Challenges in International Management: A Case Study of Shonteur Inc.

This report examines the international management challenges faced by Shonteur Inc., a wine wholesaler with a subsidiary in Europe. The report analyzes the problems encountered by John Thompson, an executive, focusing on cross-cultural issues and the impact of his participative management style. It explores the reasons behind these challenges, attributing them to international borders and cultural differences. The report also discusses the lessons learned from other globalized businesses and provides recommendations for Thompson to resolve these problems, emphasizing the importance of adapting management strategies to the local culture. The report covers challenges like inadequate trust, perception biases, and communication issues, highlighting the need for understanding cultural nuances in international business operations and the need for a reality check in the corporate world. The conclusion stresses the importance of cross-cultural management for long-term sustainability in the market.

International
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. What are the problems faced by Thompson?.....................................................................1
2. Why the problem has occurred?.........................................................................................2
3. Is the problem due to management across international borders?......................................2
4. Can this problem be prevented in future?...........................................................................3
5. What lessons can be gained from past experience of other organisations who are rendering
services in globalised economy?............................................................................................4
6. Recommendation to Thompson for resolving this problem...............................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
International management is defined as process of management of business operations for
company. They are basically used to carry out business in various countries and needs familiarity
with business regulations and ability to carry out transactions which are involved in multiple
currencies (Lee and Smith, 2018). In this report Shonteur Inc. is taken into consideration which
is a wine wholesaler based in Massachusetts, USA. Their subsidiary is established to procure
wines within Europe for distribution with around 179 employees. This report deals with
challenges faced by Thompson, it addresses the problem along with the reasons behind the same.
It also included that the problem was either due to management across international border and
ways in which this can be resolved. Furthermore, it also comprises of knowledge gained from
past experiences of other businesses who works on globalised economy and a recommendation is
given to Thompson for resolving this problem.
1. What are the problems faced by Thompson?
The major challenges faced by executive of Shonteur Inc. is cross-cultural experience,
this signify that management can take into consideration the experience which is gained by
furnishing services in different countries. Culture is the knowledge which is needed by people
for anticipation of events as well as interpretation of experiences for generation of acceptable
professional & social behaviours. This knowledge builds up values, creates attitude as well as
behaviour of individuals is influenced. The various challenges which are faced due cross-culture
comprises of inadequate trust, perception, inaccurate biases and false communication. Like
within a team French is spoken when manager is around otherwise team members use their own
languages, this may result in argument as well as conflicts among team members. An example
can be taken like Japanese people formulate decision within a group which are generalised
versions of cultural prejudices. Perception like Thompson is rendering services in France, if they
have employees from America then Americans will consider themselves as superior with respect
to French. This is their mindset which can hamper the performance of employees within
Shonteur Inc. as people from undeveloped countries have to go through mental pressure which
might be created by other teammates. This will create a decline in their performance level as well
as motivation level.
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2. Why the problem has occurred?
John Thompson is an executive within Shonteur Inc. which is a wine wholesaler.. They
(John) have successful experience in managing wine subsidiary in USA, California and Napa
Valley. Within this, they made use of participative management which proved to be successful. It
is a kind of management which includes employees at various levels in the process of decision
making which basically empowers members within group. The same management style was used
by them in France. This raised problems of cross-cultural experiences. An example can be taken
to illustrate this problem like John started delegating decision making duties on French superiors.
The decision given by employees were taken into consideration so that their morale can be
boosted but this resulted in problems as they do not take the cross-cultural experience, this is the
factor which must be taken into account while serving in global market. As each employee
belongs to different culture and there working style also varies due to this reason (Lee and Smith,
2018). So, instead of making forceful decisions and making use of methods in which individual
or management is comfortable, the culture in which organisation is operating must be taken into
consideration before using or making any kind of policies, procedures or management styles.
The basic reason behind this is the perception which is created by Thompson that by making use
of participative management, results can be improvised. But rather, problems increased as a
result of it.
3. Is the problem due to management across international borders?
Yes the main reason behind this problem is international borders. The organisations
which are carrying out their operations in international market they need to analyse the culture in
which they are operating as well their employees belong to. International management comprises
of formulation of structuring suitable organisation design, management of people in cross-
cultural environment and building effectual strategies. International challenges occurs while
competing against or cooperating with local community or domestic market. Linguistic barriers
creates impact on the ways in which interaction occurs in between business partners and
employees. Depending upon level of knowledge related with foreign language like French within
France. In this case, Thompson can make use of either English or can learn the country's own
language and formulate strategies with respect to those languages. Culture identifies behaviours,
habits, consumer preferences and holidays of society in which they are furnishing there services.
While implementation of business strategies within foreign countries, cultural characteristics of
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the targeted society needs to be consideration. Cultural differences must show up local levels for
small businesses. Knowledge and information associated with business attitude, etiquette and
habits of foreign country are mandatory to successfully cooperate and compete with business
within a market. These attitudes identify the ways in which businesses responds to various
situations within market. Thompson can handle this information associated with international
business attitudes along with competing against foreign companies within domestic market.
There are many differences among technical development as well as facilities within market. It
will assist them to identify opportunities associated with marketing and sales of services which
are being delivered by Shonteur Inc. As per these strategies are formulated by making use web as
their primary source of information. Their clients are affected marketing messages which are
being delivered via media or face to face interactions or by telephonic conversation which occurs
among different people. For this it is essential to have deep apprehension of morals, religious
views, customs and culture. This will have strong impact on buying pattern of their clients and it
will vary as per the countries in which they are rendering services (Kolk and Rivera-Santos,
2018).
4. Can this problem be prevented in future?
Working cross-culturally can be rewarding as well as exciting, it can be prevented by
making use of different measures (Low, Abdul-Rahman and Zakaria, 2018). Some of them are
illustrated below:
 Assume good intentions: Within cross culture, if a person from different culture behaves
in rude or offensive manner then Thompson can correct an individual defensively this
may, damage relationship among them. Guessing within the cross-cultural guessing can
be difficult. Give individuals a benefit of doubt as all interactions cannot be good.
 Ask clarification questions: While being in the mid of interaction and something
appears to be information ally and relationally, a person may suggest a plan to Thompson
which may be completely outside the parameters of contract with them. The reason
behind this can be that plan may hold a sharp edge with respect to this. In this Thompson
can raise questions such as tell something more, perspective with respect to this, is it
possible to do this, is it feasible and many others to acknowledge the entire concept.
 Intuition must not be trusted: Whether individual is a foreign officer or business leader
while carrying out research, it suggests that various leaders have attained their role by
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making intuitive decisions. It is an observational skill which s highly informed about
culture an individual is grown up with and past experiences which has been attained by
cross cultural interactions. By this the experience is obtained from observations.
 Slow down: It is essential for Thompson to slow down at regular intervals and post that,
analyse the market and business situations so as to take effective business decisions. This
becomes necessary because working cross culturally implies changes in terms of culture,
language, tradition, practice, belief, values and thus, all these must be taken into account
before arriving at a particular decision (Doz, Y., 2016).
 Reality check must be taken: Within the corporate world, changes take place at rapid
intervals and this need to be taken into consideration by a company. In this regard, it is
essential that while functioning cross culturally, Thompson must get a reality check of the
market environment and company positioning to take wise decisions that would serve as
an advantage for the entity.
5. What lessons can be gained from past experience of other organisations who are rendering
services in globalised economy?
Thompson has worked in a number of famous organisations before serving within
Shonteur Inc. These companies were also operating within the wine sector and were the wine
sourcing subsidiaries located within Napa Valley, USA and California. Thus, he holds significant
work experience and knowledge of the manner in which situations have to be dealt when
working and providing its offerings in a globalised economy. He had attended number of
management development seminars whereby he learned that participative form of management
serves the best within organisations as this seeks to involve the workforce in the decision making
procedures. This technique is bound to be creating wonders for many companies operating in the
globalised economy (Séraphin and et. al., 2018). This management practice or technique even
worked out for Thompson while he was functioning within the Napa Valley Subsidiary. His
experience within the corporate world over years has demonstrated that cross cultural experience
is essential for each and every company that intends to go international and operate at a large
scale with a view to build positive reputation across the globe. His past experiences reflected that
he liked the participative style and thus intended to delegate some of the decision making powers
related to Shonteur to French supervisors while he also pulled out their input and involved these
personnel in major decision-making procedures. The past experience of Thompson depicted that
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when the views and opinions of employees are considered while making decisions for the
organisation, employees feel empowered and develop a sense of being towards the entity. Also,
it helps in enhancing their morale, thereby, improving their overall productivity and
performance. When employees deliver desirable performance, the goals and objectives of
company are met in a timely manner and thus, customers derive immense satisfaction from the
offerings of firm.
6. Recommendation to Thompson for resolving this problem.
Being a part of many management seminars and a number of successful companies,
Thompson has developed likelihood towards the participative style of managing personnel,
processes and products. He was of the view that the style which worked in one company would
also work within Shonteur and this was a wrong belief. This is because every business
organisation is surrounded by different external and internal factors and thus a management style
that is effective for one company may not be suitable and relevant for the other one. The
recommendation that is given to Thompson in this regard to deal with the issues is to constantly
assess and evaluate the business and market environment and thus, decide upon a management
style and strategy. This is necessary because the Hostede aspects for every country are different
and the strategy adopted by a manager should be in alignment with the beliefs and values of the
country in which it is operating and not solely based upon the success of a strategy in past time
(Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes, 2015).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it has been identified that cross cultural management is
essential for leaders and managers of every organisation as this is a prerequisite to ensure
sustainability in market place for long period of time. Further, it has been analysed that cross
culture operations tends to create a number of issues such as cultural, national, linguistic etc.
These should be duly taken into consideration by the company so as to ensure that the
sustainability and positioning of entity is not affected by them.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Morschett, D., Schramm-Klein, H. and Zentes, J., 2015. Strategic international management (pp.
978-3658078836). Springer.
Doz, Y., 2016. Managing multinational operations: from organisational structures to mental
structures and from operations to innovations. European Journal of International
Management, 10(1), pp.10-24.
Séraphin, H., Smith, S.M., Scott, P. and Stokes, P., 2018. Destination management through
organisational ambidexterity: Conceptualising Haitian enclaves. Journal of Destination
Marketing & Management, 9, pp.389-392.
Low, W.W., Abdul-Rahman, H. and Zakaria, N., 2018. Organisational culture of Malaysian
international construction organisations. International Journal of Construction
Management, pp.1-17.
Lee, G.L. and Smith, C., 2018. Engineers and management: International comparisons.
Routledge.
Kolk, A. and Rivera-Santos, M., 2018. The state of research on Africa in business and
management: Insights from a systematic review of key international journals. Business
& Society, 57(3), pp.415-436.
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