Cross Cultural Management
The Case study presented here is that of a banking organization, Premuris Investments based in Southern California. The head of the organization, Marianne Whitaker is concerned about the behavior and performance of one of her financial advisors who is a Thai national hired only six months before. The employee named Pongpol Chatusipitak or ‘Moo’ as he liked to call himself did not appear to be motivated enough yet he was important to the company as he could generate substantial business from the large Thai community residing in California. Marianne tried to assess the possible reasons behind his behavior in order to arrive at a solution to the problem
Identification of Problems
The specific problem perceived by Marianne was one of insubordination and absenteeism. Pongpol failed to show up for his Performance Appraisal meeting and ignored her instructions on more than one instances. But there were other problems as well; he exhibited disinclination towards doing his job, seemed more interested in other activities and wasted his time in the workplace. Moreover he did not respond to motivation either and Marianne’s efforts to make him comfortable in a foreign work culture had not worked out as planned. There also seemed to be marked lack of communication between the two.
Analysis and Evaluation of the Problem
The problems appear to be a result of the cultural differences in Thai and American attitudes in workplace. Using Hofstede’s (1984) cultural dimensions analysis, there is a remarkable difference in the two cultures. America is a democratic country where everyone enjoys same rights and privileges while Thailand is still ruled by a King who is treated like a demigod and enjoys special privileges. Therefore power distance is more prominent in Thai culture. The organizational too culture is a reflection of their regional culture where hierarchy and lineage is treated with reverence and the employees are more used to authoritative leadership. The upper ranking officials do not mingle freely with subordinates and flow of communication is vertical. On the contrary, American work culture is more democratic where employees are accorded a more participative role. Marianne’s initiatives to be familiar with Pongpol were not successful because he came from a culture that believed in maintaining hierarchy in status. Moreover, ‘Wai’, the traditional greeting comes from the person of a lower social status (Seper, 2011) and in this case it was the other way round. This not only made Pongpol uncomfortable but also confused him about the clarity of roles and was most probably the reason for his insubordination. Secondly a hierarchal line of communication as in Thai organizations did not allow organizational heads to jump the tiers to interact directly with middle level employees and therefore Pongpol did not communicate his achievements directly to Marianne. Another important factor that affected Pongpol’s resistance was that he came from predominantly male eastern culture and he was not at ease taking orders from a female which was totally against the feminism depicted in American culture (Hofstede, 1984).
However, Pongpol’s behavior may not necessarily be attributed to his intentions of flouting Marianne’s refusal for leave but the close family ties in Thai culture that surpasses other commitments and therefore Pongpol chose to take leave and take his family members for a tour of Las Vegas. But Marianne being an American national who are more individualistic compared to Thai attitude of collectivism (Hofstede, 1984) couldn’t understand this. Also her attempts at motivating failed probably because Pongpol found it unfair that he would be expected to compete with the locals who were more proficient in their local games while his countrymen preferred martial arts as a favorite sport. Moreover he may have found the idea of motivating using sports performance as a benchmark as ridiculous. Researches in expatriate management have contended that if rewards did not appeal to the subordinate they may be disinclined to perform to their full potential (Muenjohn & Armstrong, 2015).
Marianne was right in supposing that Pongpol responded to authority and like other Thai nationals did not like losing face and so would start taking his responsibilities more seriously if rebuked in public. But this assumption was flawed because Thai culture did not appreciate losing tempers or raising voices while resolving a conflict (Seper, 2011). If Marianne had kept her cool, she may have been able to deal with the situation more effectively. Pongpol’s frequent visits to Las Vegas may not be his tendency to gamble but to develop business contacts with affluent Thai residents who came here. There is considerable difference in perceptions of Thai and western attitudes about performance and how goals are achieved (Fisher & Härtel, 2003).
If Marianne had attempted to learn more about Thai culture before attempting to interact with Pongpol, she wouldn’t have committed serious offense like speaking against Monarchy and would have followed Thai customs while visiting Pongpol. As a result, Pongpol lost his confidence in her ability to judge impartially and did not show up for his performance appraisal meeting.
Recommendations
Marianne should act as a transformational leader by helping Pongpol adapt to the new work culture and apply motivational methods that take into consideration the preferences of the latter. She should make efforts to learn more about his motivational needs which was monetary rewards as he had taken the job because it gave him a better income.
She should also respect the customs and values practiced in Thai culture. But at the same time must also understand the importance of communicating with him through her manager as Pongpol felt more comfortable with him.
Using these methods, Pongpol can be motivated through monetary incentives to perform more efficiently and adapt to the western work culture gradually. His retention is important for attracting Thai customers and generating more revenue.
References
Black, J. S., & Mendenhall, M. (1990). Cross-cultural training effectiveness: A review and a theoretical framework for future research. Academy of management review, 15(1), 113-136.
Fisher, G. B., & Härtel, C. E. (2003). Cross-cultural effectiveness of Western expatriate-Thai client interactions: Lessons learned for IHRM research and theory. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 10(4), 4-28.
Hofstede, G. (1984). Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific journal of management, 1(2), 81-99.
Muenjohn, N., & Armstrong, A. (2015). Transformational leadership: The influence of culture on the leadership behaviours of expatriate managers.international Journal of Business and information, 2(2).
Seper, A. (2011, October). Living in Thailand: How to Fit into a Culture So Different Than Your Own. Retrieved from https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/living-in-thailand-how-fit-culture-so-different-your-own
