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Homework answers / question archive / 1)Describe Higgins's and Prescott's attitudes toward implementing U

1)Describe Higgins's and Prescott's attitudes toward implementing U

Sociology

1)Describe Higgins's and Prescott's attitudes toward implementing

U.S. personnel policies in the Japanese operations?
2)What are the major reasons for the differences in attitude?
3)What will a Weaver corporate manager do if they are manager responsible for the Japanese operations and the conflict between Higgins and Prescott ?
3 a. Identify some alternatives that can be recommended in this situation


Here is a link to the reading, please familiarize yourself with the reading before attempting to respond to the questions.
https://blackboard.uvi.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-554937-dt-content-rid-21163851_1/courses/MGT436_FallSemester2020_1_88295/The-Culture-Environments-Facing-Business%20%282%29.pdf


Introduction The opening case illustrates how important it is for companies to adjust when entering different cultures. PRI's lack of adjustment led to its failure; Harvey Nichols's adjustments are leading to its success. The major problems of cultural collision in international business are when • A company implements practices that work less well than intended. • A company's employees encounter distress because of an inability to accept or adjust to foreign behaviors. Business employs, sells to, buys from, is regulated by, and is owned by people. Because international business includes people from different cultures, every business function
managing a workforce, marketing output, purchasing supplies, dealing- with regulators, securing funds-is subject to potential cultural problems. An international company must be sensitive to these cultural differences in order to, predict and control its relationships and operations. Further, it should realize that its accustomed way of doing business may not be the only or best way. When doing business abroad, a company should first determine what business practices in a foreign country differ from those it's used to. Management then must decide what, if any, adjustments are necessary to operate efficiently in the foreign country. You learned that companies need to understand external environments to operate efficiently abroad. Figure 6.1 illustrates
that culture-the specific learned norms based on attitudes, values, and beliefs that exist in every nation-is an integral part of external environments. This chapter will first examine cultural awareness, especially the need for building it. Second, the chapter will discuss the causes of cultural differences, rigidities, and changes. Third, the chapter will describe behavioral factors that affect the conduct of business internationally. Finally, the chapter will explore why businesses and individuals adjustor don't adjust-to another culture. Figure 6.1 Culture Influences on International business
Cultural Awareness Building cultural awareness is not an easy task, and no foolproof method exists for doing so. As we just said, culture consists of specific learned norms based on attitudes, values, and beliefs, all of which exist in every nation. Visitors remark on cultural differences, experts write about them, and international businesspeople find that they affect operations. Yet controversy surrounds these differences because people disagree on what they" are, whether they are widespread or exceptional differences, and whether the differences are deep-seated or superficial. Further, culture cannot easily be isolated from such factors as economic and political conditions. For example, an opinion survey of a country's citizens that measures, say, attitudes toward buying a new product may reflect a response to temporary economic conditions rather than basic values and beliefs that will have lasting effects on the product's acceptance. Some differences, such as those regarding acceptable attire, are discerned easily; others may be more difficult to perceive. All people have culturally ingrained responses to given situations and sometimes expect that people from other cultures will respond the same way as people in their own culture do. For example, in the opening case, the British salesmen for PRI budgeted their time and so regarded drinking coffee and chatting about nonbusiness activities in a cafe as "doing nothing," especially if there was "work to be done." In fact, their compensation system did not give them the privilege of spending much time on each business transaction. The Arab businessmen had no compulsion to finish at a given time, viewed time spent in a cafe as "doing something," and considered "small talk" an indication of whether they could get along with potential business partners.
Because the Englishmen believed "you shouldn't mix business and pleasure," they became irritated when friends of the Arab businessmen joined their conversations. In contrast, the Arabs felt "people are more important than business" and saw nothing private about business transactions. Some people seem to have an innate ability to do and say the right thing at the right time, and others offend unintentionally or misrepresent what they want to convey. Nevertheless, there is general agreement that businesspeople can improve their awareness and sensitivity and that training about other cultures will enhance the likelihood of succeeding in those cultures. Researching descriptions of a specific culture can be instructive. But managers must carefully assess the information they gather because it sometimes presents unwarranted stereotypes, offers an assessment of only a segment of the particular country, or reports outdated information. In a given society, managers can also observe the behavior of those people who have the respect they would like themselves. Of course, it helps to study the overseas market directly. There are so many cultural variations that businesspeople cannot expect to memorize all of them for every country. Wide variations exist even in addressing people. For example, it may be difficult to know whether to use a given name or surname, which of several surnames to use, and whether a wife takes her husband's name. Making a mistake may be construed by foreign businesspeople as ignorance or rudeness, which may jeopardize a business arrangement. Fortunately, there are guidebooks for particular geographical areas, based on the experiences of many successful international managers. A manager may also consult with knowledgeable people at home and abroad-from governmental offices or in the private sector. Not all companies need to have the same degree of cultural awareness. Nor must a particular company have a consistent degree of awareness during the course of its operations. Companies usually increase foreign operations over time. They may expand their cultural knowledge as they move from one to multiple foreign functions or locations, from similar to dissimilar foreign environments, and from external to internal handling of their international operations. A company that is new to international business may need only a minimal level of cultural awareness, but a highly entrenched company needs a high level of awareness because of its multifunctional operations in multiple countries. When a company engages in few foreign functions-for example, when it just exports its home-country production-it must be aware of only those cultural factors that may influence its marketing program. Consider advertising, which may be affected by the target market's perception of different words and images. A company undertaking a purely resource-seeking foreign activity by manufacturing abroad can ignore the effects of cultural variables on advertising but must consider factors that may influence management of a foreign workforce, such as the management styles and operational practices most likely to motivate its workforce. For multifunctional activities, such as producing and selling a product in a foreign country, a company must be concerned with a wide array of cultural relationships.
The more countries in which a company does business, the more cultural nuances it must consider. A company may handle foreign operations on its own or contract with another company to handle them. The risk of making operating mistakes because of cultural misunderstandings goes down if it turns foreign operations over to another company at home or abroad that is experienced in the foreign country. If the operations are contracted to a company abroad, then each company needs some cultural awareness to anticipate and understand the other company's reactions. Strategies For Dealing With Cultural Differences After a company identifies cultural differences in the foreign country where it intends to do business, must it alter its customary practices to succeed there? How can it avoid misrepresenting its intent? Can individuals overcome adjustment problems when working abroad? What strategies can a company follow to get host cultures to accept the innovations it would like to introduce? There are no easy answers to these questions. Making Little or No Adjustment Although the opening case illustrates the advantages of adjusting, such as Harvey Nichols providing drivers' lounges and prayer rooms in its Saudi Arabian department store, international companies sometimes have succeeded in introducing new products, technologies, and operating procedures to foreign countries with little adjustment. That's because some of these introductions have not run counter to deep-seated attitudes or because the host society is willing to accept foreign customs as a trade-off for other advantages. Bahrain has permitted the sale of pork products (otherwise outlawed by religious law) as long as they are sold in separate rooms of grocery stores where Muslims can neither work nor shop. Often local society looks on foreigners and its own citizens differently. For example, Western female flight attendants are permitted to wear jeans and T-shirts in public when staying overnight in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, even though local women cannot. Members of the host society may even feel they are being stereotyped in an uncomplimentary way when foreigners adjust too much. Moreover, Western female managers in Hong Kong say local people see them primarily as foreigners, not as women. There and elsewhere, foreign women are accepted as managers more readily than local women are. Some countries are relatively similar to one another, usually because they share many attributes that help mold their cultures, such as language, religion, geographical location, ethnicity, and level of economic development. A company should expect fewer differences (and have to consider fewer adjustments) when moving within a cluster (an Ecuadorian company doing business in Colombia) than when moving from one cluster to another (an Ecuadorian company doing business in Thailand). However, there still may be significant differences within similar countries that could affect business dealings. Managers may expect that seemingly similar countries (those within clusters) are more alike than they really are; a company may be lulled into a complacency that overlooks important subtleties.


For example, women's roles and behaviors differ substantially from one Arab country to another. Communications Thus far, we've seen how language affects culture-and international business. We now look at problems of communications-translating spoken and written language. These problems occur not only in moving from one language to another but also in communicating from one country to another that has the same official language. Second, we discuss communications outside the spoken and written language, the so-called "silent language." Spoken and Written language Translating one language directly into another can be difficult, making international business communication difficult. First, some words do not have a direct translation. For example, there is no one word in Spanish for everyone who works in a business (i.e., employees). Instead, there is a word, empleados, which means "white-collar workers," and another, obreros, which means "laborers." This distinction shows the substantial class difference that exists between the groups, and it affects international business because there may be miscommunication when managers in Spanish-speaking and English-speaking countries come together. Second, languages and the common meaning of words are constantly evolving. For example, Microsoft purchased a thesaurus code for its Spanish version of Word 6.0, but the meaning of many synonyms had changed and become insulting. The company corrected the software after newspapers and radio reports denounced the program, but by then, Microsoft had alienated many potential customers. Third, words mean different things in different contexts. One company described itself as an "old friend" of China. However, it used the word for old that meant "former" instead of longterm." Finally, grammar and pronunciation are complex, and a slight misuse of vocabulary or word placement may change meanings substantially. Consider the following examples of signs in English observed in hotels around the world. France: "Please leave your values at the desk." Mexico (to assure guests about the safety of drinking water): "The manager has personally passed all the water served here." Japan: "You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid." Norway: "Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar." Switzerland: "Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose." Greece (at check-in line): "We will execute customers in strict rotation." The above examples offer a humorous look at language barriers, and, in fact, the wrong choice of words usually is just a source of brief embarrassment. However, a poor translation may have tragic consequences. For example, inaccurate translations have caused structural collapses and airplane crashes, such as the collision between aircraft from Air Kazakhstan and Saudia Air over India. In contracts, correspondence, negotiations, advertisements, and conversations, words must be chosen carefully. There is no foolproof way of handling
translations. However, good international business managers use rules such as the following. • Get references on the people who will do the translation for you. • Make sure your translator knows the technical vocabulary of your business. • Do a back translation for written work by having one person go, say, from English to French and a second person translate the French version back into English. If it comes back the same way it started, it is probably satisfactory. • Use simple words whenever possible, such as ban instead of interdiction. • Avoid slang. Such U.S. phrases as blue chip stocks and ballpark figures are likely to be meaningless to most businesspeople outside the United States. • When you or your counterpart is dealing in a second language, clarify communications in several ways (such as by repeating in different words and asking questions) to assure that all parties have the same interpretation. • Recognize the need for and budget from the start for the extra time needed for translation and clarification. When dealing with someone from another country that shares your official language, don't assume that communication will go smoothly. For example, between the United States and the United Kingdom, approximately 4,000 words have different meanings. Silent language Of course, spoken and written language is not our only means of communicating. We all exchange messages through a host of nonverbal cues that form a silent language. Colors, for example, conjure up meanings that come from cultural experience. In most Western countries, black is associated with death. White has the same connotation in parts of Asia and purple in Latin America. For products to succeed, their colors must match the consumers' frame of reference. For example, United Airlines promoted a new passenger service in Hong Kong by giving white carnations to its best customers there. The promotion backfired because people in Hong Kong give white carnations only in sympathy for a family death. Another aspect of silent language is the distance between people during conversations. People's sense of appropriate distance is learned and differs among societies. In the United States, for example, the customary distance for a business discussion is 5 to 8 feet. For personal business, it is 18 inches to 3 feet. When the distance is closer or farther than is customary, people tend to feel uneasy. For example, a U.S. manager conducting business discussions in Latin America may be constantly moving backward to avoid the closer conversational distance to which the Latin American official is accustomed. Consequently, at the end of the discussion, each party may feel uncomfortable with the other. Perception of time and punctuality is another unspoken cue that differs by context and may differ across cultures and create confusion. In the United States, participants usually arrive early for a business appointment, a few minutes late for a dinner at someone's home, and a bit later for a cocktail party.


In another country, the concept of punctuality in these situations may be different. For example, a U.S. businessperson in Latin America may consider it discourteous if a Latin American manager does not keep to the appointed time. Latin Americans may find it equally discourteous if a U.S. businessperson arrives for dinner at the exact time given in the invitation. In one case, a U.S. company made a presentation in Mexico in competition with a French company. The U.S. Company was confident that it would win the contract because it had the better technology. It scheduled a one-day meeting in Mexico City very tightly, allowing what it thought was plenty of time for the presentation and questions. However, the Mexican team arrived one hour late. One Mexican team member was called out of the room for an urgent phone call, and the whole Mexican team became upset when the U.S. team tried to proceed without the missing member. The French team allocated two weeks for discussions and won the contract even though its technology was widely known to be less sophisticated. Another silent language barrier concerns a person's position in a company. A U.S. businessperson who tends to place a great reliance on objects as prestige cues may underestimate the importance of foreign counterparts who do not have large, plush, private offices. A foreigner may underestimate U.S. counterparts who open their own doors and mix their own drinks. Body language, or kinesics (the way in which people walk, touch, and move their bodies), also differs among countries. Few gestures are universal in meaning. For example, the "yes" of a Greek, Turk, or Bulgarian is indicated by a sideways movement of the head that resembles the negative headshake used in the United States and elsewhere in Europe. In some cases, one gesture may have several meanings, as Figure 2.5 shows. Culture Shock A person who moves to another country often encounters culture shock-the frustration that results when experiencing a new culture and having to learn and cope with a vast array of new cultural cues and expectations. People working in a very different culture may pass through stages. First, like tourists, they are elated with quaint differences.
Figure 11.5 Kinesics Are Not Universal Later, they may feel depressed and confused-the culture shock phase-and their usefulness in a foreign assignment may be greatly impaired. Fortunately for most people, culture shock begins to ebb after a month or two as optimism grows and satisfaction improves. Interestingly, some people also encounter culture shock when they return to their home countries-a situation known as reverse culture shock-because they have
learned to accept what they have encountered abroad. Dealing with transfers to a foreign country is a significant concern for companies and transferees, , "Human Resource Management." Case Study Leonard Prescott, vice president and general manager of Weaver-Yamazaki Pharmaceutical of Japan, believed that John Higgins, his executive assistant, was losing effectiveness in representing the U.S. parent company because of an extraordinary identification with the Japanese culture. The parent company, Weaver Pharmaceutical, had extensive international operations and was one of the largest U.S. drug firms. Its competitive position depended heavily on research and development (R&D). Sales activity in Japan started in the early 1930s, when Yamazaki Pharmaceutical, a major producer of drugs and chemicals in Japan, began distributing Weaver's products. World War II disrupted sales, but Weaver resumed exporting to Japan in 1948 and subsequently captured a substantial market share. To prepare for increasingly keen competition from Japanese producers, Weaver and Yamazaki established in 1954 a jointly owned and operated manufacturing subsidiary to produce part of Weaver's product line. Through the combined effort of both parent companies, the subsidiary soon began manufacturing sufficiently broad lines of products to fill the general demands of the Japanese market. Imports from the United States were limited to highly specialized items. The subsidiary conducted substantial R&D on its own, which was coordinated through a joint committee representing both Weaver and Yamazaki to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts. The subsidiary turned out many new products, some marketed successfully in the United States and elsewhere. Weaver's management considered the Japanese operation to be one of its most successful international ventures and felt that the company's future prospects were promising, especially given the steady improvement in Japan's standard of living. Shozo Suzuki headed the subsidiary, but, as executive vice president of Yamazaki and president of several other subsidiaries, he limited his participation in Weaver-Yamazaki to determining basic policies. Prescott, assisted by Higgins and several Japanese directors, managed daily operations. Weaver Pharmaceutical had a policy of moving U.S. personnel from one foreign post to another with occasional tours in the home office international division. Each assignment generally lasted for three to five years. There were a limited number of expatriates, so company personnel policy was flexible enough to allow an employee to stay in a country for an indefinite time if he or she so desired. A few expatriates had stayed in one foreign post for over 10 years. Prescott replaced the former general manager, who had been in Japan for six years. An experienced international businessman who had spent most of his 25-year career at Weaver abroad, Prescott had served in India, the Philippines, and Mexico, with several years in the home-office international division. He was delighted to be challenged with expanding Japanese operations, and after two years, he felt a sense of accomplishment in having developed a smoothly functioning organization. Born in a small midwestern town, Higgins entered his state university after high school.


Midway through college, however, he joined the army. Because he had shown an interest in languages in college, he was able to attend the Army Language School for intensive training in Japanese. Fifteen months later, he was assigned as an interpreter and translator in Tokyo and took more courses in Japanese language, literature, and history. He made many Japanese friends, fell in love with Japan, and vowed to return there. After five years in the army, Higgins returned to college. Because he wanted to use Japanese as a means rather than an end in itself, he finished his college work in management, graduating with honors, and then joined Weaver. After a year in the company training program, Weaver assigned him to Japan, a year before Prescott's arrival. Higgins was pleased to return to Japan, not only because of his love for the country but also because of the opportunity to improve the "ugly American" image held abroad. His language ability and interest in Japan enabled him to intermingle with broad segments of the Japanese population. He noted with disdain that U.S. managers tended to impose their value systems, ideals, and thinking patterns on the Japanese. Under both Prescott and his predecessor, Higgins's responsibilities included troubleshooting with major Japanese customers, attending trade meetings, negotiating with government officials, conducting market research, and helping with day-to-day administration. Both general managers sought his advice on many difficult and complex administrative problems and found him capable. Prescott became concerned, however, with Higgins's attitude and thinking. He felt that Higgins had taken to the Japanese culture to such a degree that he had lost the U.S. point of view. He had "gone native," resulting in a substantial loss of administrative effectiveness. Prescott mentally listed a few examples to describe what he meant by Higgins's complete emotional involvement with Japanese culture. The year before, Higgins had married a Japanese woman. At that time, Higgins had asked for and received permission to extend his stay in Japan indefinitely. According to Prescott, this marked a turning point in Higgins's behavior. Higgins moved to a strictly Japanese neighborhood; relaxed in a kimono at home; used the public bath; and was invited to weddings, neighborhood parties, and even Buddhist funerals. Although Weaver had a policy of granting two months of home leave every two years, with paid transportation for the employee and his family, Higgins declined to take trips, preferring instead to visit remote parts of Japan with his wife. At work, Higgins also had taken on many characteristics of a typical Japanese executive. He spent considerable time listening to the personal problems of his subordinates, maintained close social ties with many men in the company, and had even arranged marriages for some of the young employees. Consequently, many employees sought out Higgins to register complaints and demands. These included requests for more liberal fringe benefits, such as recreational activities and the acquisition of rest houses for employees to use at resort areas. Many employees also complained to Higgins about a new personnel policy, which Prescott instituted, that moved away from basing promotions on seniority, considering instead superiors' evaluations of subordinates. The employees asked
Higgins to intercede on their behalf. He did so, insisting their demands were justified. Although Prescott believed it was helpful to learn the feelings of middle managers from Higgins, he disliked having to deal with Higgins as an adversary rather than as an ally. Prescott became hesitant to ask his assistant's opinion because Higgins invariably raised objections to changes that were contrary to the Japanese norm. Prescott believed that there were dynamic changes occurring in traditional Japanese customs and culture, and he was confident that many Japanese were not tied to existing cultural patterns as rigidly as Higgins seemed to think they were. Indeed, Japanese subordinates were more willing than Higgins to tryout new ideas. Prescott also thought that there was no point in a progressive U.S. company's merely copying the local customs. He felt that the company's real contribution to Japanese society was in introducing innovations. There were more incidents that made. Prescott doubt Higgins's judgment. One was the dismissal of a manager who, in Prescott's opinion, lacked initiative, leadership, and general competency. After two years of continued prodding by his superiors, including Prescott, the manager still showed little interest in improvement. Both Higgins and the personnel manager objected vigorously to the dismissal because the company had never fired anyone before. They also argued that the employee was loyal and honest and that the company was partially at fault for having kept him on for the last 10 years without spotting the in competency. A few weeks after the dismissal, Prescott learned that Higgins had interceded on behalf of the fired employee, so that Yamazaki Pharmaceutical transferred him to its own operation. When confronted, Higgins said that he had done what was expected of a superior in any Japanese company by assuring a subordinate's continued employment. Prescott believed these incidents suggested a serious problem. Higgins had been an effective and efficient manager whose knowledge of the language and the people had proved invaluable. Prescott knew that Higgins had received several outstanding offers to go with other companies in Japan. On numerous occasions, Prescott's friends in U.S. companies said they envied him for having a man of Higgins's qualifications as an assistant. However, Prescott felt Higgins would be far more effective if he had a detached attitude toward Japan. In Prescott's view, the best international executive was one who retained a belief in the fundamentals of the home point of view while also understanding foreign attitudes.

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