University HRM Case Study Report: Cross-Cultural Management Challenges

This report analyzes a case study focusing on cross-cultural management challenges within a software development firm. The study highlights communication issues arising from cultural differences between Indian and American employees, specifically regarding communication styles and decision-making processes. The report explores strategies for overcoming these intercultural issues, including external training, collective bargaining, and developing cultural understanding. It emphasizes the importance of open communication, adjustments in working styles, and the inclusion of local cultural elements in training programs. The analysis concludes with recommendations for fostering better team communication and collaboration, ultimately aiming to reduce conflicts and improve business decision-making.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction
Cross cultural training and development is one of the most important aspects that must
be carried on in the modern day scenario so that all the employees are able to work in
collaboration. In the modern day scenario a proper cross cultural training is needed so that
working with the remote employees is possible. However there are differences in the culture and
the understanding of people belonging from different cultures and from different parts of the
society (Sánchez-Polo et al., 2019). The given case study is evident of the fact that without
proper cross cultural training and development there will be several issues in the team
management and the proper team communication.
Issues that arise due to complexity and negotiation management are
Communication issues
As mentioned in the given case study there are issues that have actually led to the
communication issues among the employees or the team members. This was mainly because of
the issues that Indians and Americans come from different parts of the country and they have
major differences in their communication. This is because Indians have always been trained to
get the support from their supervisors and they are not very self dependent in terms of taking
their decision on their own. On the other hand, American employees have always been taught to
develop a proper horizontal communication system so that they can take part in production
decision making process and also be able to get all the information about the decisions making
processes.

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Responses to the case study
Strategies for overcoming the inter-cultural issues
External training and development facilities must be arranged so that all the employees
are able to get the training and are able to overcome their individual differences. All the
employees must be asked to take part in this training session so that they are able to overcome
the differences and also embrace the same.
Utilizing the collective bargaining method
This is one of the most important and influential methods that must be used by the team
managers in order to make sure that they are being able to help their employees overcome all the
differences and the ways in which the communication actually takes place (Crul et al., 2017).
This is a very effective method because they will be making use of this method to reach out to
issues that are arising between a group of employees on one hand and the employers on the one
hand (Wanigasekera, 2019).
On the other hand they will be able to make sure that the employers or the managers are being
able to make sure that they can understand the different issues if the employees and also solve
the same by using the different methods like distribution of some monetary payments or some
kinds of extra additional facilities. This will always ensure that the employees are being
motivated to take up the different training and development sessions for identifying and also
overcoming the cross cultural differences (Shin, Hasse & Schotter, 2017).
Developing some understanding and knowledge about other’s culture

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One of the major mistakes that are often done by us is to misunderstand the culture and
the beliefs of people who belong from any other social or religious groups. However it is evident
from the case study that Indian employees gave a very reluctant attitude because of the non direct
communication method that they are taught. It is because of this reason that they have to make
several compromises on the team management and also on the proper progress of the project and
its proper delivery to the targeted clients (Ogbu, 2017). In order to avoid these kinds of situations
all the employees will have to develop a very open ended and horizontal communication with
their managers so that there is a proper free flowing communication among the armigers and the
employees. This will be very helpful in developing the right kinds of strategies to overcome the
inter cultural differences and make sure that the team members are working together as a team.
The negotiators have to make sure that they are making some or the other kinds of
adjustments with their own behavior style or with their own working styles. If they see that the
employees are not being able to open up with each other then the change management experts or
the managers will have to develop some or the other kinds of strategies where they will be able
to understand the exact issues that are being faced by the employees and then the needed
strategies that must be developed to solve these issues (Barieva et al., 2018).
Trainers or the other members who are taking care of the cross cultural management must
make sure that they are not making any kinds of derogatory comments about the cultural or the
social beliefs of employees who are coming from different backgrounds. This will ensure that the
employees will develop a kind of trust among the employees and they will also start cooperating
in the process and will be able to embrace the cultural and the social differences that are arising
among the employees. Involvements of the local cultural elements and the local people who will
be able to incorporate some local beliefs or some local traditional aspects into the entire training

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system will be very useful as the employees coming from foreign countries will be able to get
acquainted with the local norms and the local business etiquettes’.
For an example as the software developing firm had brought the American business men
into project training process right from the beginning then the employees from India would have
been able to realize that time management is one of the major issue and that they will have to
work on this aspect and work on their time m management skill.American communication
professionals must have been included in the training team so that Indian employees are able to
understand about the different ways in which team communication must always take place.
Closing comments
Therefore it can be concluded that the inter cultural and the cross cultural differences
have to be identified and reduced so that they are able to work with each other rather the
engaging in some personal conflicts. Communications activities have to be developed so that
they are able to make sure that there are no issues in the proper and timely transferring of the
different business decisions that are being taken. It must be made sure that in order to overcome
these issues, the employees must know about each other. This can be done by developing many
new games and discussion activities where the employees will be able to understand each other
and also be able to interact with each other properly.

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References
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Ogbu, J. U. (2017). Understanding cultural differences and school learning. Education libraries,
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