University Case Study: Intercultural Management in Business (MAR015-2)

This assignment analyzes a case study involving John Smith, a chief engineer facing intercultural challenges while working with Japanese clients. The report examines John's misunderstandings stemming from cultural differences in work ethic and communication styles. It explores how John could better understand the situation, suggesting consultancy programs and training to bridge the cultural gap. The analysis incorporates intercultural theories, including Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theory and Identity Negotiation Theory, to explain the issues. The report offers practical advice for John, emphasizing the importance of understanding Japanese culture, encouraging teamwork, facilitating interaction, and establishing clear policies. The conclusion highlights the significance of addressing intercultural issues in a global business environment to foster effective communication and collaboration. The case study emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural differences in the workplace, which is critical for successful global business operations.

Intercultural
Management in
Business
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Where did John go wrong?.........................................................................................................3
How could you help John better understand this cross-cultural problem?.................................4
Use intercultural theories to explain it and support your discussion..........................................4
What would be your advice to John?..........................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Cross culture is considered as the concept which recognizes the differences between the
business people of different counties. Ethnicities and background. It is essential for company to
bridging them as that help them in operating in effective manner. By the increase in globalization
process, cross culture education is become critical as well as essential for business. The
respective report is based on the case of John Smith who was a chief engineer in a machinery
manufacturer based in the Portsmouth (Barmeyer and Mayer, 2020). His firm recently sign
contract with their largest customer Japan in order to upgrade equipments as well as retraining
mechanise for maintenance. While working in the Japan John experienced several issues as
Japanese employees ask him to work after working hours. But according to John it is wrong to
work during the personal time. The topics covered in respective report are factors which show
where John go wrong and how to help John better understand this cross-cultural problem. Along
with this it also include intercultural theories as well as recommendation or advice for John.
MAIN BODY
Where did John go wrong?
John Smith was a Chief engineer at the Machinery manufacturer at the Portsmouth and
his firm signed a contract with their largest customers in Japan in order to upgrade equipments as
well as retrain mechanics for maintaining effectiveness of equipment. The Japanese firm sent all
the ten mechanics to Portsmouth for three months retraining course under the supervision of
John. Moreover, during this John may experience several cultural change issues as he never work
as well as lived in abroad. While this, John get to know that Japanese clients are fluent in English
as well as tireless workers. During this several weeks of training gone smooth but shortly John
Smith get annoyed due to constant demands during his personal time (Huang, 2020). It is
generally happen because Japanese client are looking or seeking for John after the scheduled
session time get over for getting additional information. This make John frustrated as well as
irritated from their clients as this is mainly happen because of cultural change. During this there
are some wrong side of John which he need to understand and try to overcome it. Those sides are
John never try to adopt as well as understand the culture of client which leads to image that show
John is not interested in working in proper manner. Moreover, it is also wrong side of John that
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he never try to interact with client to make them understand his viewpoint or try to get
understand their view point.
How could you help John better understand this cross-cultural problem?
John is experiencing issues related to cross culture which impact on their working. This
will also leads to disagreement among the John and their Japanese client. In respect of this, it is
essential for John to understand the cross cultural problem as according to that they can develop
effective decision as well as plan (Huang, 2020). In order to make John understand about the
cross cultural problems there are several ways such as authority may conduct consultancy
program according to which they provide consultancy to the John. Moreover, this consultancy is
related with how the culture of Portsmouth is different from the Japan and it is essential for the
John Smith to adopt the culture of Japan because they are their largest client. In addition to this,
during consultancy consultant also explain them how the adaptation of new culture is beneficial
for the John's as well as company growth. Along with this, company may also organized training
and development practices so that they can make John understand that their culture is different
from the Japan so he need to adopt their culture because that leads to growth. In addition to this,
by conducting training and development activities John Smith also able to understand how this
opportunity is developing their culture. Moreover he also able to understand that if he will not
accept the cross culture then he may experienced issues that is related to their growth as well as
decline in company profit and position. These are some of the main ways through which John
better understand the cross-cultural problem.
Use intercultural theories to explain it and support your discussion.
In order to understand cross culture situation in effective manner a company management
need to adopt different intercultural theories as that will help in understanding situation in
effective manner as well as it also aid in developing strategies (Ozlem, 2020). In respect of given
case of John, they may adopt different models so that he can understand the situation and ready
to conduct it properly. Below some of the main intercultural theories are mentioned below:-
Anxiety/ Uncertainty Management theory
The Anxiety/ Uncertainty Management theory is introduced by the William B.
Gudykunst in order to define how a person effectively interact based on their uncertainty as well
as anxiety in the social situation. According to the Gudykunst in order to conduct proper
intercultural communication it is essential to minimise anxiety or uncertainty occurrence. The
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respective theory is mainly based on the UTR (Uncertainty reduction theory) that was developed
by Calabrese as well as Berger in year 1974. The Anxiety/ Uncertainty Management theory
mainly focus on the individual, intergroup, interpersonal as well as culture so that accordingly
decision or strategy can be taken effectively (Pikhart, 2020). The respective model also help in
guiding human behaviour so that they get encouraged to understand the situation in proper
manner. In respect of John case he experienced cultural gap issues as he belongs from
Portsmouth and now he is working with Japanese colleagues who have totally different working
style. It is so because people from Japan are highly focus on their work and they also life to work
in personal time but this culture is totally different from Portsmouth culture as they respect their
personal time. So by adopting this model John can try to understand the culture of Japan because
now he have to conduct work with Japanese staffs.
Ting Toomey's work on identify negotiation theory
In identity negotiation theory, identity is refer as the multifaceted identifies of cultural,
ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientations, social class, personal image and other
categorization social construction processes. This theory is developed by Stella Ting Toomey in
year 1986. In this theory intercultural competence is consider as communication resourcefulness
phenomenon which identifies that cognitive, affective and behavioural resourcefulness. This is
significant theory which is majorly concerns with the importance of negotiating sociocultural
membership is identified as well as personal identify issues or problems with in intergroup
communication situations (Santoso and Apriyanto, 2020). It has been identified that individuals
composite their identify with the assistance of social conditioning process along with their
experiences. In respect of John case, Ting Toomey's work on identify negotiation theory help
them in conducting work in effective manner at the different culture. According to this theory by
adopting this model John encourage to understand the culture aspects of Japan where he need to
conduct work. This will help them in developing effective career as his work performance get
enhanced. This is beneficial for company as well as John as both get growth opportunities.
Anxiety/ Uncertainty Management theory as well as Ting Toomey's work on identify
negotiation theory are the main theories which John may adopt in order to understand the culture
differences among the Portsmouth and Japan. In addition to this, respective theories also help
John in develop strategies through which he can survive in the Japanese culture effectively and
perform properly.
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What would be your advice to John?
By understanding the case of John it is determined that he experienced several issues or
problems due to cross culture. It is mainly take place because he belongs to Portsmouth and he
assign work with Japanese staffs. According to the culture of Portsmouth employees prefer to
take their personal as well as professional life separately but in respect of Japan culture
employees are more focus toward the work. So due to this John is facing issues as Japan
employees say about work in his personal time. In this respect there are several
recommendations for the John which are mentioned below:-
 Understand other culture – According to this advice a person need to understand the
different culture so that they feel comfortable there. In respect of John he belongs from
the Portsmouth and now he need to work in the Japanese culture which are huge
difference (Spencer-Oatey and Wang, 2020). Due to this John also experienced several
issues or problems as he is not able to cooperate with the Japanese clients. In respect of
this it is advice to John that he must try to understand the Japan culture because that will
help them in conducting their work in effective manner. In addition to this, understanding
culture of Japan John to ensure that all work conduct in proper manner and they attain
their target successfully.
 Encourage for team working – In respect of this advice an individual must encourage to
work in a team because through that they able to understand each other as well as it also
help in accepting others culture and expectation. This will also help in developing an
effective relationship among the members of team. In respect of John he must encourage
to conduct work in a team with Japanese employees as through this John able to
understand their culture as well as it also provide others to understand John's culture. This
will help both John and others to conduct their work in effective and appropriate manner.
 Conduct interaction with others – According to this advice a person need to conduct
proper and regular interaction with others with whom they need to work. It is so because
it provide opportunities for understanding each other as well as it also help in determining
each other issues (Wang Guénier, 2020). It will mainly help in developing effective
strategies and plans. In respect of John case his working culture of Portsmouth is
different from Japan so in this situation he must need to interact with the others as that
will him in understanding others perspectives in proper way. In addition to this, it will
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also leads to situation according to which he is conducting work properly according to
Japan culture.
 Develop common rules and policy – In respect of this advice a person need to develop
common policy and rule by consulting all team members. It is so because that will help in
ensuring that all employees need to follow common rules and regulation related to
working (Yao and Du-Babcock, 2020). Due to this no one feel bad due to culture
difference as all are following same rules and polices. In respect of John he must interact
with Japanese client and set a proper working policy and rule according to which there is
proper and fix time of working. Through this John able to get proper and effective
personal time for relaxing.
These are some of the most common and effective strategies or recommendations which
are adopted by John in order to avoid issues related to the cross cultural difference.
CONCLUSION
By analysing above mentioned topic it can be summarised that every company
experienced issues related to cross culture when they operate at the different location. It is
generally take place because working as well as living culture of one nation is different from the
another one. While this it is essential for companies to understand issues experienced by
employees due to cross culture working. Moreover, accordingly they need to develop strategies
and plan because that will motivate employees as well as improve their working at workplace
effectively. There are several intercultural theories which a company need to adopt in order to
conduct their work in effective manner in the situation of cross culture such as Anxiety/
Uncertainty Management theory as well as Ting Toomey's work on identify negotiation theory.
Along with this, there are several practices which a person may adopt in order to face cross
culture situation in effective manner such as interact with others, try to understand their culture
and many more.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barmeyer, C. and Mayer, C.H., 2020. Positive intercultural management in the fourth industrial
revolution: managing cultural otherness through a paradigm shift. International Review
of Psychiatry, pp.1-13.
Huang, J., 2020. Intercultural Management as a Powerful Business Tool. In Sino-German
Intercultural Management (pp. 9-26). Springer, Cham.
Huang, J., 2020. Sino-German Intercultural Management: Self-Organization, Communication
and Conflict Resolution in a Digital Age. Springer Nature.
Ozlem, Y., 2020. Enhancing the development of intercultural communicative competence in
business and study environments. Training, Language and Culture, 4(1).
Pikhart, M., 2020, February. Critical Success Factors in Computer Aided Intercultural Business
Communication Course. In International Conference on Remote Engineering and
Virtual Instrumentation (pp. 954-960). Springer, Cham.
Santoso, D. and Apriyanto, S., 2020. Intercultural Communication and Business Chain
Formation of America and Japan. Talent Development & Excellence, 12(2).
Spencer-Oatey, H. and Wang, J., 2020. Establishing professional intercultural relations: Chinese
perceptions of behavioural success in a Sino-American exchange visit. Journal of
Intercultural Communication Research, 49(6), pp.499-519.
Wang Guénier, A.D., 2020. A Multimodal Course Design for Intercultural Business
Communication. Journal of Teaching in International Business, 31(3), pp.214-237.
Yao, Y. and Du-Babcock, B., 2020. English as a Lingua Franca in Mainland China: An Analysis
of Intercultural Business Communicative Competence. International Journal of
Business Communication, p.2329488419898221.
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