Business in its cultural Environment - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The material and human resources at its command are considerable, and their various orientations and expertise a veritable potential source of wealth. However, the same is also a source of difficulty for a company that has to cope with the imperfections of all human endeavor. Usually when the size of the undertaking is bigger, the imperfections become magnified, as the case appears to be here.
In this case, the Airbus had difficulty integrating and coordinating among its multi-national components. The fact that the various components of the Airbus A380 were manufactured in centers located in the different countries already present logistical difficulties. However, it was the cultural divide amongst the groups of workers in the collaborating countries that posed the more serious challenge. There appear to be two general levels of cross-cultural inconsistencies in the Airbus organization. Neither of the types of problems Airbus is encountering has any bearing on racial discrimination, so much as technical mismatch. For instance, the case cited the wiring problems that materialized due to the difference in the versions of the CAD software used by technical personnel in France and in Germany. Such a problem does not bear on deep-seated cultural traits, and may be addressed by adopting standard technical systems (not just measurements or verbal language) that are consistent throughout the organization. The case study shows that these are lapses caused by company attention being focused on power plays in internal company politics (“jostling for position“), and the human resources diverting its efforts to resolving legal issues rather than operational problems. Simply put, the discrepancies were the result of negligence.
The second problem is more inherent to the way Airbus SAS is organized, and was highlighted by the failure of communication and coordination besetting production and design. Because of inefficiencies in operations, the ...Download file to see next pagesRead More