Business Culture of Thailand, Evaluation of Terry's Management - Case Study Example

Individual, Group and Organisational Behaviour Organisational Behaviour of employees may vary from culture to culture and also from one organisation to another. The organisations operating in each country have their own respective business cultures and when these cultures are observed at a global level, there may be high amounts of differences perceived in each business culture (Chongruskut, 2009). Understanding the behaviour of employees is an extremely important element for the organisation to become successful and profitable. Overlooking of the employee behaviour element may allow the organisation to face heavy consequences (Robbins and Judge, 2008). Leadership, organisational culture and personality are the three particular theories that will be used in analyzing the particular case and advising Terry. Leadership Terry has been a successful manager in Sydney, Australia and due to this success, Janine the Managing Director of the organisation placed Terry in the Thailand branch. Leadership skills of Terry were really good in Sydney because he knew the organisational culture norms in Sydney and the way employees perform their job roles. His excellent leadership performance allowed Janine to believe that Terry can perform well in other business regions too (Werth, Markel, and Forster, 2006). Thailand is another part of the world. The business culture is different from that of Sydney. The main drawback on Terry’s part was that he ignored the organisational culture and communications aspects of Thailand business culture. Situational leadership theory calls for analyzing the particular situation; the employees are facing and then accordingly implementing the leadership styles with the employees (Adams and Vernon, 2008). Personality Terry should apply the Myers Briggs Type Indicator in assessing the personalities of the team members in the organisation. This would allow Terry to analyze each member of the team in finding out whether he or she is extrovert or introvert, their judgment, intuitions, and other such elements. The assumption that has been considered in this case is that Terry did not go through the performance record of the team members and applied the leadership group working skills without understanding the business culture and personality of employees in Thailand (Robbins and Judge, 2008). Terry built the image that the team members of Thailand are lazy and are not active in giving suggestions or speaking whatever is in their mind. Terry assumed such a case based upon his prior working experience. The personality test would allow Terry to judge the team members better and he would know exactly how to get the best out of each member of the team through the personality test. Tasks to the team members can be assigned based upon the personality test results for each member. In Australia the employees prefer open communication channels and are free to speak whatever is in their minds. They openly give suggestion and also accept opinions of others. In Thailand, the case is opposite. Thailand employees are shy and reserved by nature. It is part of their personality. Terry overlooked this fact. He did not review the personality and nature of the employees who work in Thailand and hence faced such issues. Business Culture Thailand is a highly hospitable nation with naives that are highly friendly. The people of Thailand are also reserved and shyness is part of their personality. It is a nation that is developing on a rapid note, and they believe in forming long lasting relationships and strong financial bonds as well. The business culture has a nature of achieving high levels of success and develops strong integrity in their work processes. They want to work in the best way possible and they do their best to achieve their goals. Thailand is one nation that is a very attractive place for conducting business (Adams and Vernon, 2008). If organizations while relocating their employees, provide sessions on organizational culture and communication then there are high chances that the desired results may be achieved by the organisation without and resistance of any sort. Understanding the business culture of each region is a necessity for all organisations that operate in other countries. Feedback to Janine The feedback Terry should give to Janine is as follows. Terry should ask for clarification as to on what basis has Janine stated that he has done a poor job. The goal, objectives and targets given to Terry by Janine were lacking in which perspective that regards him as a poor performer by Janine. Janine should review Terry’s earlier performance and try to understand that he has good leadership and managerial skills as he has proved himself by working in the Sydney branch. Since Janine has been given the details by Somsak, Terry in his feedback to Janine should ask the details given by Somsak so that he can accordingly make improvements in his managing and leadership style of leading the Thai team. Terry can also suggest Janine that whenever other employees are outsourced to other business regions, Janine should arrange training sessions on understanding the business cultures of that specific country so that all employees easily adapt to the new work environment without facing and employees resistance or any other issues in the organisation. Terry should affirm the fact that he overlooked a main important factor of organisational culture, communication, and personality aspects of the people of Thailand. He should ensure Janine that he would look into this matter again; he would discuss all these issues with Somsak for a better understanding of the organisational culture and personality of the Thailand employees and then would accordingly lead the team without offending anyone. A good leader needs to be flexible and adaptable to the changes, if the team is not comfortable with the way the manager is handling things then obviously the work delivered would not be up to the optimum level required. Terry should ensure Janine that he has a flexible personality and is willing to change his leadership according to the team members of the country. He would apply the situational leadership traits in such a scenario. Feedback to Somsak Firstly, Terry should apologize to Somsak for the offense that Somsak felt by Terry’s remark about the team in Thailand. Terry should discuss all the personality and organisational culture and communication issues with Somsak and clear his misunderstanding about Terry not being a good leader. Terry should accept that he overlooked the team and cultural issues of the business culture in Thailand. Somsak is an experienced employee of the organisation and his valuable experience may depict that he knows the performance levels of each of the team members in the organisation. The reviews given by Somsak about the team members will allow Terry to implement new strategies according to Thai working environment to be implemented successfully. Terry should ask Somsak to sit together and discuss on all the performance reviews of all the employees on the team and accordingly get more briefings about the Thai way of working through Somsak. Somsak may shed upon the areas that need more concentration while dealing and communicating with Thailand employees. Terry should ensure Somsak that his goals and objectives are aligned with the interest and goals of the organisation. When Somsak discusses all the issues with terry, then Terry can convince him about the different in leadership styles of each culture and also let him know that there are certain expectations to be met. Terry can also ensure Somsak in the discussion that once he is clear on the culture, he would lead the employees in the required manner. The difference in cultural perceptions has lead to this misunderstanding and this can be resolved if proper communication takes place between Terry and the Thailand team of employees. Terry should also discuss with Somsak his previous track record in Sydney so that Somsak gets a good idea on how capable Terry is in handling managerial level positions. Terry needs to take Somsak into confidence and make Somsak understand that he wants the team to perform well and achieve all the goals and objectives of the organisation in a successful manner. Conclusion For any manager or leader it is very important to understand the different types of organisational culture and also learn the ways the communication processes work in every business culture. At times a good business practice in one culture may seem to be offensive in another business culture. Terry was good in demonstrating his leadership skills in his native country but one main aspect he overlooked while going to work in another business culture, is that it is important to understand the business culture of that particular country, in this case Thailand. For demonstrating good leadership skills in the case mentioned, Terry needs to accept his drawbacks and accordingly discuss the issue with Janine and Somsak so that things can be controlled in organisation. References Adams, F.G. & Vernon, H., 2008. Business culture and management in China, Thailand and the USA: cultural values and business practice. International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management, 1(2), p.157. Chongruksut, W., 2009. Organizational Culture and the Use of Management Accounting Innovations in Thailand. Culture, 3(1), p.113-126. Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A., 2008. Organizational Behaviour T. Ed, ed., Prentice Hall.  Werth, L., Markel, P. & Förster, J., 2006. The role of subjective theories for leadership evaluation. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 15(1), p.102-127. Read More