MGMT6012: Management Perspectives - Assignment 2 Research Report

This report, submitted to Desklib, analyzes an assignment focused on management perspectives within the context of an Australian organization, Wesfarmers. The assignment explores effective communication strategies, particularly within a diverse workforce, emphasizing the importance of written, verbal, and nonverbal communication, respecting differences, and utilizing corporate artifacts. It includes a personal SWOT analysis, identifying strengths (communication, open-mindedness), weaknesses (impatience, lack of technical skills), opportunities (education, language skills), and threats (technology, information gaps). A PEST analysis examines the political, economic, social, and technological factors impacting the organization. The research focuses on intercultural conflicts and ethical issues, highlighting the need for intercultural competence through knowledge, skills, and behavioral development. The report also emphasizes the use of qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups, to address these challenges. The assignment aims to provide insights into organizational behavior, stakeholder management, and effective communication in a culturally diverse environment.

Running Head: ASSIGNMENT 2
MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE
Students ID:
Name of the university
Authors Note

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ASSIGNMENT 2
Table of Contents
Effective communication...........................................................................................................3
Personal SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................5
Strengths.................................................................................................................................5
Weakness................................................................................................................................5
Opportunities..........................................................................................................................5
Threats....................................................................................................................................6
PEST Analysis...........................................................................................................................6
Political...................................................................................................................................6
Economic................................................................................................................................7
Social......................................................................................................................................7
Technological.........................................................................................................................7
Research principle......................................................................................................................8
Intercultural factors of diversity.................................................................................................9
Knowledge............................................................................................................................10
Skills.....................................................................................................................................10
Behaviour.............................................................................................................................11
Reference list............................................................................................................................12

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ASSIGNMENT 2
Effective communication
Wesfarmers is a large organisation in Australia that handles multiples forms business
operation including hoteliers, coal and supermarket. Therefore, it is evident that the
organisation may face ethical conflicts taking place in between different employees coming
from diverse backgrounds (Binder 2016). As the organisation is facing issues associated
related to conflicts between employees due to the presence of different cultural background.
Therefore, application of ethical practices such as email, conversation with the employees
and regular occurrence of corporate artefacts may help to resolve the issues taking place
within the internal environment of the organisation (Estévez et al. 2015).
Effective intercultural communication requires more than just identifying the differences
between employees. It is necessary to respect and acknowledge the way to deal with the
emerging differences. Intercultural communication within the workplace may not always be
easy as it is a showcase of miscommunication between countries and cultures (Huang and
Rundle-Thiele 2014). There are certain gateways to effective communication to solve the
issues taking place in Wesfarmers. They are:
 Written, verbal and nonverbal communication through email and feedback
 Respecting each other differences by conversing with each other
 Tolerance for ambiguous activity
 Flexibility to work under all conditions
 Willingness to see each other points of view
 Regular supervision and dissemination of the corporate artefacts within the
organisation.
The starting point of the effective communication using these gateways will be initial
growth patterns that will be used to build sustainable organisation culture thereby enabling it

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for growth and expansion of ethical culture. One of the major patterns of these artefacts will
be to infuse culture and ethics throughout the organisation by expressing it through artefacts,
email and conversation with the employees (Raina and Roebuck 2016).
In this context, internal email communication in between employees will effectively
help to solve the financial issues taking place within the workplace. In addition to this, having
a conversation with the employees will help the managers, leaders and other employees of the
organisation to understand the problem taking place in between them. Stephan and Stephan
(2017) state that there are three major types of corporate artefacts by which the organisation
will be able to express their values, ethics and culture to the employees:
Physical artefacts:
These are physical materials and environment present within the organisation such as
a piece of creative work, furniture, computer, rooms, conference resources and
communication tools (Dickie et al. 2014).
Information artefacts:
These objects are informational and computer related such as directories, regular
databases and computer applications that are required to be maintained by the organisation on
a regular basis.
Conceptual artefacts
These are objects that present in the psychological thoughts of the employees and
conceptual space of the workers such as metaphors and patterns related to cultural values and
stereotypes (Merkin et al. 2014).

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Personal SWOT Analysis
Strengths
My personal strengths are generally involved with the ability to communicate with
others as well as by keeping an open mind while communicating with others. These, areas of
my capability help me to deal with each situation in work in a more effective way in
comparison to those of my peers and general environment within the organisation
(McKenzie, 2015).
I am always open to new innovative ideas that help me to behave in an adaptive way
in case of an unpredictable and new situation. I appreciate meeting people from new cultured
from different cultural backgrounds and I am sensitive while dealing with people. According
to the feedback received from others, it is my innovation in work that helps me to advance in
my work and avoid conflicts with the co-workers.
Weakness
My biggest weakness is my impatient nature that is coming in the way of management
within the organisation. I have faced some problems while dealing with some valuable
investors as a result of which productivity and sales declined.
As I have been informed by the feedback given by others, I realised that my major
weakness is my lack of knowledge about proper communication tools and ethical concepts
(Jackson 2015). Moreover, I am not technically savvy as a result of which I have a problem
dealing with a digital system of communication.
Opportunities
On the way to search for success in the workplace, I have found that there are several
opportunities that are available to me. In this, most of the opportunities will be created by me.
It is my educational background is going to provide me with the ability to deal in each and

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every situation within the organisation (Logan et al. 2015). My passion to learn different
languages and various diversified customs and diverse tradition may help me to deal with the
intercultural conflicts taking place within the organisation.
In addition to this, my qualification in literature, arts will motivate me to address
intercultural communication with the employees. My underlying interest in literature and
different language will provide me with the opportunity to deal with self-beliefs and others
value.
Threats
I have encountered several difficulties on the path of my work in the workplace. The
largest two threats growing technology that is much of the threat to my work. The demand for
people is changing due to which I am not able to deal with the technological emergence in
my workplace. Another major threat is due to the changing (Hansen and Cox 2015).
Apart from these issues, I face problems due to the lack of available information
regarding decisions and work task. These tasks are often not done in time due to the
ineffective system of management as a result of which I am not able to deal with work.
PEST Analysis
Political
The political condition of the specific geographical area may impact the management
operations of the organisation. In this context, if Wesfarmers encounters any situation of
political unrest, these may force the management system to bring change in their policy on
the basis of the given situation (Paletz et al. 2014).

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ASSIGNMENT 2
Economic
Economic status of a particular geographical region has the ability to impact on the
financial productivity of the organisation. In case of Wes farmers, changes in GDP and
currency rates may allow the financial management of the organisation to take a step to make
changes in their financial policy of the organisation as per the requirement of the employees
(Chen et al. 2014).
Social
The social environment of the organisation is a mixture of social, cultural values and
traditions that are used by people from a specific geographical location. However, the social
environment of the organisation is classified into different parts one is the internal
environment that includes cultural employees and their assumptions (Awais Bhatti et al.
2014).
The internal social environment allows the managers of the company to improve their
leadership policies according to the cultural beliefs of the employees. Secondly, the external
social environment may have a direct effect on the management of the employees.
Technological
Technology has a high amount of impact on the working processes of the
organisation. The company is currently facing problem due to the lack of proper use of
technology in the workplace. Growing technology such as internal communication tools
email, digital communication tools, and electronic system of providing feedback may allow
the company to improve the communication with the employees and solve major issues
(Dovers et al. 2015).

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ASSIGNMENT 2
Research principle
The research here is based on the problems faced by the Australian organisation Wes
farmer. The company works in collaboration with many other sectors through its subordinate
subsidiaries that are dedicated to providing best returns to their investors and customers.
However, due to the presence of a large number of employees working within the
organisation, coming from different cultural backgrounds are facing problem due to their own
ethical beliefs and the organisational values.
Due to the lack of coordination between different employees are becoming
increasingly difficult for the managers to work in an effective owing to the cultural difference
in between employees. Another major issue is the financial activities related to ethics (Kral
2014). The employees are often not able to cope with the reward system that is applied to
enhance the productivity of the employees. They are not supporting the system as a result of
which conflicting situation are taking place.
Intercultural conflicts are necessary to be addressed as miscommunication arising due
to cultural conflicts may lead to falling down of employee efficiency. As a result productivity
and sales of the company may slow down (Paternotte et al. 2015). Again, lack of ethical
values within the system of management may demotivate the employees in accomplishing the
organisation objectives.
A better quality of research is required to be conducted to address this ethical and
intercultural issues taking place in the organisation. The previous research conducted in this
context does not contain any reliable sources to deal with the problem taking place within the
organisation. There is no mention of statistical reports and techniques to deal with issues. The
previous research could not be done properly as there was a limitation of proper data
resources given on interview on focused group (Duffield and Whitty 2016). The review

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conducted using qualitative data is limited as there is no evidence on the interview and the
method to mitigate the issues.
Therefore, to address these issues effectively, the qualitative research method will be
used to evaluate the conflicting facts for demonstrating the issues and situation. Using this
research method there will be no limitation in the collection for data.
This method will provide study insights into the issues and will help in solving the
issue faster. In this context, an interview with the employees as well as managers of the
organisation, using postcards and focused groups will help to collect more information
through qualitative research. By doing so, the organisation will be able to address ethical
practices that will help in solving the internal issues that are directly influencing the internal
environment and efficiency of the organisation.
Intercultural factors of diversity
Intercultural competence has been prominently represented in the debate surrounding
global workplaces as a preliminary attribute to be addressed for several years. A great deal
research has been conducted in this field that has led to much different representation as well
as understanding on the issues. As stated by Hajro et al. (2017), culture can be signified as
the sum of the way of living life that includes expected behaviour, values, faiths and practices
usually shared by similar members within the society as well as the workplace. It consists of
both explicit as well as implicit rules by experience are interpreted.
Therefore, to address the cultural incompetency that is taking place in Wesfarmers, it
is necessary to develop intercultural competence to develop targeted knowledge, skills and
behaviour along communication skills that will be both effective as well suitable for
interacting intercultural differences within the organisation.

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ASSIGNMENT 2
On the contrary, Tjosvold et al. (2014) state that research has reported that
intercultural competence cannot be accomplished within a short span of time or in single
module since it is not a naturally occurring phenomenon rather a lifelong process. Therefore,
this process is needed to be addressed in an explicit way through the process of learning and
educating the employees through training.
Knowledge
 Cultural self-awareness is needed to be developed amongst employees to articulate
individual own culture that shapes an individual identity as well as the worldview
 Culture-oriented knowledge is needed to be taught by evaluating and illustrating the
basic information about culture such as communication, politics, values, beliefs and
activities (Baker and Rowe 2014).
 The organisation need to create sociolinguistic awareness to acquire local and other
language skills for articulating the differences in verbal as well as nonverbal
communication
Skills
 Employees are needed to work on their skills of listening, observing and evaluation
using patience and perseverance to recognise and reduce the ethnicity oriented
activities.
 They are needed to analyse, interprets and related casualty and relationships using self
and other comparison technique to deal with the conflicts (Duffield and Whitty 2016).
 Critical thinking is a major component that will help them to view and interprets the
world from the different cultural point of view in comparison to the own values and
ideas.

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ASSIGNMENT 2
Behaviour
 The employees are needed to be educated to develop the element of respect for
seeking out the other cultural attributed and need to be taught to value cultural
diversity present in the workplace. This will help to reduce cultural prejudices
about cultural stereotypes in the workplace,
 They are needed to be taught to remain open to suspending criticism coming from
other cultures. Therefore, they are needed to be taught to invest in collective
evidence of cultural disparity and avoid being exposed to be proven wrong
(Hansen and Cox 2015).
 The managers need to encourage the element if curiosity amongst the employees
so that they are able to seek out in cultural communications while observing
differences as an opportunity of learning and being aware of one's own cultural
difference.
 Discovery is another major element that is needed to be encouraged by the
managers for helping the employees working in Wesfarmers to tolerate the
ambiguous situation and to view the situation as a positive experience. The
employees need to learn the willingness to move beyond one's zone of comfort
(Jackson 2015).
All these above knowledge, skills and behaviour will to the continuous improvement
of internal outcomes that help the individual employees to behave in a flexible, adaptable and
empathetic way in case of ethnic relation situation within the diverse workplace. In addition
to this, these qualities are represented in response to external results that signifies the
observable behaviour and communication style that is required to be used by the employees
for addressing intercultural competency.

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Reference list
Awais Bhatti, M., Mohamed Battour, M., Rageh Ismail, A. and Pandiyan Sundaram, V.,
2014. Effects of personality traits (big five) on expatriates adjustment and job performance.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 33(1), pp.73-96.
Baker, S.A. and Rowe, D., 2014. Mediating mega events and manufacturing
multiculturalism: The cultural politics of the world game in Australia. Journal of Sociology,
50(3), pp.299-314.
Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. Abingdon: Routledge.
Chen, A.S.Y., Wu, I.H. and Bian, M.D., 2014. The moderating effects of active and agreeable
conflict management styles on cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment.
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 14(3), pp.270-288.
Dickie, I.A., Bennett, B.M., Burrows, L.E., Nuñez, M.A., Peltzer, D.A., Porté, A.,
Richardson, D.M., Rejmánek, M., Rundel, P.W. and Van Wilgen, B.W., 2014. Conflicting
values: ecosystem services and invasive tree management. Biological Invasions, 16(3),
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Dovers, S., Feary, S., Martin, A., McMillan, L., Morgan, D. and Tollefson, M., 2015.
Engagement and participation in protected area management: who, why, how and when.
Protected area governance and management, pp.169-206.
Duffield, S. and Whitty, S.J., 2016. How to apply the Systemic Lessons Learned Knowledge
model to wire an organisation for the capability of storytelling. International Journal of
Project Management, 34(3), pp.429-443.

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Estévez, R.A., Anderson, C.B., Pizarro, J.C. and Burgman, M.A., 2015. Clarifying values,
risk perceptions, and attitudes to resolve or avoid social conflicts in invasive species
management. Conservation Biology, 29(1), pp.19-30.
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Hansen, A. and Cox, R. eds., 2015. The Routledge handbook of environment and
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Huang, Y.T. and Rundle-Thiele, S., 2014. The moderating effect of cultural congruence on
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Jackson, D., 2015. Employability skill development in work-integrated learning: Barriers and
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Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(1), pp.39-52.
McKenzie, D.M., 2015. The role of mediation in resolving workplace relationship conflict.
International journal of law and psychiatry, 39, pp.52-59.

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Merkin, R., Taras, V. and Steel, P., 2014. State of the art themes in cross-cultural
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Paletz, S.B., Miron-Spektor, E. and Lin, C.C., 2014. A cultural lens on interpersonal conflict
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