Question

CASE: Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding in the Workplace

Kurt, an American expatriate has recently been assigned to work in Mali as a marketing manager. His regional manager Davido is South African. Most of Kurt’s peers and all of his subordinates are West Africans. Kurt has been in the Mali subsidiary for only a few months but already has major concerns. Upon arrival he was very excited and optimistic about his working opportunity in Mali, feeling confident that the management style that brought him so much success in the United States would propel him to similar high performance in Mali. He was a problem solver and loved to dive in and attack problems openly and directly. Also, based on his past success with work groups in the United States, he reasoned that by involving all Malian sales staff in decision- making, the company could attain double-digit growth easily. Certainly, the local sales staff would be in the best position to know how to grow the business in their respective sales districts. Therefore, in the first meeting with his sales staff, rather than telling them what he thought needed to be done, he posed the question to the group for open discussion.
Only then did Kurt realize how quiet his Malian employees could be. After some time, Kurt felt he needed to jump-start the discussion and brought out his idea of using more billboard advertising. The group suddenly came alive and enthusiastically supported the idea as a fine one. Then the deafening silence returned once more. This process repeated itself a few more times until Kurt decided to terminate the meeting, and he returned to his office in frustration. How unfortunate he felt to be stuck in this assignment with a bunch of lazy employees with no initiative, or who were incompetent and unable to make useful suggestions, or both!
But Kurt’s employees were not his only worry. His boss, Davido, seemed to be cold and brusque with him lately—certainly not the warm, hospitable person he remembers in their first interactions. This change in Davido’s attitude began a few weeks ago at a regional management team meeting, where Kurt teased other managers for arriving 10 to 15 minutes late. In subsequent meetings Kurt brought up several ideas for improving the various functions of the regional operations in Africa—ideas that he knew worked well in the United States. Despite making what he thought were insightful suggestions time after time in subsequent meetings, Kurt’s relationship with his boss seemed to grow colder. Kurt began fearing the company’s Malian operations were doomed due to failure in a culture where indolence, incompetence, and bureaucracy prevailed. But as he monitored actual performance of the operation, he was amazed that this part of the company was showing strong profits and growth. Kurt thought that perhaps there was something wrong with him, that he was not cut out for an international assignment after all. Kurt saw his two- or three-year assignment in Mali stretching before him as an eternity of potential failure. Worse yet, he wondered how his impending failure with this important international assignment might damage his future opportunities with the firm.
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a) What particular cultural dimension or dimensions of Hofstede (2001) seem to be most central to the problems Kurt is experiencing? Support your explanation with quotes from the case study. 5 Marks)
b) What are possible causes of Kurt’s ineffectiveness in leading his sales team? (5 Marks)
c) Provide insights into Schein (2004)’s underlying cultural assumptions that might help Kurt in his cultural adaption? (5 Marks)
d) How should Kurt behave differently to improve his relationship with the Regional Boss Davido.?

Answer 1

Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding in the Workplace

a) The cultural dimension of Hofstede (2001) central to the problems Kurt is experiencing are Power Distance and Individualism/Collectivism. Kurt "reasoned that by involving all Malian sales staff in decision- making, the company could attain double-digit growth easily." Whereas, the Malian sales staff were expecting Kurt to issue orders, since they were used to receiving orders, Kurt wanted all to be involved in decision-making. They were certainly not used to such liberty.

b) The possible causes of Kurt's ineffectiveness in leading the Malian sales team include: i) his lack of knowledge of the Malian culture where subordinates expected to receive orders instead of being asked to contribute to decision-making. ii) his confidence and optimism are intimidating to his subordinates. They are not shared feelings. iii) his openness and directedness do not go well with his boss, either.

c) According to Schein (2004), understanding some underlying cultural assumptions might help Kurt to adapt culturally to the Malian environment. The values shared by the Malian employees are different from Kurt's values. Most of them have come to work to earn a living and not to make a difference. Kurt wants to solve problems by diving deep, being open and direct. The employees are not used to being directed to take actions, and not being given the chance to discuss the actions.

d) To improve his relationship with the Regional Boss, Davido, Kurt needed to understand Davido's leadership style and the cultural practices that have evolved during Davido's tenure. Davido was on ground before Kurt. Kurt should observe and study him to know what style works for him. There should be open discussion with Davido to educate Kurt on the cultural nuisances of the Malian organization. Giving Davido the opportunity to explain how things work there, would enable Kurt to know the leadership approach to adopt.

Step-by-step explanation:

a) Culture is the way of life of a people. According to Hofstede (2001), "Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others". It is the accepted practices for handling group situations that evolve over time. Culture impact relationships, judgements, and achievements. They are not easily changed.

b) According to Schein, (2004) "Organizational cultural assumptions are usually “known,” but are not discussed, nor are they written or easily found." You will find unconscious thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, and feelings that have shaped practices in the organization. For a change to be effectiveness, a study of the underlying assumptions becomes necessary to make room for gradual improvements.