1. From Van den Bosch’s point of view, what was his intention in sending the email?
The Van Den Bosch case shows issues in different responsiveness and cultural values and cross culture communication. In the case, Johannes van den Bosch, the Rotterdam office representative of Big Four Firm, is having problems communicating and getting the expected actions and results from his partner in Mexico, Pablo Menendez. As the result of this Van den Bosch has been receiving a lot of verbal abuse and pressure from his angry British client, Malcolm Smythe-Jones. In the hope to please his client and solving the problem, van den Bosch composes an email for Menendez expressing his concerns and the situation that they are in.
His intention was to send
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A very simple approach to understand the cultural differences in this email communication is clearly a relationship orientated strategy and a task orientated strategy between the Mexican and the Dutch person involved. Van Den Bosch biggest interest is getting the job done first and then to deal with his Mexican counterpart as a person, if he is willing to do that at all after the job is done. I think Menendez on the other hand is a person who will go through the relationship approach first once work gets addressed.
Since both of them are partners (same level) Pablo will be feel inferior and may not respect Bosch as he used. He may be unwelcomed and frustrated not knowing the details on why he did is not responsive.
Using the MBI model (p.67) I first looked at identifying and understanding the differences between the involved parties. As mentioned earlier we have a different approach when it comes to leadership style (high Dutch – soft Mexico), time management (High Dutch – Low Mexico) and a more feminine gender style in Mexico compared to a masculine style in Holland. The first part of the MBI model already reveals significant differences in their culture. Overcoming this Bridge, both parties must understand that communication barriers exist. Communication should constantly be able to flow easy to ensure that the original meaning of the message is still
Different social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate due to of a lack of understanding or knowledge of one another’s background and culture. This could be through their race, religion, ethnicity or where they come from. Each one of these can have similar or very different ways to communicate. For example
Explain how people from different backgrounds may use and/ or interpret communication methods in different ways
The evaluation on overall tone was informal and not respectful towards to the recipients. From line 14 to 15, the tone of the sentence was informal in putting across the message of asking his fellow colleagues to cut down on their frequency of checking emails. This would also deem as not respectful by the recipients. In line 18, the use of “yap” as a slang for yes was unacceptable as well. From line 23 to 25, the phrase “by the way” should not be used in communicating in workplace. The tone of sentences between line 23 to line 25 was sarcastic and adopts an arrogant attitude towards the recipients. In line 32, the sentence “it really works, try it!” was not appropriate in a formal email to promote the skills he was sharing.The sentence “Too bad I have to miss this one” in line 35, was an expression of his feelings which was unnecessary. Lastly, he should not be signing off with cheers since this was supposed to be an formal and informative email. This makes the email informal and seems to be having a conversation with his friends and not his
Explain how people from different backgrounds may use and/or interpret communication methods in different ways
This text is a good reference point. This text is used to understanding communication within culture. This source also gave a better understanding
Due to the different ways of expressing politeness and conversational involvement, they may have trouble communicating even if they share the same language. The ‘two cultures' approach proposes that talk between women and men is fraught with potential misunderstanding for much the same reasons that communication across the ethnic groups is (Mary Crawford, Talking Difference On Gender and Language, 1995). Hence, I agree with the point of view of Deborah Tannen. However, "You just don't understand: Women and men in conversation" does not inform readers about the reasons and the consequences of the communication differences between genders. Therefore, this essay will include the above
There was breach of faith by withholding information and not being upfront during the communication process between different parties. This situation was also caused by cultural differences like relationship building, “Guanxi”, emphasis on personal relationships versus factual-based legalistic approach, completely varied styles of doing business, and also
The case, Charles Foster sends an email, is a perfect example of the how globalization and increased cross cultural interaction is increasing the complexity and ambiguity facing the managers of large multinational companies. The specific focus of this case is to address the repercussions that can occur by using inadequate communication methods, given the importance and complexity of a situation. Also, the case addresses the possibility of cross cultural communication misinterpretation leading to confusion and confrontation amongst the parties involved. The objective of this qualitative analysis is to utilize both theory and practical
Communication – verbal and otherwise – remains an important dimension of international management, and there are different communication styles, how communication is processed and interpreted, and how culture and language influence communication and miscommunication (Luthans & Doh, 2012).
Many corporate are now conducting training on cross-cultural communication for their workforce. In the US, opinions of cultural experts are invited before taking a judicial decision. In short, every person or organization can make small steps to minimize this
The importance of understanding cultural, ethnic and gender differences by managers and professionals in a business setting is essential to make the work environment comfortable. In every culture there are basic standards of thinking, and acting and these cultural differences strongly influence workplace values and communication. What may be considered acceptable and natural in the workplace for one person may be unacceptable for another person. People from diverse cultures bring new ways of thinking, creativity and language skills needed to survive in today’s work force. In many
First, cultural difference can pose great problems in communication and collaboration in a joint venture. In this case, an attempt to attract a strategic investor had failed primarily because of lack of cultural sensitivity by the U.S.
I had basic knowledge of the Gofstede national cultural dimensions – Power distance, Uncertainty avoidance, Individualism-Collectivism, Masculinity-Femininity, and Long term-short term orientation; however, I have never viewed them as a helpful tool to analyze cultural differences related to conflicts at a workplace. For example, every time I used to e-mail or call the Mexico office with questions about planning assumptions, the second in command finance staff member would never give me an answer and would always say that I should speak to the manager. This looked strange to me because an identical position holder from a US office would always give me an answer followed by a detailed explanation. I simply thought that the Mexican lower rank staff members were incompetent and that I was better of contacting someone higher in the ranks right away; however, if I had looked up national cultural dimensions for Mexico, I would have found that Mexico, different than the U.S., is a very hierarchical society. It is
Cross-cultural communication is the process of exchanging meaningful and unambiguous information across cultural boundaries, in a way that preserves mutual respect and minimizes antagonism, that is, it looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds endeavour to communicate. The study of cross-cultural communication was originally found within businesses and the government both seeking to expand globally. Communication is interactive, so an important influence on its effectiveness is our relationship with others. All communication is cultural -- it draws on ways we have learned to speak and give nonverbal messages. We do not always
Mr. Fisher, President of Central Steel Door, made many mistakes in his efforts to hire a sales manager in Europe. First, advertising in the International Herald Tribune is only going to attract Americans who lack the intelligence and in-country expertise the company needs to successfully compete in unfamiliar markets. Second, he fails to make the most of these candidates that these ads generate by asking them for referrals and offering an incentive. He fails to use the limited success of the ads to successfully network into the international community. Third, the lack of sensitivity ot living costs in Belgium and Germany for sales manager led to them quickly resigning. Fourth, Mr. Fisher didn't coordinate with the Belgian government to ensure employment taxes were paid on time, leading to a bill for back taxes of thousands of dollars. Fifth, the hiring of ten local people to staff distribution centers and the firing of five of them not only had to be communicated months in advance to local government authorities, Central Steel Door is legally obligated to pay them for a full year of their salaries based on German law. Sixth, the ignorance of local, regional and national laws ends up costing the company more than it made on any sales in the region ruing the case study's timeframe. Seventh, Mr., Fisher neglected to consider how the cultural differences between the Untied