Cross Cultural Business Organisational Functioning Management

Executive Summary

The corresponding study report would be deliberative of a particular case study and of an overall process of learning and evaluation of a performed interview concerning the perception of the broader perspective of cross-cultural business organisational functioning management. In this context, the organisational case study would involve the joint venture company of AmKor and the study interview could be focused on the performing of a direct interview process with a person of different national and cultural lineage from that of the Researcher.

Task 1: Cultural Interview Performance and Personal Profile Formulation

The meeting with the Interviewee Mr. No Heung Sok, a Korean national, was conducted at the British Public Library at London. Mr. Sok is a middle aged gentleman with 42 years of age and is currently working as a Senior Structural Engineer at a renowned engineering organisation at the United Kingdom. He is the eldest of his three siblings and is married and has two daughters. He lives with his family and parents at South London. Mr. Sok is adept in conversing in English, Chinese and also in his vernacular Korean. He is mostly a person with a reserved and calm yet serious disposition and these are emblematic of the specific characteristics of his native culture. His country Republic of Korea, more frequently known as South Korea, is located at the Eastern end of the continent of Asian and is situated at the Sothern end of the Korean peninsula. This country is populated by 51.5 million Koreans and the capital is situated at the metropolis of Seoul. The cultural richness and the heritage of being an ancient civilisation provide South Korea with a unique identity in this respective geographical region. The profound Buddhist philosophical ideals and values seem to have been the core constituents of the character of a person such as Mr. Sok. However, the current globalised corporate culture, accompanied by the varied historical experiences of the Korean populace in the previous century along with considerable economic growth and industrial progression, has led to the shaping of the overall personality of such individuals such as the Interviewee with a dual amalgamation of the ancient with the modern perceptual values. As one of the most thoroughly industrialised nations on the planet, the citizens of Republic of Korea have been one of the most industrious individuals in their respective fields of occupation such as that of Mr. Sok. The Interviewee had communicated in clearest of terms that seriousness regarding the profession which he leads and objective oriented outlook are the two most significant aspects of his external attitude and he also has stated that he is dedicated to his profession so as to ensure the necessary means for the proper survival and flourishing of those dependent on him. The mannerisms exhibited by the Interviewee have been emblematic of the Buddhist ideals in terms of polite yet assertive abilities of communication, firm conviction on his beliefs and a serious demeanour in terms of his approach towards the situations which he could find himself into. He is the lead earner within his family and also his authority imparts the required social status to his dependents. Mr.Sok is a thoroughly knowledgeable and hardworking individual and also takes active part in Korean community development and his additional engagements involve activities such as attending the opera programmes and taking to considerable reading of comparative literature of different nations and practicing of traditional Korean painting. Mr.Sok values self respect as an ardent virtue and he has certain strong opinions regarding the varying effects of the western culture which he often considers to be kept aloof of such as consumption of fast food and overt violence depiction in the movie industries of various western nations. Throughout the interview, the Interviewee had demonstrated consistent awareness of the value of time management and punctuality has been one of the defining traits of the characteristics of Mr. Sok.

Task 2: Reflection on cross cultural competencies

In this respect, the application of the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) of Kolb has been considered on my part, as particularly assistive in terms of development of my self-learning and skills for critical analysis. The rationale for selecting this reflective learning model could be understood as that it covers all of the fundamentals related to reflective and experience based learning. At the initial state of concrete experience gaining, I could relate to the academic and practical exposure to different experiences which I came across in my learning processes involving cross cultural studies. This involved interpretation and reinterpretation of experiences gained by me. The next stage informed the performance of reflective observation on the obtained experiences and I paid particular attention to understand the importance regarding the inconsistencies which I could find in the understanding the broader perspectives of my study and the particularities of my experiences. I undertook formulation, in an abstract manner, of the concepts, the basis of which could be derived from my previous study experiences. This phase also involved the modifications to my previously existing notions regarding the cross-cultural determinants which could lead to the constitution of the behavioural aspects as well as cognitive perceptions of particular individuals.

At the final stage of the reflective learning process, I embarked upon the utilisation of the active experimentation processes regarding the cross-cultural operating skills and the gained learning regarding the objectives of emphasising upon both subjective and objective outcomes.

From the self-learning perspective, I think it is paramount, in terms of significance for me, to state that the learning gains have been extensive from the previously conducted interview. This has been effective for me to develop and then reinforce the cross-cultural competencies of mine so as to attain the most effective perceptual and cerebral capabilities. From an academic standpoint, I presume that I have been able to develop the capability, on the individual level, to contribute to further development of the effective intercultural interactive abilities and this could be further assistive for me to build better understanding regarding the specific intersections of the differential cultural attributes which individuals from varied cultural perspectives could bring forth in the different professional domains. I have also come to realise that various aspects of cognition, psychological implications and behavioural particularities could be specifically applicable and could as well be unique aspects within particular national or cultural domains, however, these do not overshadow the fundamental fact that the cultural and national perspectives become immaterial regarding the deliberations of a core set of specific psychological as well as interactive competencies which facilitate the overall adaptation to any of the cultural perspectives which any professional individual could encounter within his or her respective occupational domains.

Task 3: Case analysis

According to Bachmann-Medick (2017), the primary contention of any cross-cultural business undertaking is that of a dual fold in nature. The first one could be identified as the different responsibilities and challenges which the managerial personnel of any business organisation such as that of AmKor, could come to encounter. The second one could be acknowledged to be the generalised conditions of the hyper competitive market scenario within which any global corporate entity such as that of AmKor could find itself. The management of such challenges which could emerge out of such conditions is the primary responsibility scenario for the managerial assets of such business organisations. In this respect, as has been observed by Binder (2016), the initial responsibilities of the organisational hierarchy is to formulate and modify the management framework of any such cross-culturally operating business entity such as that of AmKor.

This has been amply reflected in the provided case study in the format of a joint working committee and the utilisation of the multicultural management personnel instatement in the format of the president being Lee Sanghoon, a Korean the national and the chief managing director being Mathew Davenport, an American who had been appointed by ABI. Davenport has been augmented with the services of five senior managing directors, as per the information provided in the concerned case study, to provide specific coordination and management directions regarding the management of functional areas of the corporate operations such as the sales, finance, operations, localised manufacturing and others. In this respect, the appointed Executive Assistant Alan Bird, with communicative linguistic abilities of the Korean language, could be considered to be crucial as far as the resolving of the key cross-cultural challenges is concerned. Furthermore, the proper management of the cultural and organisational environments has been also facilitated by the linguistic and cultural communication capabilities of Alan Bird in the form of trouble shooting from the perspective of the managerial responsibilities involving the most significant Korean customers. These responsibilities involve attending the trade and commercial meetings, holding specific negotiation with the officials of the Korean national governments, undertaking and completion of the projects related to conducting proper marketing research and finally the provisioning of the guidance regarding daily management operations along with the implementations of the formulated organisational procedures with such purposes as primary objectives. In this context, the key challenge of undertaking effective coordination and conclusive management of working teams and groups comprised by multicultural personnel, the employment of cultural sensitisation policies and credible and recognisable working processes, which could be predictable in more ways than one, could be considered to be one specific process.

The predictability of working processes is of paramount significance from the perspective of imparting a sense of recognisability to the culturally diverse human working assets of both Korean and American national lineages so as to preclude any possibility of arising confusion. However, as has been represented in the case study, the reverse cultural effects on the managerial skills of Alan Bird, had often caused worries for Davenport. These reverse cultural effects had manifested in complete overwhelming of the American cultural identity of Bird by the adopted Korean culture and this, on part of Davenport, had led to the perceptions of the supposed reduction in the effective administrative and varied cultural working condition management capabilities of Bird. In this respect, according to the research of Bird and Mendenhall (2016), from a generalised perspective, management of cross-cultural working groups and teams entails five broad capability perspectives and these could be identified as leadership, trust formulation, negotiation capabilities, leadership abilities and finally, the proficiency of communication with the diverse range of working personnel within the organisational working architecture. As has been outlined by the research of Tjosvold (2017), this could be further categorised into eight different elements which properly outline the responsibilities associated with the leading of global organisations such as AmKor, management of the work, motivation and managing ethical conflicts. Choromides (2018) has considered these eight sub-categories in the format of communication, evaluation, leadership frameworks, decision formation processes, agreement formation, abilities of persuasion, management of time schedules and arrangement of the same to ensure flexibility of time and finally, the formulation of effective working relationships through international negotiations with local, regional, national and international business organisations.

This has been the backdrop which has outlined the perceptual inhibitions experienced by Davenport concerning the supposed emotional involvement by Bird in the Korean culture which got reflected consistently in the overall performance of Bird regarding the extensive responsibility scenario which he, in the designation of executive assistant, has to execute. These could be considered to be the overt and explicit influence of the process of immersion into Korean culture by Bird the most deliberate manifestation of which could be considered too be the increased utilisation of Korean by Bird instead of English while communicating with AmKor employees despite the prevalence of bilingual employees within the joint venture services of AmKor. This could be a direct indication towards the key challenge of formulation of the most effective communication framework through which proper communication could be managed across the cultures and as per the case study, Bird had considerably invested in gaining direct feedback from the AmKor employees through extensive and explicit personal communication processes. As per the case study, this had manifested in generation of various complaints against Davenport which had been put to Bird by increasing numbers of employees concerning the alteration of policies performed by Davenport. One specific instance had been of particular contention for the Korean employees of AmKor which had been that of the changes instated regarding the new promotional policies within the organisation where the traditional promotional policy on the yardstick of seniority had been replaced with the promotion on the basis of competencies and performances.

This could be contextualised as direct clash between two opposing practices of working cultures where Davenport has been instrumental in instituting the Western style operating processes with deliberate emphasis upon the performance appraisal processes on an annual basis and the Human Resource Management Department of the organisation under consideration had been tasked by Davenport to enable the immediate supervisors of the various working groups and teams, across the working framework of the company, to undertake such performance appraisals. This could be highlighted as another key challenge regarding cross-cultural management in such organisations such as AmKor since the application of such new and hitherto untested organisational functioning perspectives within the company under consideration engendered specific problems such as employee discontent on part of the working human resources. The emergent discord could be conceptualised as the perception of disruption of corporate structural harmony on part of AmKor personnel as well as generation of internecine and interpersonal conflicts regarding the implementation of such policy changes. According to Demuijnck (2015), this case in point outlined one of the primary issues in the process of management of the current global organisational working frameworks where the previously existing working culture as well as team management processes could come into conflict with the more pragmatic practices which could address the concerns and situational demands of the globalised, competitive market scenario. This issue, as per the perceptions of French (2015) could be identified as the core fundamentals on which the process of evaluation of employee value and functionality could be judged. These core fundamentals are recognised as the establishment of either the hierarchical or the egalitarian leadership structures within the working conditions of such cross-cultural business entities such as AmKor.

In this respect, it could be observed that the requirements to overcome the market tribulations and the necessity of maintaining the most competent and competitively motivated working human resources prompted Davenport to institute such changes in promotional policies so as to bring forth the most competent employees. However, the diverging opinions of both the Bird and Davenport became the bone of contention concerning the management of AmKor based operational and human resources and this has been amply demonstrated within the case study concerning the assessment undertaken by Davenport regarding the leadership and management operations performed by Bird and this assessment consummately outlined the fact that the management policies implemented by Bird have been reflective of a regressive and often obstructive element in terms of progressive policy formulation and implementation on part of the managerial hierarchy of AmKor. Such hierarchical conflict of opinions and perceptions regarding the most suitable as well as the most effective methods of management and functionalities, which could be implemented within the working architecture of AmKor to effectively manage the global business assignments, culminated in the transfer of Bird and in his replacement, as had been decided by Davenport.

From the research perspective of Henneberg et al (2015), the conditions observed regarding the case study of AmKor could be contextualised as primarily the indication of the fundamental problem of resolution of any form of conflict in the most disjointed and arbitrary manner which leads to replacement of apparently experienced managerial personnel such as that of Alan Bird by his superior Mathew Davenport. This has been also reflective of the dearth of a consistent and effective form of interaction as well as establishment of professional coordination and understanding on part of the two officials under consideration within the concerned organisation. Peng (2017) has observed that it is inherently difficult for any global management framework of any such business organisation such as that of AmKor to effectively develop, define, implement and finally utilise proper methods of success. Such methods of success could be only efficacious if theses involve the critical responsibility of management of the utmost measure of flexibility and also, preclude any undermining of the organisational or market based objectives. In this respect, the case study of AmKor is deterministic of the process which Reiche et al (2016) has observed to be that of a clash between the management procedure based thesis, represented by the perceptions and pragmatic approaches exhibited by Davenport and the antithesis which has been represented by the stringent cultural perspectives exhibited by Bird. As per the research of Thomas and Peterson (2017) this clash, however, has been indicative of a complete absence of any proper resolution in the form of the emergence of an synthesis of perspective which could have been effective in terms of reconciliation of the differing perspectives of the two personnel under consideration. This could be further exemplified from interceding by Bird, of the decision of Davenport to fire a specific Korean manager on the grounds of inefficacy of leadership and competency as well as initiative. The dominant cultural perspective of Bird, in the form of arrangement of employment of the dismissed Korean manager at another business entity under the purview of the HBG group, could be understood to be an attempted maintenance of the general Korean professional practices. Such a perception has been exemplified again as a confrontationist occurrence between two varied organisational working cultural perspectives and the implications of the actions of Bird, have been confrontationist rather than that of avoidance based approaches.

In this respect, the presumed recommendations which could be developed from the study of the case of AmKor, could be highlighted as the following:

1. Constitution of the most effective cross-cultural management structure which could be effective in terms of creation of specific conditions which could enable each managerial personnel within the working framework of any such business organisation such as that of AmKor to contribute to the most clarified and compelling direction maintenance regarding the observed overall business processes. This could be facilitated through consistent communication, both explicit and implicit, in between the hierarchical management structure related personnel such as Davenport and Bird.
2. Formulation of clarified norms for the organisational directives and through maintenance of them in the proper manner. Such created norms have to be deliberative in terms of reconciling any difference between differing working cultural perspectives of different national lineages.
3. Development of effective negotiation frameworks which could be able to provide the necessary remedies of conflict of authorities which could arise in the similar mode such as that between Davenport and Bird.

Reference List

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