanian culture. Incorporating
Hofstede cultural dimensions into the collected information enhanced my understanding
about culture. However, this was not easy. I had to refer to various sites for gaining an insight
into the true essence of the theory. Along with this, I also referred to the internet sources for
clearing the concepts related to the cultural dimensions as proposed by Hofstede.
However, first application of the theory did not prove to be successful. At the initial
stage, discrepancies developed between the theories and the proposed facts. Affirming to the
arguments of Mar Miras‐Rodríguez et al. (2015), mention can be made of the dimension,
power distance, to which I proposed that the managers need to be conscious about
preservation of the cultural values in the workplace. This is respective of the position in
which they are posted. This seemed to be perfect in terms of deriving the results. I learnt
about the index, which helped me to achieve an understanding about the extent to which the
managers can exercise their power and authority within the workplace. In this context, I think
I failed in podcast for the projecting the issue of power distribution within the society

2
MANAGEMENT
properly. In this, I can cite the reference of corruption, which relates to the act of indulging
in illegal activities for fulfilling self-interests. However, biasness is one of the negative
aspects in this concept, which contradicts equality and diversity. This partiality deprives the
individuals from exposing their capabilities and competencies. Side-parting with the political
groups and influential people destroys the true essence of working in teams. As a matter of
specification, French, (2015) opines that the concept aggravates the complexities in the
cultural differences, nullifying the concept of corporate social responsibility. This is because
in teamwork, it is the responsibility of the team members to contribute towards social
cognitive learning through collaborative approach towards completion of the project related
tasks.
As a sequential step, I applied the dimension of individualism vs collectivism. As it
was a group work, therefore, I incorporated collectivism approach. This is in terms of
measuring the teamwork, which we exposed for completing the podcast for the project and
the research work. In this application, I felt that Tuckman’s stages of team development is
also relevant, as formation of strong and flexible teams helps in achieving productive output.
Countering this, Guttormsen and Lauring (2018), states that the dimension of the
individualism is also effective in terms of assessing the individual efforts towards executing
the allocated duties and responsibilities. In this application, I was confused regarding the
application of the appropriate approach.
As per the arguments of Holgersson et al., (2016), Gender biasness is one of the
crucial components within the discussion on the collective approach. We had female
members, who were provided equal treatment and opportunities for voicing out their opinions
regarding the research topic. We worked together, which indicates the workforce diversity. I
was aware of the fact that the members hail from different socio-cultural background, which
would give rise to the instances of conflicts, discriminations and harassments. The conflicts

3
MANAGEMENT
was an inevitable part of the research podcast for the project, mainly during the decision-
making process. I can make mention of the group discussions, when the members from the
other cultures indulged in arguments and oppositions. These conflicts delayed the process of
executing the podcast for the project related activities. In this context, I applied the dimension
of uncertainty avoidance index. Aligning with the arguments of Jiang et al. (2016),
consideration of this index helped me to measure the intensity of the conflicts and to what
extent is it affecting the workplace culture. In this, my focus was on workplace as a whole, to
which the threshold of Tanzania is just a mere part.
I can relate the aspect of short and long term goals, which the team members created
for adding focus into the podcast for the project related activities. In case of the managers of
Tanzanian companies, developing goals helped in segmenting the activities according to the
priorities. However, Johnson and Cullen (2017) points out that resistance to change hampers
the transformation in case of setting dams and plants in the companies of Tanzania. This
aspect reflects clinging to the traditional roots by the natives for preserving the cultural
values, customs and traditions.
In terms of the arguments of Ollier-Malaterre and Foucreault (2017), dimension of
indulgence vs restraint, I can cite the instance of grants and permissions, which we had to
possess for averting the illegal instances. Before the data collection process, the managers
had to take permission from the local authorities of Tanzania in terms of setting up the dams
and plants. With restraint, I can relate the intervention of harsh and orthodox religious and
cultural norms, obstructing the process of bringing transformations. In the case of our
teamwork, I used the Culture compass for assessing the impact of my preference for cultural
values and behavioural defects while working with the members from other socio-cultural
background (Richter et al. 2016). The compass was costly, however, I had to purchase it for
evaluating my performance during the podcast for the project.

4
MANAGEMENT
Along with this, I also incorporated the social cognitive theory into the propositions.
This is in terms of measuring the communication, which enhances the learning of one’s
culture. I can relate this with observational learning, where the people imitate the behaviour
of others for enhancing their learning about other cultures. This was the case when we
indulged in group work for completing the podcast for the project. Imitating the culture of
others helped us in enhancing our preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge in this
context. I can make mention of one of the members who was weak in grasping the
instructions. He always intended to follow others instead of working independently. In spite
of the supervisors giving assurance, he lacked the confidence in executing the allocated duties
and responsibilities. Rationality in this approach would enhance the corporate social
responsibility. I think consideration of triple bottom line would prove beneficial in terms of
enhancing the awareness about the conglomeration of the parameters of social, economic and
environmental. This is in terms of the responsibility to cater to the public interest of the
clients and the customers.
Delving deep into the aspect, I think imitating is the initiative towards averting the
mistakes and getting mocked. Irrational approach in this context is a matter of shame for the
members as well as the culture to which he belongs. According to me, the supervisors need to
be more conscious of dealing with such sensitive issues. In our podcast for the project, the
supervisors provided adequate guidance and support to the members. In spite of this, there
were conflicts, discriminations and harassments in group discussions. Aligning with the
assumptions of Thomas and Peterson (2017), this aspect reflects disobedience towards the
ethical code of conduct, which we were instructed to follow during the execution of the
podcast for the project related activities.
Learning is one of the other components, which I can cite while reflecting on the
podcast for the project. With reference to the member, who was slow in grasping the

5
MANAGEMENT
instructions, I think open forums was fruitful. Open forums proved beneficial in terms of
clarifying his concepts regarding theoretical considerations towards culture. I also felt that
special classes proved effective for enhancing our understanding regarding the proper and
accurate application of the theories into the collected data. Organizing the classes was a
planned approach and responsibility of the supervisor in terms of upgrading their corporate
social responsibility (Ward and Ravlin 2017). Within this, ethics relates to the approach of
preserving the core cultural values while communicating with the members from other
cultures. This can be done through the means of implementing Ethical Code of Conduct into
the project terms and conditions. I think strictness in the implementation is fruitful in terms of
achieving positive outcomes. Rationality in this approach would be helpful in terms of
preserving the fundamental rights of the clients.
The audience, expands the scope and arena of cultural diversity. According to my
opinions, podcast is a managerial technique towards controlling the cross cultural
communications.

6
MANAGEMENT
References
del Mar Miras‐Rodríguez, M., Carrasco‐Gallego, A. and Escobar‐Pérez, B., 2015. Are
socially responsible behaviors paid off equally? A Cross‐cultural analysis. Corporate Social
Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(4), pp.237-256.
French, R., 2015. Cross-cultural management in work organisations. Kogan Page Publishers.
Guttormsen, D.S. and Lauring, J., 2018. Fringe Voices in Cross-Cultural Management
Research: Silenced and Neglected?.
Holgersson, C., Tienari, J., Meriläinen, S. and Bendl, R., 2016. Executive search as
ethnosociality: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Cross Cultural
Management, 16(2), pp.153-169.
Jiang, X., Flores, H.R., Leelawong, R. and Manz, C.C., 2016. The effect of team
empowerment on team performance: A cross-cultural perspective on the mediating roles of
knowledge sharing and intra-group conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management,
27(1), pp.62-87.
Johnson, J.L. and Cullen, J.B., 2017. Trust in cross‐cultural relationships. The Blackwell
Handbook of Cross
‐Cultural Management, pp.335-360.
Ollier-Malaterre, A. and Foucreault, A., 2017. Cross-national work-life research: Cultural and
structural impacts for individuals and organizations. Journal of Management, 43(1), pp.111-
136.
Richter, N.F., Hauff, S., Schlaegel, C., Gudergan, S., Ringle, C.M. and Gunkel, M., 2016.
Using cultural archetypes in cross-cultural management studies. Journal of International
Management, 22(1), pp.63-83.

7
MANAGEMENT
Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017. Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts.
Sage Publications.
Ward, A.K. and Ravlin, E.C., 2017. Building influence as an outsider: A theoretical approach
to cross-cultural impression management. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3),
pp.491-506.