Mr. Griffith's Cultural Adaptation: A Cross-National Case Study

Introduction

The case study involves Mr. Griffith and colleagues from different nationalities that include Cuban regional directors, officers from Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Japan, and Great Britain. Mr Griffith comes from a Caribbean English style background and is appointed to work in Mexico in the Latin America region. It is hard for Mr. Griffith to understand and adapt to the local culture. The Cuban colleague adopts a dictatorial management style while other officers have a Latin way of doing things. He does not feel integrated into the organization, and he is not interested in building social relations. It affects his relationships with colleagues. According to theories and research, the issue develops due to the difference in values and beliefs, which makes it hard for Mr. Griffith to adapt to the environment. The culture relates to the culture-related attitudes that may affect future professional behaviours as it affects how Mr Griffith interacts with other people and the demotivation in his work. This paper focuses on discussing the cultural dimensions of the case study.

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Cultural Issue

According to Hay's addressing model, the consideration of nationality and ethnicity contributes to an understanding of cultural identity. Differences in the region's customs and language can be used to include or exclude an individual from an outside group. Diversity in ethnicity also contributes to the exclusion of a person due to language (James, 2019). Therefore, Mr. Griffith feels excluded due to his language understanding and customs. Additionally, he does not understand the Spanish language and he is not interested in learning it making it hard for him to adapt into the new environment. He also has a different managerial style than the one used by his colleagues, which makes it hard for him to integrate into the region. He finds it challenging to interact well with colleagues due to the differences.

Theoretical Expectations

The culture-related issue may have developed due to interactions with other people. The social, cultural theory asserts that learning occurs as a result of interacting with people (Chiu & Shi, 2019). Mr Griffith has been to many regions which have different cultures, therefore making him adopt the cultures from the other countries through interactions. Most of the regions he has worked in apply the bureaucratic leadership style. However, in the current station, the colleagues who have adopted the Latin mode of leadership through socio-cultural theory use dictatorship. The language used is also different. Mr. Griffith is adamant to learn the language through interactions with the other employees and through training, which develops the cultural issue. He is also not conversant with the style of leadership adopted by the colleagues. His attitude and cultural beliefs also affect how he adapts to the new environment.

Additionally, the activity theory asserts that the psychological phenomenon is formed when people engage in social activities. The contexts considered include the linguistic, symbolic, and experiential entities (Chiu & Shi, 2019). Activities such as leadership and working in an organization stimulate thinking which in turn leads to acquiring cultural elements related to the region. Therefore from the activities, Mr Griffith and his colleagues acquire different cultures from the environment and the social contexts they interact with. Furthermore, the individualistic approach leads to the development of the issue. According to the approach, a person develops a personal culture due to their social experiences. Mr. Griffith deems the bureaucratic model of leadership as the best, which makes him not to accept the dictatorial approach. He is also not ready to learn the Spanish language.

Professional Behaviours

Attitudes related to culture, diversity, and ethnicity affect how individuals interact with each other. They also affect how workers solve conflicts and challenges in the workplace. When individuals have diverse cultures, it negatively impacts how they relate to each other in the workplace. The cultural aspects that include the communication styles and the national culture influences how the workers in an organization relate and adapt to the new environment (Chiu & Shi, 2019). Values and beliefs influence people's behavior, where different beliefs lead to diverse behaviors. Therefore when individuals do not respect each other's values, the conflicts arise where some employees feel that they are excluded from the workplace. Moreover, use of non-official languages leads to exclusion and miscommunication as diverse members have different languages. Ethnic diversities may result in emotional conflicts within the teams, as some members may feel excluded.

Furthermore, diversity affects professional behavior by creating barriers and dysfunctional adaptation behavior. Diverse employees have different opinions, beliefs, customs, and values. When diversity is not embraced, it has a negative effect on the employees in an organization (James, 2019). There may also be divisions in the workplace on the basis of ethnicity and culture which may lead to a reduced productivity. The integration across multicultural teams may also be difficult, thus affecting interactions in the workplace. There may also be conflicting working and leadership styles among the employees.

Proposed Cultural Guidelines and Competencies

There should be a multicultural training and education to enhance the knowledge of other individual's beliefs in customs in the workplace. The employees in the organization should be taught how to respect other people's beliefs where Mr Griffith should be made to understand the method of leadership adopted by his colleagues. There should also be a consideration of how the training will affect the individual's work and interactions with each other. Ways through which the intersection of the racial and ethnic groups exhibits other dimensions of identity should also be recognized (Park, 2020). Mr. Griffith should also be advised on the importance to learn the Spanish language as it is the official language in the region.

In ensuring a diverse environment, the organizations and workers should ensure the inclusivity of all the employees. Every employee's beliefs and values should be recognized, and their perspectives embraced to ensure social cohesion. Values also vary widely across the national cultures. In the case of leadership styles, the employees should recognize they have different values and seek to compromise for the good of the organization. The employees' ethnicity and race should be respected and embraced to ensure equality. The behaviors associated with every job should be validated against the successful interactions of all the employees (Park, 2020). Everyone's perspective regarding various issues that affect the organizations should also be considered to avoid cultural conflicts as every individual comes from a different background.

Besides, employees should have empathy through understanding their colleagues' culture by actively listening and understanding their perspectives. They should also be flexible in responding and adapting to the changing environments (Park, 2020). There should be cross-cultural communication in the interaction with those who come from diverse cultures. The organizations and individuals should also be ready to engage in language development to ensure they are competent in the regional language.

Conclusion

Attitudes associated with culture, ethnicity, and diversity negatively impact professional behavior. They influence how people interact with each other and may lead to conflicts. They also make employees develop a sense of discrimination when their values are not respected. Further, it makes it difficult for employees to adapt in the new environment. The guidelines developed will help the employees and organizations in ensuring inclusivity of all the colleagues as their perspectives are treated as equal. It will also enable employees to adapt to new environments. To further growth in the cultural competencies, employees should learn more language and engage in multicultural training to learn diverse cultures. They should also interact with the employees from other cultures so that they learn their culture and language to ensure positive attitudes towards diversity.

References

Case study https://www.mic.usi.ch/case-studies-intercultural-communication.

Chiu, C. Y., & Shi, Y. (2019). CrossCultural Competence. CrossCultural Psychology: Contemporary Themes and Perspectives, 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119519348.ch3

James, C. S. (2019). A Perspective on Cultural Competence: Where Psychology, Religion and Spirituality, and Critical Thinking Meet (Doctoral dissertation, Chestnut Hill College). https://search.proquest.com/openview/8fc5280bb4a05ed95227eb38deb9f8b7/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Park, J. S. Y. (2020). Translating culture in the global workplace: Language, communication, and diversity management. Applied Linguistics, 41(1), 109-128. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz019