Question

Hans works for a multinational food company based in Switzerland. He was just named the leader of a team of six people that will coordinate a worldwide marketing strategy for a new product. His only previous communication with members of his new team was as a participant in occasional conference calls during the past two years in which some of the members of his new team commented briefly. The primary connections between team members will be through email, instant messenger, or video call. However, there is a budget that can be used for travel for each team member to fly to another country once per year on company business. The six team members are natives of the countries in which they work: Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Country Y, United Kingdom, and United States. The company language is English and all team members are fluent or semi-fluent in English.

What plan of action would you recommend to Hans to facilitate effective communication among members of the team? Some possible issues to be aware of include time zone differences, language differences, and a wide variety of cultural differences. Use concepts drawn from the course, along with any other information you find (please cite your sources) in your answer.

Cross-culture communication “Communicating: low-context vs. high-context

•Evaluating: direct negative feedback vs. indirect negative feedback

•Persuading: principles-first vs. applications-first •Leading: egalitarian vs. hierarchical

•Deciding: consensual vs. top-down

•Trusting: task-based vs. relationship-based

•Disagreeing: confrontational vs. avoids confrontation

•Scheduling: linear-time vs. flexible-time”

Answer 1

Hans should ensure that the team members, as they come from a variety of cultures and social backgrounds, should get along with one another in an amicable way before they can get themselves engaged in the project activities. He should facilitate a cross cultural training for all team members to inculcate the feeling of togetherness in them with mutual respect, tolerance and sensitivity for each other. This should be followed by an informal get together highlighting glimpses of cultural aspects associated with each member, which would help them to learn about each pther in better manner. The communication plan should be developed, keeping in mind, the cultural differences, language proficiency of the members, and difference in time zones, so that none of them feels inconvenience or communication barriers. Their interactions should be overseen for any possible differences between them and Hans should be ready to resolve any conflict that might arise due to differences.