Bridging Cultures

Bridgin" rel="nofollow">ing Cultures Order Description InVision Global is a large pharmaceutical company headquartered in" rel="nofollow">in New York City. The company produces and markets pharmaceuticals for use as medications, as well as nutritional products for distribution across the Americas, Asia and Europe. Growth trajectories of the company in" rel="nofollow">indicate a steady in" rel="nofollow">increase in" rel="nofollow">in in" rel="nofollow">international market penetration, with the greatest growth occurrin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in Asia. Over the next five years, InVision Global will seek to target emergin" rel="nofollow">ing markets in" rel="nofollow">in Africa such as, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The company believes in" rel="nofollow">in advancin" rel="nofollow">ing wellness, prevention and health in" rel="nofollow">in both developed and emergin" rel="nofollow">ing markets, and is committed to supportin" rel="nofollow">ing local communities in" rel="nofollow">in accessin" rel="nofollow">ing reliable and affordable medication and nutritional products around the world. Gary Kwong, aged 39 and born the United States, is the in" rel="nofollow">international busin" rel="nofollow">iness strategist at InVision Global. He has been with the company for 11 years, and really enjoys workin" rel="nofollow">ing for the company. Gary was recently appoin" rel="nofollow">inted to project lead for ORIGIN – a new logistics software system that will in" rel="nofollow">integrate InVision Global’s worldwide distribution network. Previously, each InVision regional office licensed its own IT in" rel="nofollow">infrastructure based upon the needs of the particular region. Company executives in" rel="nofollow">in New York however, agreed that an in" rel="nofollow">integrated system would be more efficient for distribution of products globally, and would also cut costs in" rel="nofollow">in relation to the in" rel="nofollow">individual licensin" rel="nofollow">ing of IT in" rel="nofollow">infrastructure. As a part of his role, Gary manages a diverse team of four in" rel="nofollow">individuals in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing; • Amal Hadad, aged 31, migrated from Yemen to the United States (subordin" rel="nofollow">inate, lower level management). • Kate McDonald, aged 36, from the United Kin" rel="nofollow">ingdom (shares a similar role to Gary, neither above or below Gary). • Chang Su, aged 48, from South Korea (subordin" rel="nofollow">inate, lower level management). • Yuki Yuma, aged 58, from Japan (manager of the regional office in" rel="nofollow">in Japan, and is above Gary). Gary was excited when he was asked to take the lead of project ORIGIN, as he generally loves to take on new challenges which require problem solvin" rel="nofollow">ing. Gary, despite havin" rel="nofollow">ing worked with people from a diverse range of backgrounds, has never managed a virtual team of in" rel="nofollow">international colleagues. Each of the colleagues above reside in" rel="nofollow">in the countries listed, and work in" rel="nofollow">in a regional office of InVision Global. There haven’t been any promises made to Gary but his manager told him if this project goes well, he will be the lead candidate for the open Vice-President position at InVision Global headquarters, as well a bonus paid to him at the end of the fin" rel="nofollow">inancial year. He is very in" rel="nofollow">interested in" rel="nofollow">in attain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing this position, and has told management he will do what it takes to make this project a success. Further, the bonus offered by the company also helps to motivate Gary in" rel="nofollow">in achievin" rel="nofollow">ing his goals. However, the project comes with challenges. Gary does not have any formal authority over the in" rel="nofollow">individuals on his team, and has to work primarily through in" rel="nofollow">influence and consensus to get thin" rel="nofollow">ings done. The geographically dispersed nature of the team combin" rel="nofollow">ined with the vast cultural differences results in" rel="nofollow">in a variety of different perspectives based upon what is important to the in" rel="nofollow">individuals from each region. Generally, the team members are cordial to one another on the surface, but Gary knows that there are tensions among some of the staff that have an impact on the success and productiveness of the team. Gary is aware that one of the younger employees, Kate, is frequently frustrated that her Saudi Arabian co-worker, Amal. Amal seldom offers her opin" rel="nofollow">inion, feedback or support, and tends to defer decision-makin" rel="nofollow">ing to others in" rel="nofollow">in the team. Amal tends to take on multiple project tasks at a time, but doesn’t necessarily always have them completed on time. This is contrast to Gary who prefers to complete one task at a time. He also values punctuality and ‘keepin" rel="nofollow">ing to the schedule’. The other team members believe Amal is not bein" rel="nofollow">ing accountable as a team member. Amal, havin" rel="nofollow">ing migrated from Yemen, where women lack economic, social and cultural rights, to the United States, lacks the confidence to express her opin" rel="nofollow">inions. Havin" rel="nofollow">ing worked in" rel="nofollow">in Yemen for a multi-2 national company previously, Amal encountered problems of gender discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination. Chang Su, from the South Korean regional office also tends to shy away from discussions with the project lead Gary, and the other team members. He often needs to take time to contemplate the opin" rel="nofollow">inions and ideas put forward in" rel="nofollow">in conference calls, and fin" rel="nofollow">inds it hard to make an ‘on the spot decision’. Gary sometimes misin" rel="nofollow">interprets this as Chang bein" rel="nofollow">ing disengaged from the conversation. Tension also seems to arise when tasks are delegated. Gary is a directive leader, who consults with the team members, however his directions seem to be more ‘set in" rel="nofollow">in stone’, rather than bein" rel="nofollow">ing ‘open for discussion’. Kate believes that everyone on the team should be able to contribute in" rel="nofollow">in a shared, democratic process. She also believes in" rel="nofollow">in flexibility and adaptability when it comes to meetin" rel="nofollow">ing project timelin" rel="nofollow">ines. This clash of management style and of values has created tension between Gary, as the project lead, and all the other team members. Further, Yuki, the regional manager of the InVision Global office in" rel="nofollow">in Japan, feels that he is bein" rel="nofollow">ing disrespected, and that his opin" rel="nofollow">inion is not bein" rel="nofollow">ing heard. Gary believes that there has somehow been miscommunication between himself and Yuki, and comments ‘it’s just a cultural thin" rel="nofollow">ing…he should learn how to adapt his behaviour and workin" rel="nofollow">ing style to meet our needs’. Responses like this have led Yuki to believe that Gary is disrespectful of his knowledge and tenure in" rel="nofollow">in the company. The team has also never met face-to-face and this seems to be what is needed to sort through some of the issues. After one fin" rel="nofollow">inal conference call, Gary goes to bed feelin" rel="nofollow">ing pretty good about himself. Tonight’s conference call lasted longer than usual but everybody agreed that TechHow in" rel="nofollow">in London is the best vendor to use for in" rel="nofollow">integratin" rel="nofollow">ing all the existin" rel="nofollow">ing logistics and distribution systems (for project ORIGIN). Others at headquarters had warned Gary how challengin" rel="nofollow">ing it would be to get everyone on board with this decision, but he did. And this happened just in" rel="nofollow">in time for his meetin" rel="nofollow">ing tomorrow mornin" rel="nofollow">ing with senior management, when Gary will update them on the project. The next mornin" rel="nofollow">ing, Gary checks both his Twitter account and his email. He is just an hour away from the meetin" rel="nofollow">ing with senior management when he comes across an email entitled ‘URGENT’. The email is from Yuki Yuma, his colleague from Japan. Yuki, copies everyone on the project team as well as his entire team in" rel="nofollow">in Japan. He writes; What do you thin" rel="nofollow">ink? Gary mutters to himself. I thin" rel="nofollow">ink this is typical of Yuki Yuma. Gary wonders why Yuki wouldn’t have mentioned this last night in" rel="nofollow">in the conference call. This just annoys Gary. But why should it surprise him? If Gary says ‘A’, Yuki says ‘Z’. But it is never to his face. He was supportive when he was at headquarters last month, and he sounded agreeable on the conference call last night. At least he never raised any concerns. Gary wondered why Yuki didn’t speak up last night on the conference call? He mutters to himself, ‘…typical Japanese, always so quiet and contemplative’. This leaves Gary with the problem of what to say in" rel="nofollow">in the board meetin" rel="nofollow">ing with senior executives given that he supposed to update them with a fin" rel="nofollow">inal decision on a vendor? Thin" rel="nofollow">ink about what is goin" rel="nofollow">ing on in" rel="nofollow">in this case study. What issues are in" rel="nofollow">involved? What would be a culturally in" rel="nofollow">intelligent way of handlin" rel="nofollow">ing this?