ORGB040 Culture, Conflict, Communication And Decision Making Assessment Answer

Organisational Final Project

Culture, conflict, (mis) communication and decision making

Read the following case study and answer all questions that follow.

Serge, a supervisor at Flash Pharmaceuticals, had worked for a company ever since emigrating from Brazil. His knowledge of electronics was excellent and he was well respected by his colleagues. All those who worked with him praised his humane management style. He worked with his team where there was a task to complete, although he always gave his “gang”, as he called them , the credit for accomplishing the work on time. Nevertheless, to most of his subordinates he personified a stereotypical Latino-lous, caring and relaxed, but at times emotionally volatile.

Unlike many of the other sectors of the economy meltdown-rather, demand for medication had increased substantially. For almost a year, the company had been working a double shift to meet this demand. Early in January, the company landed a multi-million deal from a developing country for a generic antiretroviral drug.  However, the contract specified that the drug had to be delivered within three months, otherwise the deal would be cancelled. This was almost two weeks less than the normal time required to produce such an order. To meet this deadline, a group of Indian technicians was hired to look at ways to speed up production.

Soon after their arrival, the production manager called Serge in to explain the company’s current business processes to the technicians. Although Serge’s English was adequate, he occasionally lapsed into Portuguese when he got excited. Early in the presentation, one Indian  technician , Dr Moodly, stopped Serge in mid-sentence to ask what he was saying. Serge, exasperated by the interruption, threw up his hands and barked back at Dr Moodly to please wait until he was finished before asking him questions. The production manager only lifted his finger to try to calm both men  down. Dr Moodly, a quietly spoken man, was taken aback by what, to him, was a hostile and ruse response from both the production manager and Serge. Nevertheless, he restrained himself and waited for Serge to finish his presentation.

The next day none of the Indian technicians came to work, and the CEO received an email typed in capital letters, saying that they had all decided to return to India that afternoon. The CEO was outraged by their irresponsibility and immediately call the production manager to get more information about the reason for their sudden departure. The production manager was equally puzzled by the events of that morning, and reported in a short memo to the CEO that obviously they felt out of their depth with the work the work requirements and had therefore left to avoid embarrassing themselves. He also said that one of his staff thought he had overhead one of the technicians saying that they were not being paid very well and that their accommodation was the worst they had ever stayed in. on hearing this, the CEO immediately contacted the HR department, suggesting that they offer the technicians more money, and to book them into a five-star hotel. He was furious when an hour later he received a further email from Dr Moodly stating that until Flash staff learnt some manners, no Indian would work for the company.

In a rage, the CEO immediately responded as follows:

DR MOODLY I FIND YOUR BEHAVIOUR AND COMMENTS UNFOUNDED AND PROFESSIONAL. YOU SHOULD HAVE INFORMED OUR HR DEPARTMENT WHN THEY RECRUITED YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT COMPETENT.

Dr Clear

CEO, Flash Phamarceuticals

A week later Dr Clear received a lawyer’s letter on behalf of Dr moodly, indicating the reasons for his departure and requesting that he be compensated for loss of income and expenses. He also threatened legal action against the CEO for calling him incompetent.

The CEO, angered by the letter, called the production manager and Serge to his office to explain to him why they had lied to him.

Questions

1. Review the network theory of communication flow in a group, and discuss how management can use this approach to improve the group’s creativity. (10)
2.  “Cultural stereotypes and culture influence communication.” Using the case study as an example, discuss this statement. (15)
3. If you were an HR consultant, what would you have recommended to the CEO to ensure better handling of the conflict and miscommunication? (15)
4. How did work pressure, rumour, non-verbal communication and cultural stereotypes result in miscommunication? (5)
5. Discuss the email the CEO sent to Dr Moodly. Compose an email indicating what he should have said. (15)
6. Do you see the grapevine as a positive or negative factor in the workplace? Explain your reasoning.(5)
7. The number of forms of electronic communication has increased significantly over the past decade. Identify 10 forms and explain their business use.  (10)
8. Discuss the impact of ethics on decision making. Relate your answers to a moral or principled leadership. (15)
9. Managers are expected to make decisions, often on daily basis; however, many are risk avoiders. Discuss how risk aversion can be overcome. (10)