Intercultural Communication Case Study

COMM  6019-­‐69,  75           Intercultural  Communication  Case  Study  Assignment       Due:  December  8,  before  10:00  p.m.   Value:  10%     LEARNING  OUTCOMES  ASSESSED:   1.  Compose  workplace  documents  including  emails,  letters,  and  a  research  report   2.  Analyze  an  audience  and  tailor  a  message  to  that  audience   3.  Apply  principles  of  grammar,  punctuation,  and  editing  appropriate  to  professional   writing   4.  Prepare  documents  according  to  basic  principles  of  formatting  and  visual   communication  in  various  written  documents   5.  Demonstrate  critical  thinking  skills  in  reading,  writing,  and  discussion     SCENARIO  &  TASK   Choose  one  of  the  following  scenarios  (see  below)  about  “Intercultural  Communication   Disasters”  and  pretend  that  this  was  an  occurrence  at  the  company  that  you  currently  work   for  as  a  manager.    Your  boss  has  asked  you  to  provide  a  case  study  analysis  memo  to  all   employees:     Include  the  following  sections  in  your  finished  case  study  in  the  form  of  a  memo:   Introduction:  Summarize  the  situation  with  objectivity  (no  mention  of  your  opinion)   (Approximately  1  paragraph)   Analysis:  Provide  an  analysis  of  the  situation.  What  went  wrong?  What  behaviors  or  errors   were  made  on  both  parties?  Who  was  at  fault  and  why?  Try  and  explain  some  of  the   cultural  differences  (Approximately  1  to  2  paragraphs)  *Remember  not  to  use  the  first   person  (no  “I”)   Conclusion  &  Recommendations:  How  could  this  occurrence  be  avoided  in  the  future?   What  recommendations  could  you  make  for  your  employees  so  they  might  avoid  this   situation  in  the  future?  (Approximately  2  paragraphs)  *Try  and  remain  objective  (refrain   from  using  “I”).  Use  references  to  support  your  recommendations  from  course  content   materials  in  Week  8)     EXPECTATIONS  &  FORMAT   Follow  the  block  format.  Create  a  memo  top  and  provide  all  the  necessary  information  in   the  four  fields.  Use  graphic  highlighting  as  necessary.  Follow  all  the  rules  of  effective   business  writing  discussed  in  this  class  so  far  and  refer  to  the  to  textbook  examples  (p.  201,   Figure  9.4)  of  the  appropriate  formatting  for  memos.     GRADING:  As  this  is  a  communications  course,  all  assignments  will  be  graded  on  content,   organization,  style  and  correctness.  See  rubric  on  FOL  for  more  details.

Cross  Cultural  Disaster  Scenarios  for  Case  Study       Scenario  1:  “Monsooned”   A  case  study  on  project  deadlines,  the  Indian  ‘yes’  and  high-­‐context  versus  low-­‐context   communication.     Rebecca  works  with  United  Technologies,  a  Chicago  based  company.  She  is  talking  on  the   phone  to  Abhinav,  the  manager  of  one  of  United  Technologies  vendors  for  customer  service   outsourcing.     Rebecca:   We  really  need  to  get  all  of  the  customer  service  representatives  trained  on

our  new  process  in  the  next  two  weeks.  Can  you  get  this  done?   Abhinav:   That  timeline  is  pretty  aggressive.  Do  you  think  it’s  possible?   Rebecca:   I  think  it  will  require  some  creativity  and  hard  work,  but  I  think  we  can  get  it

done  with  two  or  three  days  to  spare   Abhinav:   Ok.   Rebecca:   Now  that  our  business  is  settled,  how  is  everything  else?   Abhinav:   All’s  well,  although  the  heavy  monsoons  this  year  are  causing  a  lot  of  delays

getting  around  the  city.

Two  weeks  later…     Abhinav:   We’ve  pulled  all  of  our  resources  and  I’m  happy  to  say  that  60%  of  the

customer  service  representatives  are  now  trained  in  the  new  process.  The   remaining  40%  will  complete  the  training  in  the  next  two  weeks.

Rebecca:   Only  60%?  I  thought  we  agreed  that  they  all  would  be  trained  by  now!   Abhinav:   Yes  .  The  monsoon  is  now  over  so  the  rest  of  the  training  should  go  quickly.   Rebecca:   This  training  is  critical  to  our  results.  Please  get  it  done  as  soon  as  possible.   Abhinav:   I  am  certain  that  it  will  be  done  in  the  next  two  weeks.       Scenario  2:  “Jim’s  Mistake”   A  case  study  on  virtual  teams,  hierarchy,  and  direct  versus  indirect  communication  styles.     Based  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Jim  is  has  been  managing  a  software  development  team  in  Pune   for  the  past  two  years.  He  has  been  working  closely  with  Aruna,  the  Indian  team  leader,  to   develop  a  new  networking  program.  While  Jim  has  over  25  years  of  experience  in  software   development,  Aruna  knows  the  program  inside  and  out.   While  reviewing  his  work  from  the  previous  week,  Jim  discovers  that  he  made  a  mistake  in   the  programming  code.  He  notices  that  Aruna  corrected  his  error,  but  wonders  why  Aruna   did  not  bring  it  to  his  attention  so  that  he  could  avoid  delays  and  keep  from  making  the   same  mistake  in  the  future.

Scenario  3:  “Sandeep  is  out  of  the  office”    A  case  study  on  miscommunication  in  multicultural  teams.     Sandeep  has  just  joined  the  Banglore  office  of  a  New  York  based  MNC.  As  part  of  his   training  he  will  be  spending  3  months  in  the  US,  but  has  already  been  assigned  to  a  team   with  members  in  New  York,  Tokyo  and  Banglore.  Sarah,  the  New  York  based  project   manager,  has  scheduled  a  teleconference  meeting  for  Tuesday.  Sandeep  will  be  traveling  to   Delhi  to  get  his  US  visa  over  the  meeting  time.  Here’s  their  conversation…   Sarah:   Can  we  do  the  teleconference  tomorrow,  7  pm  for  you,  or  should  we  wait

until  you  get  back?   Sandeep:     Better  if  we  can  wait,  but  I  can  do  it  if  you  like  –  if  it’s  necessary.   Sarah:                  Do  you  want  to  postpone  it?  Tell  me,  yes  or  no?

Scenario  4:  “Brainstorming  in  Sweden”   A  case  study  on  miscommunication  in  multicultural  teams.     Assume  that  you’re  a  recently  hired  trainer  for  a  U.S.  company  that  has  a  new  branch  office   in  Sweden.  You’ve  been  sent  to  the  office  to  facilitate  the  training  of  new  employees.  After  a   fruitful  brainstorming  session  with  the  leadership  team,  you  ask  the  Swedish  head   manager,  Andreas,  to  appoint  a  contact  person  in  the  group  to  help  you  launch  the  training   project.  Andreas  turns  to  the  HR  manager,  Prasan,  who  is  from  India,  and  says  that  he  will   be  your  key  contact  from  here  on  out.   You  describe  the  process  you  want  to  follow  and  the  documents  you’ll  need  in  order  to  go   forward.  Then  you  ask  Prasan  if  you  can  expect  the  documents  by  the  next  day.     Hesitating,  Prasan  replies,  “Yes,  I  can  send  everything  to  you  by  the  end  of  the  day   tomorrow.”  His  boss  suddenly  intervenes:  “No,  that’s  not  going  to  happen.  You  know  you   have  a  lot  of  work  right  now  and  won’t  be  able  to  meet  that  deadline.”  Turning  to  you,  the   Swedish  manager  continues,  “You  can  expect  the  material  you  need  in  two  weeks.”  Prasan   looks  somewhat  embarrassed  but  nods  in  agreement.  Back  in  Andreas’s  office,  you  ask,   “What  just  happened?  Why  did  Prasan  agree  to  an  unrealistic  deadline?”  Andreas  explains   that  Prasan  wanted  to  save  face  by  giving  a  pleasing  answer.  Such  an  answer  would  keep   you  from  appearing  to  be  demanding  and  would  keep  him  from  appearing  to  be  slow.  “He   values  face-­‐saving  more  than  accuracy,”  the  Swede  says—implying  that  he  himself  does   not.  You  wonder  if  such  clashes  of  cultural  preference  could  be  handled  more  gracefully   than  the  one  you  just  witnessed.     _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Scenario  5:    “Where  is  everyone”   A  case  study  on  meetings  in  Mexico     You  have  just  graduated  from  college  and  accepted  a  management  job  with  Acme   Corporation.  Acme  has  placed  you  in  one  of  its  Mexican  offices.  During  your  first  week  in   your  new  job,  you  decide  to  schedule  a  meeting  with  your  Mexican  employees.  The  meeting   is  scheduled  for  9:00  a.m.  on  Wednesday.  On  Wednesday  morning,  you  show  up  a  bit  early   to  prepare  for  your  meeting.  By  9:00  a.m.,  not  a  single  employee  has  arrived  for  the   meeting.  By  9:20  a.m.,  two  people  finally  show  up.  Not  until  9:45  a.m.  are  all  the  members   of  the  team  in  attendance.  What  has  happened?  You  are  confused,  frustrated,  and  feeling  a   bit  angry.         Scenario  6:  “An  intercultural  conversation:  clashing  cultural  concepts  on   the  job”     In  the  following  conversation,  American  businessman  Jim  Neumouth  is  applying  for  a  job  in   Japanese  businessman  Kietaro  Matsumoto’s  corporation,  located  in  Kyoto,  Japan.  Mr.   Neumouth  does  a  good  job  of  expressing  his  talents  and  experience.  In  the  United  States,  he   might  appear  to  be  the  ideal  candidate;  however,  to  Mr.  Matsumoto,  he  does  not  appear  to   be  a  team  player  because  he  may  disrupt  the  harmony  of  the  sales  teams       Kietaro:  So,  Mr.  Neumouth,  why  would  you  like  to  work  for  our  corporation?   Jim:  I  believe  I  have  the  necessary  skills  and  experience  for  this  position.  I’m  very   independent,   I  set  very  high  goals  for  myself,  and  I  believe  your  company  will  allow  me  to  pursue  them.   Kietaro:  What  do  you  mean  by  “goals”?   Jim:  I  have  very  high  sales  objectives.  I  try  to  reach  the  top  in  whatever  I  do.  One  of  my   goals  is  to  become  your  leading  salesperson.  For  example,  I  had  the  highest  percentage  of   sales  of  anyone  in  the  company  I  worked  for  in  the  United  States.  I  was  named  salesperson   of  the  year  in  2008.   Kietaro:  I  see,  that’s  very  impressive.   Jim:  Thanks.  Now,  I’d  like  to  expand  into  an  international  market,  and  I’d  like  to  bring  my   experience  and  motivation  to  your  company.  I  think  I  can  be  the  best  here,  too.