Culture Shock & International Business - Term Paper Example

Culture Shock & International Business The construction project of the tallest skyscraper in the world is initiated in the United States. Its name is Rio de Janeiro. The local manpower of the United States will be used for construction and other labor activities. The engineers and technical people will be hired from Germany. The Chinese material will be consumed and the core financing will be done by people of Dubai. Since all these people belong to diverse backgrounds, it is highly expected that cross- cultural issues may arise. There is a strong need for successful accomplishment of this construction project. In the beginning, the meeting was conducted in the United States. There were two core objectives of the meeting: to give general overview of the project and provide the team members with an opportunity to mix with each other. This report is about HR Management of the project team. I, being the project manager will analyze the team members and devise a strategy to reduce conflict and increase cooperation. Part 1 Cultural Phenomenon in the Project The team members belong to different continents of the world whose cultures are entirely different from each other. Their religions, code of conduct, philosophies of life and work do not match. Having known this information, I would devise a strategy on the basis of celebrating differences and put little emphasis on finding similarities (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2012). The win-win approach to the team members will be the most useful element. Lack of Intercultural Communication among the Team Members It is well known to me through the first meeting that there is lack of intercultural communication among the team members. People are comfortable with members of same country background and do not explore each other’s portfolio. I need to handle this risk carefully lest it destroys the entire project. In my strategy, I need to keep a fine balance of relations among the teammates, so that none feels suppressed. Social Systems The economic, political and educational level of the countries to which the team members belong is vital to understand the strategy. It is because this discrimination can act as a major barrier (Chaney & Martin, 2010). There can be prejudices among the team members based on their history and foreign relations of their countries. Germans and Americans can develop competitive relations because of continuous race of Dollar and Euro exchange rate. Arabs can be criticized on the basis of religious propaganda taking place across the world. A conflict between Chinese and Americans can occur based on foreign issues. National Economic Level of Team Members Germany and the United States are among the leading economies of the world and for this project the finances are coming from Dubai. Hence, all three parties enjoy the portion of significance in their respective areas. All of them may be status conscious and may not be willing to give room to others for discussion. The United States being the host country will offer its labor as an advantage. On the other hand, Dubai being the financer will enjoy the leading position. National Political Background of Team Members On political grounds, the United States is the most prominent figure on the international forum. Germany enjoys significant position in the EU as it is among the founding members and the richest economies of EU. Germany generously donates funds for betterment of EU member states. EU is emerging as a competing economy of US. Educational Level of Team Members In terms of education, both the United States and Germany are ahead of the rest of the world. Dubai is the world hub for many economic activities. People with exceptional skills are performing in the organizations of Dubai. A strong competitive advantage in this project is given to Germans by hiring their services. People from all over the world are eager to study in the universities of USA and Europe (Institute of International Education, 2012). For economic activities people prefer Dubai. Contrasting Cultural Values among the Team Members The United States have a low context culture where norms are relaxed and non-verbal communication is a matter of routine. There are no formal structures for routine conversation. On the other hand, China and Dubai have high context cultures. Their norms are to be strictly followed and violation can result in project failure. The promotion of cooperation is possible through understanding each other and respecting their norms and values. Language Issues I foresee language as an important communication barrier. It is because of the fact that communication process model cannot be completed without it. The focus of the paper is on interactive model of communication whereby the receiver should correctly and completely receives information generated from the source. The Shannon’s model cannot be implemented because of lack of fluency in languages. The people of the USA are comfortable with English while China discourages the use of English language. On educational backgrounds, Arabs may also be uncomfortable to communicate in English. There is a weak possibility that Americans will know Chinese or Arabic. To address this issue, I have two options; whether to adopt intermediary model of communication in which the interpreter acts as gatekeeper. The interpreter must know Arabic, English and Chinese etc or to have team members who know the required languages or at least English. The former option is more feasible so that communication bias may not take place from group to group and every group gets uniform information. Verbal and non-Verbal Communication While structuring communication among groups, my focus is on both verbal and non-verbal communication. In this project, non-verbal communication cannot be as strong as to support the requirement of building the tallest skyscraper in the world. It is mandatory to have clear communication in words. Many issues can arise and complete discussion cannot take place in non-verbal communication. Part 2 Strategy to Promote Cooperation among Team Members Based on the analysis mentioned above, the devised strategy is as follows. Professional norms need to be developed among team members. These professional norms must be superior to the cultural norms of the team members and based on global etiquettes. The team members should be given the sense of owning the project. They all are members in the same project; hence, a sense of belonging and commonality can be developed. Situational leadership should be assigned to all in their respective areas. Everybody should be respected based on his/her contribution to the project. It is a fact that the project will not succeed without the dedicated participation of Germans, Americans and Arabs. All are mandatory partners and should try to focus on the project instead of individual differences. Mistakes to Avoid Politics, religion and salary are the banned topics during communication of team members. It is because everyone loves his identity and giving vent to sensitive issues can lead to drastic results. In the United States, where all partners are representing their country more than their individual identities, the adherence to national integrity and respect is more important than the individual’s point of view. Conflict Management I believe that conflict is inevitable despite every possible measure. Hence I have incorporated the element of celebrating the differences and willing to disagree in the strategy. The construction project is a long term project and may take years to be completed. This time duration is almost a guarantee that conflicts can occur. Negotiating Model The strategy must include a conflict resolution plan proactively. Assisted Mediation will be the best approach to resolve the conflict. In case of severe conflicts, negotiator and arbitrator can also play their roles. The possibility of having more conflicts is high in the beginning of the project as team members are not known to each other. With the passage of time, friendly relations will develop. The effective handling of initial conflicts by the mediator will also reduce the probability of conflict occurrence. Managing Groups Each group and team lead should be dealt differently based on their job functions and cultural preferences (Daft, & Lane, 2009). The behavior should be professional and supporting the project. Team members should be kept motivated and focused on the project. Developing Relations On the part of policy maker and the project leader, it is extremely important that the project leader is free from prejudices and has experience of handling diverse work force. If the project leader has prejudices, he/she may fall victim of favoritism and unduly criticize the other group. This approach will hurt the overall interest of the construction project. Having prejudices is the biggest mistake that can ruin the team synergy. The team members can approach the authorities for changing the team lead, may threat protest or stop performing altogether (Schermerhorn, 2011). Communication at the Level of Decision Making Like all teams, there would be levels of decision making (Dubrin, 2012). There will be subgroups and leaders will be assigned to them. Hence, the delegation of conflict resolution authority to the respective team leaders can produce effective results. The upper level has to cater for better relations among the team leaders who will be looking after their subordinates. It should be made sure that the subordinates accept the superiority of team lead and team lead is capable enough to develop supporting relations with the team members. Conclusion People prefer to spend time with the same group to which they belong and tend to be close to other groups. It is because of similarity in social norms and less risk of offending the other person. The diverse workforce should be dealt with empathy and consideration (Barak, 2011). Intercultural communication is vital amongst any group that has a diverse workforce. Many cultural and diversity related issues may arise and this needs to be dealt by the management in an effective way so that the goals and objectives of the organization and any specific project is accomplished successfully. References Barak, M. E. M. (2011). Managing diversity. (2nd Ed.). London: SAGE Publication. Daft, R. L., & Lane, P. (2009). Management. USA: Cengage Learning. Dubrin, A. J. (2012). Essentials of Management. USA: Cengage Learning. Institute of International Education (2012). Education USA. Retrieved March 14, 2012 from http://educationusa.state.gov/ Bottom of Form Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., & Kapoor, J. R. (2012). Foundations of Business. USA: Cengage Learning. Schermerhorn, J. R. (2011). Organizational Behaviour. (12th Ed.). USA: John Wiley & Sons. Chaney, L. H. & Martin, J. S. (2010) Intercultural Business Communication. USA: Prentice Hall. Read More