MGNT210 Managing Across Cultures Assignment-Wollongong University Australia.

Special Instructions:
This paper consists of FOUR (4) questions to be answered. Each question is worth 25 marks for a total of 100 marks. All questions MUST be answered.Please write the question number. Answer each question in a Microsoft Word and then covert the file to PDF for Moodle Submission. Answer to each question should be around 350 – 450 words.Answers are to be submitted on Moodle and Turnitin. This examination is worth 40% of your final mark. You must achieve at least 50% in this examination and gain at least 50% overall in the subject to pass.
MGNT210 Managing Across Cultures Assignment-Wollongong University Australia.

Honour Statement

By proceeding to attempt this exam, you are acknowledging that you are aware of the above requirements and that any work submitted is your own. This means that you agree to the following:
A.I understand all requirements for this exam and have been given an opportunity to ask questions regarding exam procedures.
B.I am the individual enrolled in this subject.
c.I understand that at no point during or after the exam am I to discuss,collude, or share information about the exam with any other individual or group.
D.I understand that, as a member of the UOW community, I am responsible for maintaining the quality and rigour of the institution.
E.I understand that if I am found in violation of this agreement that I will be subject to university Academic Misconduct Procedures.If you agree with the above statements, you may attempt the exam now.

MGNT210 Managing Across Cultures Assignment-Wollongong University Australia.

Instruction:

Working with Virtual Partners, Netherlands and Argentina
Roos Dekker works as a home country manager for Philips Healthcare, a division of the large Dutch multinational Philips. Her job responsibilities include logistical coordination for the company’s Healthcare@home products, including supplies and product deliveries to and from Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Dekker was born and raised in the Netherlands and attended Erasmus University Rotterdam. While she has travelled throughout Europe, she has never left the continent. Like many Dutch people, she speaks fluent German and English, as well as a little French, in addition to her native Dutch. Dekker took the job at Philips because she enjoyed working with people from different cultures, thought she was a good problem-solver and had good communication skills. She had also studied logistics and supply chain management as part of her business degree and was confident this would help her in her daily challenges. Still, she understood that global travel would be problematic in view of her two young children at home.

As part of her job, Dekker she must coordinate her efforts with other logistics managers around the world, including Javier Gutiérrez. Gutiérrez works in Buenos Aires and is involved in the company’s manufacturing, import and export, and distribution operations throughout South America. Operating through about a dozen plants in the region (mostly Brazil and Argentina), Philips makes components and products specializing in consumer electronics, small appliances, lighting equipment, and electronic medical equipment, which are then distributed and sold under the Philips brand.

Although Dekker and Gutiérrez are both logistics coordinators, they report to different supervisors in different divisions of the company. Organizationally, they are on the same level in the company hierarchy. Still, they must coordinate their efforts and work together to achieve maximum results for the entire enterprise. Dekker and Gutiérrez both speak fluent English, and have worked together several times, although they have never met in person and each knows very little about the other.

Recently, Roos Dekker was given an assignment involving major product deliveries from South America to the European Union. For reasons she did not understand, these deliveries arrived in Europe at a slower pace than was scheduled, and she was under considerable pressure to hasten these deliveries. Her point of contact for this problem was Javier Gutiérrez. Dekker tried several times to contact Gutiérrez, mostly by email, but failed to get any definitive response regarding the late shipments.

MGNT210 Managing Across Cultures Assignment-Wollongong University Australia.

Finally, out of desperation, Dekker sat down at her computer and wrote one more email to Gutiérrez expressing her frustration. When she finished writing the message, she realized that she had to cool off a bit before sending it and put the message away until after lunchtime. When she returned from lunch, she decided that she should edit the message so it was less incendiary and focused strictly on the facts as she saw them. Still, she needed to express her sense of urgency.

I just had a conversation with Mr. Van den Berg (my boss) about the late shipments from Argentina and Brazil. He is concerned that this delay may have significant impact on our division results as we are losing sales. He blames us for these delays and asked me to provide a report explaining the delays as soon as possible. I need the following information from you by tomorrow (your time):
• A full explanation for the cause of the shipment delays.
• A detailed timetable with a realistic forecast of when the shipments will arrive.
• A specific plan of action to get us back on track and avoid these delays in the future. From now on, I would like to receive a copy of all shipment reports coming out of Brazil and Argentina.

MGNT210 Managing Across Cultures Assignment-Wollongong University Australia.

I am not surprised that your boss is upset. However, I think you may have misunderstood the situation. I do not wish to be rude, but you leave me no choice but to be frank. I am the logistics coordinator here, not the boss. The management schedules both production and deliveries, and several people are involved in these decisions, including the labor unions. If we push the workers too hard, they will shut down entire plants and this helps no one, as you would agree.

In addition, we have many recipients within the company, not just your division, and to make matters more complicated, our Asian markets are growing faster than those in the EU, and they, too, are demanding more product. And you know of all the customs issues we had in the last few weeks due to the new regulations regarding medical equipment and the additional paperwork required to satisfy safety requirements that came at a time in which we are short staffed. And should I remind you that your recent orders were special orders that were outside the original forecast and have been accommodated as a special case.

I don’t understand how you can blame me for the delays. Can’t you see that this just makes things worse? And how can you expect me to provide you with information that I don’t have? I can’t provide you with the information that you requested until I hear from the production and legal departments. We work for an international firm and should work together to resolve issues, not just blame others for our problems. That is what I most believe.

I am sending a copy of this message to Mr. Antonio Rodrigues (my boss) as it is important that we all become aware of what is happening. I suggest you inform your boss that he needs to be patient and learn to respect his colleagues and partners in other countries.

2020 Richard M. Steers. This case was developed for use with Management Across Cultures: Challenges,Strategies, and Skills, published by Cambridge University Press, all rights reserved.

Case Questions

Question 1
What are the challenges in managing virtual teams? How can organisations manage these challenges? Use examples from the case study to justify your answer.

Question 2
Discuss the key cultural differences between the Netherlands and Argentina. In what ways might the key differences reduce message-clarity in the exchange between Roos Dekker and Javier Gutiérrez?

Question 3
Using the Attention-Interpretation-Action (AIA) model of interpersonal communication, explain the communication episode or cycle involving Dekker and Gutiérrez.

Question 4
Using this case study as an example, explain the common process strategies used for resolving conflicts, and suggest a strategy (ies) from the common process strategies that you deem most appropriate to resolve the conflict between Dekker and Gutierrez.