Culture and Leadership - Assignment Example

CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP By Culture and Leadership What do you see as the intercultural communication challenges between the Canadian managers from BNS and the Mexican managers from Inverlat? In the year 1996, the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), a Canadian bank, developed interest in acquiring control of Grupo Financiero Inverlat (Inverlat), a Mexican bank. Generally, during this period, Inverlat was experiencing tough financial times and thus there was need to change the management structure. As such, a group of Canadian managers were sent to take over and share various managerial responsibilities in Inverlat. However, as its expected when two ethnical groups interact, the Mexican and Canadian managers experienced many difficulties, more so in terms of their communication. Although there were a number of senior managers who were quite conversant and spoke English, most of the Mexican managers had English communication problems and thus needed translators to convey their messages. For this reason, there existed several communication challenges between the Canadian managers from BNS and Mexican managers from Inverlat. To begin with, communication was a challenge to many managers during meetings. To repeat, although most top managers spoke English, there was a high possibility of miscommunication. This can be elaborated by the case when one Mexican manager recalled that during one of the meetings, there were doubts on every Mexican manager pertaining what had been discussed and decided. In fact, the Mexican managers only realized that they had different understanding of what had been discussed in the meeting only after they had conversed in Spanish. Quite surprisingly, due to the miscommunication problem, every Mexican manager only “heard what he had wanted to hear,” (Daniel, 2002). This therefore clearly demonstrates that although the managers were in the same meeting, they totally interpreted what had been discussed differently. Generally speaking, it is arguably true that the communication challenge had been brought about and aggravated by the way the meetings were conducted by the Canadian managers. For instance, it was according to tradition for the Mexican managers be free during meetings. As such, it was normal for them to carry on side tête-à-têtes or leave the meeting room at their pleasure, acts that frustrated and angered the Canadian managers. As a result of frustration, the Canadian managers altered the meeting style to a one that they were used to in Canada. Basically, the Canadian meetings were not only highly controlled, but they also exhibited a more rigid structure. Thus, although the Mexican managers were accustomed to a more flexible way in conducting their meetings, Canadian managers saw this as a lack of discipline and respect. Therefore, despite the fact that the Canadian managers thought that the rigid meeting structure would increase productivity, it could also have negative impacts on the performance of the bank. It is worth noting that this decision was arrived at as a result of miscommunication problem. Notably important, the intercultural communication challenge was not exclusively in terms of the language that was used to conduct meetings. In other words, besides language, there are other various intercultural communication challenges that existed between the Canadian and Mexican managers. It is worth noting that the two teams of managers were subjected to an extensive training that would enable them to eliminate these communication problem. However, regardless of the training, there was still need for the Canadians to learn more of the Mexican culture in order to avoid creating major pitfalls with their Mexican counterparts. For instance, in one meeting, Jim jokingly referred to one of the Mexican manager as “the guy that screwed it all up” (Daniel, 2002). Although the use of that phrase was generally acceptable among the Canadians, the Mexican manager became generally upset, since he vied that as a highly abusive language. Equally important, the Canadian Managers differed greatly with the Mexican managers more so when it came to the difference in managerial opinions. For instance, whereas the Canadians viewed their counterpart’s difference in opinions as merely criticism, the Mexican managers saw this as a big problem and would thus prefer the criticism to originate from a manager of higher rank, and be made privately, behind closed doors. The Mexican managers viewed that disagreeing with other managers in public would spur further criticism of the victim. As such, the Mexican viewed that it was appropriate for managers to criticize there employees in a more private and friendly manner. However, the Canadian managers used the public criticism to instigate an atmosphere that will allow all the managers to fully participate in the meeting. In addition, the communication styles between the Mexican and Canadian managers also acted as a challenge in communication. Generally speaking, Mexicans have a polite way of speaking, and thus they would always “sugar-coat” most of the things that they spoke, in a view of not offending anyone. In fact, it is noted that the polite behavior is further projected into other interactions. For instance, regardless of the time that employees meet, they greet each other as a sign that that no one is despiteful of them. As such, it was identified that the Mexican managers would do everything to ensure that they avoided confrontation. On the other hand however, Canadian managers, even though they were friendly and social, they did not engage in excessive social activities such as excess greetings. They did not do much to avoid confrontation and thus the Mexicans could mistake them of being despiteful of them. As such, it could be arguably true that verbal communication has also affected how the Mexican and Canadian managers interact. Moreover, it is a fact that different people will react to messages with different levels of anxiety and sensitivity. Generally, unlike the Canadian managers, the Mexican managers were highly anxious and sensitive and thus, they took each informational matter pertaining Inverlat personally. As the Canadian managers initiates the plan to formulate a new organizational structure, they conducted a number of interviews with several Mexican managers. However, the managers who were not included in the interviews felt that they were discriminated and thus they felt that they were not needed. Although Mexican managers found themselves in good positions after the new organizational structure was revealed, most of them held the notion that their job positions were in jeopardy. This feeling was further projected to the lower level employees and thus they became insecure. Due to miscommunication therefore, this challenge ensued and thus it was important for the Canadian managers to clarify to the Mexicans their intentions before restructuring the organization. 2. From your analysis above, why are the Mexican managers fleeing the bank when the Canadian managers want them to stay? In my opinion, there are several factors, most of them brought up by the miscommunication challenge, that made many Mexican managers to flee the bank even when the Canadian managers wanted them to stay. To repeat, immediately after the Canadian managers had restructured the organizational plan, many senior Mexican managers at Inverlat had worries that the structure would eventually find ways to replace them. In particular, this worries intensified among the managers who were not spoken to since they thought that the organization had no future plans for them. It is worth noting that the rumor of employees losing their jobs was further sparked when one of the newspaper claimed that up to 180 senior Canadian managers from BNS would replace the Mexican managers at Inverlat. As such, most of the Mexican employees started becoming insecure of their jobs as they thought that the new Canadian managers would, in the name of restructuring, fire many employees. As such, this rumor could affect the functioning and work integration of the two groups of managers and thus good communication was key to save the situation. Relatively, it is beyond doubt that the Mexican managers felt offended by the Canadian managers. The fact that most of the Mexican managers only used English as their secondary language created a big communication rift between the two groups. As such, during meetings, they interpreted various concepts differently and thus, they felt that they were not inclusive to take part in the management appropriately. To illustrate, during one of the meetings, it was only after the managers had conversed in Spanish that they found out that they had different interpretations of what had transpired during the meeting. In addition, when Jim referred to one of the Mexican manager as the “the guy that screwed this up,” it was not taken as a joke rather, the Mexicans saw it as an insult. Due to this and other communication challenges, the Mexican managers continuously left Inverlat. 3. From a consulting point of view, what would you have the Mexican and Canadian managers do to improve their communication? There are various ways through which communication between the Mexican and Canadian managers can be improved. To begin with, studying each other’s national cultures and acquiring knowledge about the mode, style, and behavior of how different cultures perform their duties is paramount in improving communication. Therefore, the Canadian managers have to extensively study the Mexican culture and know what are considered as the “norms” by the Mexican people. This will help them to treat the Mexican employees the way they are used to be treated and would thus lead to overall increased productivity. On the other hand, the Mexican managers and employees should also study the Canadian way of doing things in order to eliminate the miscommunication problem. Equally, both the Canadian and the Mexican managers ought to ensure that they have a comprehensive understanding of the language used by their colleagues and employees. Having a comprehensive know how of the language used is crucial in solving the intercultural miscommunication problem, more so when dealing with a culture that takes note of aspects such as body language. Generally, the Mexicans have been presented as individuals who make excessive use of supplemental nonverbal cues to present their ideas and feelings. For instance, Daniel points out that besides doing everything to their capability to avoid confrontation, the Mexican could always greet one another every time they met, as a sign that they were not angry to each other (2002). Quite contrary however, the Canadian managers did not so much emphasize on the nonverbal cues as a means of communication and they thus mostly made use of spoken word. Therefore, unless both the Mexican and Canadian managers are aware of the differences that exists in their languages, the miscommunication problem could continue forever. 4. What tools might help you in assessing and improving their communication? Normally, communication has presented itself as one of the factors that affects the performance of an organization in a multicultural setting. However, there are various tools that managers can use to assess and improve their overall communication. Generally, one of the way that managers can improve their communication in a multicultural environment is by understanding the different concept of time (Gupta). Arguably, most cultures have their own distinct way of viewing time, and thus every manager should be conversant with how their fellow colleagues and employees view the concept of time. Knowing and having a deep understanding of the language of time is thus important for a manger in a new cultural setting. For instance, whereas the Canadian managers are generally monochromic, the Mexican managers tend to exercise highly polychromic time cultures. To illustrate, contrary to the Canadians, the Mexicans are regularly late for meetings, relaxed and are generally in a “no hurry” state. Thus, instead of jumping inti conclusions and judging the employees and managers by their cultural standards, the intercultural managers should instead use this as an opportunity to build strong and solid relationships. Comparatively, respecting other employees from different cultural diversities is key to improving the communication process. In fact, respect is identified as the basis of the manager’s “attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral orientation” to the people with different cultural values (Trompenaars and Woolliams; Fischer). As such, it is important for the managers to show respect for the other employees with a different cultural background. For instance, managers should always ensure that they carry out negotiations from a proper cultural perspective. For instance, although the Canadian managers are used to conduct their negotiations in a hasty manner, the Mexicans are used to conduct slow and relaxed negotiations. Therefore, it is important for the Canadian managers to establish a slower negotiation process that would allow the Mexicans to become aware of what is transpiring. This would enable the two teams to clearly understand each other and thus the communication process would be enhanced. References Daniel, D. (2002). Grupo Financiero Inverlat. Sage Publications, Inc. Print. Fischer, C. (n.d). Assessing Leadership Behavior As It Relates To Intercultural Competence. Print. Gupta, S. (n.d). Beyond Borders: Leading in Todays Multicultural World. Sage Publications, Inc. Print. Trompenaars, F., & Woolliams, P. (n.d). Getting the Measure of Intercultural Leadership. Print. Read More