The floundering expatriate
Floundering Expatriate By: Birns Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 3 1.1 Introduction 4 2 Issues and Evaluation 5 2.1 Cultural Differences 5 2.1.1 Ethnocentrism 5 2.1.2 Ignorance of sub cultures 5 2.1.3 Inability to adjust 5 2.1.4 Individualism 6 2.1.5 Masculinity 6 2.2 Communication 7 2.2.1 Paralanguage 7 2.2.2 High vs Low Context 7 2.2.3 Lack of communication between US and Zurich office 7 2.3 Leadership and Motivation 8 3 Alternative Solutions 9 3.1 Solutions to problems with Donaldson 9 3.1.1 International management studies 9 3.1.2 Send Donaldson home 9 3.1.3 Use Waterhouse to train Donaldson 10 3.1.4 Increase reliance on Personal Assistants 10 3.1.5 Local mentor and support groups 10 3.2 Solutions to problems with Waterhouse 11 3.2.1 Seminars to teach Waterhouse 11 3.2.2 Send Waterhouse back to US 11 3.3 Solutions to problems with Loun 12 3.3.1 Accompany Waterhouse to seminars 12 3.3.2 Schedule meetings between the US and Europe 12 4 Recommendations 13 Recommendation 1 13 Recommendation 2 13 Recommendation 3 14 Recommendation 4 14 5 Implementation 15 Table 1: Implementation Matrix 15 6 Reference List 16 6.1 Bibliography 17 1 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to identify, evaluate, and recommend solutions to the problems identified at Argos Diesel Europe. There are three major issues at the heart of the problems of the organisation. These are culture, communication and leadership and motivation. The cultural issues have come to a fore since the arrival of Donaldson who has struggled to come to terms with European culture. He is unable to adjust and as such he has not been as successful in transforming the European subsidiary like he had in Detroit. Communication is also an issue which is looked at in greater detail in the body of the report. There are communication problems at many levels which shows the severity of the problem. Leadership and motivation is the final issue evaluated in this report. Donaldson was an effective leader in the US where his reform was successful. However his approach has been far from successful in Europe and he has not been able to motivate the European workers at all. After evaluating the above issues and looking at many different alternative solutions four recommendations have been made in order to solve the problems that exist. Due to the high level of cultural unawareness that Donaldson possess in Europe it is advisable for him to undertake further learning in the area of cross-cultural communications. This is to be done at Robert Kennedy University. There is a need for improved communication between the Detroit head office and the European office. Regular meetings between Loun, Waterhouse and Donaldson using tele-conferencing technology would allow for a more open flow of information and Loun would get a more accurate picture of the situation that Waterhouse and Donaldson are in. It is important for the organisation to foster an attitude of continual learning by its employees. Waterhouse has begun to focus in how the developments in Europe will affect his career progress through the organisation. These seminars will give Waterhouse the opportunity to learn how to better handle expatriates and to become a transformational and transactional leader. At present the organisation is not fully utilising the resources which it possess. Donaldson does not have the ability to speak to write in any European language, yet his Personal Assistant does. In order to reduce the communication problems associated with this, it is vital that Donaldson immediately utilise the skills that Frau Schweri and use them to his and the organisations benefit. Some of the recommendations can be implemented immediately, but it will take time for Donaldson to gain a grasp on the intricacies of European culture, but with further study he could succeed in doing what he was sent from the US to do. 1.1 Introduction In the preparation of this report two assumptions have been made. The first assumption is that communication between all parties in the organisation occurs only when described in the case study provided on which this report is based. The word limit placed on this report does not enable a full report to be written. Much greater detail could be written in regard to the issues, alternative solutions recommendations and implementation of the recommendations had the word limit provided. 2 Issues and Their Evaluation 2.1 Cultural Differences It is clear from the outset of the case that Bert Donaldson has a lack of cultural savvy and sensitivity.