INB2101: Cross Cultural Management Strategies at Ethio Telecom

This case study explores the challenges and opportunities of cross-cultural management within Ethio Telecom, an Ethiopian telecommunications company. As a newly appointed manager transitioning from Australia, the author reflects on the importance of adapting to the local culture and fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. The analysis considers factors such as cultural value orientations, national culture, and communication strategies to effectively manage a workforce comprised of individuals from various backgrounds. The report emphasizes the need for ethical leadership, fair treatment, and the promotion of teamwork to enhance business performance while navigating potential cultural barriers and language differences. The application of Hofstede's cultural dimensions is also discussed as a framework for understanding and managing cultural nuances within the organization.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Cross cultural management
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

1CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Position and career...........................................................................................................................3
Company..........................................................................................................................................3
Nation..............................................................................................................................................4
New colleagues................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4

2CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The topic is presented to discuss about managing diverse groups of people and how can it
contribute to cross cultural management and enhanced business performance. I have gained a
good position in one of the organizations named Ethio Telecom in Ethiopia as a manager
(ethiotelecom.et, 2018). I have been moved from Australia to Ethiopia and so adaptation to the
new foreign culture is important for proper strategic planning along with the encouragement of
diversity to manage values and ethics properly and improve the effectiveness of business
practices too.
Position and career
Holding a Managerial position is always vital and thus it is necessary for controlling the
workforce consisting of employees appropriately. The employees are from different age groups,
cultures and from different backgrounds and ethnicity or religion, due to which, I need to
manage the diverse group of employees and ensure that the organizational standards are
maintained (Thomas & Peterson, 2017). I have completed my degree related to human resource
management and thus it is important for managing a diverse work groups consisting of
employees, furthermore manage good communication, coordination among work and teamwork
to accomplish tasks within time and with much ease and efficiency while working at Ethio
Telecom.

3CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Company
Ethiopia is a country that is considered as multi cultural and multi ethnic with different
groups of people staying together. Here, religion is a major influence in Ethiopian life, due to
which, diverse groups of people are found to work at many of the multinational companies
situated all over Ethiopia. The business organization named Ethio Telecom is one of the major
integrated telecommunications’ services provider that provides telephonic communications’
services along with internet and broadband services for making people remain connected with
each other properly (Eisenberg et al., 2013). The company consists of over 22,288 employees
and the operating and net incomes are 3.3 billion and 1.5 billion respectively. The rate of
unemployment in Ethiopia is not much; it is just around 16.80, which could also be overcome
with the creation of more employment scopes and opportunities for the people. The gross
domestic product or GDP in Ethiopia is 8056.15 crores USD. I should make sure to maintain a
discrimination free workplace where employees should be recruited from diverse backgrounds
and they must not be discriminated anyhow based on the race, religion, color, creed, ethnicity or
culture from which they belong (Mor, Morris & Joh, 2013).
With the increased transportation facilities, people from various parts of the world like
from the African countries and other places have visited Ethiopia to obtain growth opportunities
and a better place for making advancement in their professional career. Though they sometimes
face cultural barriers and language differences, still the need to adopt the local culture should be
an influential factor not only for them but also for a person like me to gain a good place in the
organization at Ethiopia (French, 2015).

4CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
I have prioritized n the eight cultural value orientations including the time focus,
structure, nation, time orientation space, power, competition and communication. The time focus
has enabled me to concentrate on developing plans to recruit and select the right individuals for
strengthening the workforce efficiency and I preferred using the monochromic approach for
focusing on one task at a time to achieve the short term goals one by one and not create
complexities with the management of multiple tasks at a time. The time orientation has enabled
me to focus on the long term goals, i.e., to manage strategic planning and manage consistency in
recruiting candidates without any discrimination. I will always try to manage quality by paying
the right wages to the employees, regardless of male or female without discriminating them
based on their gender, rather focus on their performances and commitment level (Sultana et al.,
2013). To promote effective communication, as a manger, it would be my responsibility to
conduct meetings and act as a transformation leader to obtain the ideas and opinions of
employees before making a decision.
Nation
Nation culture is another important factor that contributes to the business growth and
development, which can be achieved through management of diverse groups of people. As the
newly appointed manager of Ethio Telecom, it is my duty to consider the preferences and
demands of workers and maintain a flexible workforce, which shall be possible by designing a
hierarchical organizational structure and positive work culture (Steers & Sánchez‐Runde, 2017).
Being provided with goo and flexible working conditions, the employees from diverse
backgrounds could easily adopt the local culture and gain trust and belief in working freely and
commit themselves fully to the organisation.

5CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
New colleagues
It is normal to meet new colleagues and meet diverse group of people belonging from
different backgrounds and cultures and sometimes issues related to language barriers and cultural
differences may arise. Due to belonging from a different country, I would like to learn the local
culture and present myself to my subordinates and show them my respect towards the ethical
beliefs, values and culture, which can contribute to the workforce efficiency and higher
teamwork performance at Ethio Telecom in Ethiopia (ethiotelecom.et¸2018). Based on
Hofstede’s analysis of cultural dimensions, it could be understood that the power distance has
allowed me to use my power and authority wisely to promote cross cultural communication
while the other dimensions including the Uncertainty avoidance, Individual versus group
orientation, Short-term versus long-term orientation, etc. could allow me to create a sense of trust
and loyalty among the employees and influence them to perform to their potential while working
within a diversified workplace and culture (Jyoti & Kour, 2015).
Conclusion
From the report, it could be understood that the cross cultural issues were common and it
often created complex work environment, because of which, a diverse group of people was
needed to be formed to manage workforce efficiency. As a newly appointed manager of Ethio
Telcom, I have moved from Australia to Ethiopia and so it would be my duty to create a diverse
workplace and ensure that the people from different backgrounds and cultures could work
together as an unit and deliver their best to contribute to the business performance with proper
management of values, ethics and maintaining equality all throughout.

6CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
References
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ethiotelecom.et. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.ethiotelecom.et/
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Mor, S., Morris, M. W., & Joh, J. (2013). Identifying and training adaptive cross-cultural
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Steers, R. M., & Sánchez‐Runde, C. J. (2017). Culture, motivation, and work behavior. The
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Sultana, M., Rashid, M., Mohiuddin, M., & Mazumder, M. (2013). Cross-cultural management
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Thomas, D. C., & Peterson, M. F. (2017). Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts. Sage
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