Scenario Design and Analysis-Fast-Growing Firm in the United States

Scenario Design and Analysis-Fast-Growing Firm in the United States

Rodriguez, Dante, and Samuel are employees at a fast-growing firm in the United States. Chen and Lin are also employees of this firm, and Yusuf is currently the new supervisor of the marketing department. Rodriguez, Dante, and Samuel are Brazilians, and their culture allows them to discuss openly. Speaking while another person is speaking and even stopping one is considered engaging and permitted. Lin and Chen are from China, and their culture encourages people to take a low profile. Lin and Chen are brought up in a society where hierarchy matters a lot, and one cannot speak over their leader or even stop their leader when they are speaking. One will have to wait to be directed to speak. Yusuf, the Nigerian, has lived in the U.S. for only five months, and this is his first job in the U.S. Because of his past experience and academic qualifications, he was immediately given the post of supervisor. Yusuf has an African background and is from a culture where authority is important. In his background, a leader dominates conversations and does not need to consult the juniors; he only informs them. The case to be analyzed is about a meeting they had a few weeks ago that did not end well. As the senior person in the department, Yusuf was the one left to lead the meeting. As revealed, the diversity of culture, in this case, affected the communication, leading to the collapse of the meeting.

The scenario story

Rodriguez, Dante, Samuel, Lin, and Chen held a meeting that Yusuf chaired. The management instructed the supervisor of the marketing department to work with his team to develop a marketing program for the second half of the business year. The company was going through a hard time, and there was a need for a marketing program. The management believed that having such a diverse team would be an effective way of creating a unique and diverse program. However, the management failed to make the team aware of their cultural differences. The first thing Yusuf decided to do was hold a meeting and develop a program with his team. Yusuf already had a plan that he believed was effective and that he wanted to implement. In his mind, he knew that the meeting was needed only to brief his team members and allow them to add to the ideas he already had in mind (Abadir et al., 2019). The meeting ended without any form of contribution, and the worst part was that most members left the meeting dissatisfied and not feeling the value of the meeting. During the meeting, cultural differences led to disagreement and misunderstanding, making the meeting end prematurely and fruitlessly.

During the meeting, Rodriguez, Dante, and Samuel kept cutting into conversations while other members were speaking. Sometimes, they would even take over another person’s time and talk. Chen and Lin felt that this was a disorganized way of having a discussion. They were even angrier at Yusuf for not giving them each time to speak. They felt that as a leader, Yusuf should be the one to alert the juniors when to communicate. On the other hand, Yusuf felt that Chen and Lin were disinterested in the meeting, especially because of their low-profile demeanor. At the same time, he felt he was disrespected as a leader by Rodriguez, Dante, and Samuel, who were talking over others. However, These three believed they were more engaged and committed to the discussion. As such, the cultural conflict caused Yusuf to close the meeting prematurely, dissatisfied with the discussion.

Analysis of the scenario

When looking at this scenario, one can see that each team member was discontented with the meeting because they lacked an understanding of each other’s culture and how to accommodate these differences (Bachmann et al., 2020). As stated earlier, Brazilians consider discussions more engaging when one talks over another person once in a while or even stops another when talking to give their point. Their behavior in the meeting was very acceptable. However, to Lin and Chen, the behavior of these three colleagues was annoying and unethical for people in the corporate world. On the other hand, Yusuf felt disrespected and believed the two Asians were disinterested in the discussion. While the three Brazilians’ complaints are not noted, one can already tell they might have felt out of place during the discussion since they talked. They must have left the meeting feeling the others were uninterested in talking.

Recommendation

Cultural diversity is significant, especially in the workplace. Stahl and Maznevski (2021) have stated that cultural diversity helps teams produce ideas out of the box. However, diverse groups must be prepared and made aware of their diversity. Such preparation can help them cope with their differences. The practice also helps them know how to act and respond to each other’s actions. Therefore, the first recommendation is that all employees, including their supervisor, should attend a cultural diversity training session. This training session should also prepare them to respond to their cultural differences. The second recommendation is that the organization should train the leader, Yusuf, on handling conflicts resulting from cultural differences. As a leader, he should be aware of those cultural factors that influence his actions and how they affect him (Abadir et al., 2019). Finally, a team-building activity is needed for the entire team to help them connect and learn more about each other beyond their cultural differences.

References

Abadir, S., Batsa, E., Neubert, M., & Halkias, D. (2019). Leading multicultural teams in Agile organizations. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3507635

Stahl, G. K., & Maznevski, M. L. (2021). Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A retrospective of research on multicultural work groups and an agenda for future research. Journal of International Business Studies, 52(1), 4-22. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00389-9

Backmann, J., Kanitz, R., Tian, A. W., Hoffmann, P., & Hoegl, M. (2020). Cultural gap bridging in multinational teams. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(8): 1283–         1311.

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Instructions
Scenario Design and Analysis
For this assignment, you will identify the main concepts and terms learned in this week’s online lectures and textbook readings and create a fictional scenario (which may not be related to actual individuals).

You will use the following guidelines while writing your scenario:

Background: You need to describe the demographics of individuals involved in the scenario such as their age, gender, occupation, education, relationships, and family history.
The scenario story: You need to describe a scenario using the third person in which cultural differences challenge a group’s ability to accomplish a specific project.
Analysis of the scenario: You need to utilize the information learned from the online lectures and text readings to analyze the scenario. Be specific in your analysis using supporting evidence from outside sources when needed.
Recommendations: You need to end the scenario with your recommendations or suggestions you would have implemented in such a situation to assist in changing the behavior of the individuals involved in the case study.