Bob Chen came from the oriental civilization. He was born in Hong Kong. He came to Canada to analyze and was finally given the chance to work in one of the largest public accounting houses in Canada. James-Williams. As most Oriental persons. he was quiet and soft-spoken. He was non a straightforward individual. He does non readily express his exact sentiments about a state of affairs or a individual. This gracious behaviour of his had besides seemingly concealed most of his positions about calling and work. David Shorter. though non indicated in the instance survey. possesses the features of a individual hailed from or has a great appreciation of the Canadian or Western civilization.
Bing the Practice Manager of the New Enterprise Group at James-Williams for the past four old ages. he had doubtless been successful in managing many Canadian components under his direction. Chen and Shorter had different attacks to direction. Shorter believed that for an employee like Chen who has great possible. he has to take things step by measure. Chen had expressed his desire to be a revenue enhancement adviser and therefore would wish to have undertakings heading toward that way. Shorter. nevertheless. explained that he still needs to make another twelvemonth of scrutinizing work to do him a more effectual revenue enhancement adviser.
He besides wanted to take advantage of Chen’s oriental background and would wish to utilize him every bit linkage to pull Hong Kong clients. Aside from the deficit of senior hearers for that twelvemonth. a longer auditing experience would assist him better understand concern jobs which would be indispensable to his coveted specialisation. Chen. nevertheless. was repetitive with his calling programs. Shorter attempted a via media by offering him an all-expense-paid revenue enhancement preparation plan every bit long as he agrees to pass another twelvemonth in scrutinizing. Chen rejected the offer and still pushed to be assigned to a revenue enhancement spouse.
Shorter eventually gave in and assigned Chen to Joe Silverman but Chen has to make some auditing still during his first twelvemonth with Silverman. Chen. unlike Shorter. was non convinced in taking his calling step-by-step. He thought another twelvemonth of scrutinizing work would merely detain him from his desire to be a revenue enhancement adviser. He was non agreeable to Shorter’s statement that to be an effectual revenue enhancement adviser. he would necessitate to hold ample experience as a senior hearer. He. nevertheless. had understood Shorter’s visions of pulling Hong Kong clients to the New Enterprise Group.
Bing able to talk in Chinese and familiar with their civilization. he would be able to win their trust easy. But this. unluckily. was non what he had planned to make in his calling. Chen’s public presentation after his meeting with Shorter was non really satisfactory. It was an act of professional disrespect non to show straight if he had accepted or rejected the audit undertaking for Softdisk Computer Company. Personality-wise. he may be known non to be really vocal with his sentiments or feelings. But professionally. this is really damaging. Softdisk is one of the of import clients of the New Enterprise Group.
Important clients should be handled with much attention as their trust and assurance to the accounting house is what retains them as clients. Mike Mcleod who brought up the auditing undertaking went through the proper channels to find the senior hearer who was available and capable of making the occupation. Chen was the lone one available in September and October. Harmonizing to Silverman. there were no revenue enhancement work lined up for him yet and the occupation Mcleod was offering would besides touch on some revenue enhancement issues which would be a good experience for him.
Chen had non been explicit in showing his vacillation with the undertaking. He however attended the physical stock list conducted by the client. This risked the relationship with the client even more. Softdisk had Chinese beginnings and upon happening out that Chen would be scrutinizing for them. they were really pleased. Once Chen withdraws from this undertaking and declares that he did non desire to make the audit in the first topographic point. the New Enterprise Group will be placed in a bad visible radiation. Worse. Softdisk may retreat themselves as a regular client.
Shorter. who was besides responsible in pulling and keeping clients. would non happen this really acceptable. He would give a failing rating to Chen for his professionalism. One of the factors to this rating would be his vacillation to the undertaking which had no back uping evidences. First of wholly. as per undertaking programming. he was available during the auditing period for Softdisk. He had besides agreed to still execute scrutinizing undertakings though he had been assigned already to a revenue enhancement spouse. Other factors would be his being quiet with his vacillations and demoing up to the client despite his uncertainnesss.
Losing Softdisk as a client would be a large blow to Shorter and to the New Enterprise Group. The bad image may besides finally reflect to James-Williams as a company which was regarded as one of the most well-thought-of accounting houses in Canada. Chen’s behaviour and the misinterpretation that transpired between him and his co-workers may besides be brooding of a cross-cultural struggle. Persons with oriental upbringing like Chen are non straightforward people like most Canadians or Westerners. They normally choose to be quiet out of courtesy or being polite to the other party.
Bing in a foreign land besides makes them sensitive to racial favoritism issues. It is possible that Chen may hold besides perceived Shorter’s recommendation to take one more twelvemonth in scrutinizing as an underestimate of his capableness to travel frontward as a revenue enhancement adviser. ground adequate for him to be repetitive to be placed in a revenue enhancement assignment. Chen’s co-workers who may non hold understood how Oriental people do and perceive things may hold taken this behaviour against Chen. They may hold besides overlooked other factors while forcing Chen to take the undertaking.
For illustration. Chen may be by nature a really serious worker that when he accepts a peculiar undertaking. he does non accept any undertaking unless he is certain that he can complete it to its terminal and with good quality at that. Chen mentioned that he was presently working with the audit for a movie company. This was. harmonizing to him. the ground for his vacillation with Softdisk as he did non desire to go forth his current undertaking unfinished or to endanger it. And because he was non so vocal about his sentiments and feelings. his co-workers had interpreted this as a deliberate rejection to undertakings and being really finical about them.
Understanding the on the job manners. calling perceptual experiences. cultural norms and behaviours is a major challenge for directors who have subsidiaries coming from different cultural beginnings. There may already be barriers chiefly in communicating. Interaction may be hard between a indigen of the state and a alien who educated himself to understand and talk the native linguistic communication. Meanings may be different and may go the usual cause of misunderstanding or misconstruing between co-workers. It is besides ineluctable for some aliens to attest their ain civilization and beliefs when they communicate or work with others.
There are some civilizations which ever exhibit themselves as dominant and aggressive. Some are quiet and non really vocal about their sentiments and feelings like Chen. Others besides appear really defensive when in forepart of persons from other civilizations particularly there had been a history of favoritism against them. Because of some built-in beliefs. civilization besides affects one’s assurance in determinations made by the company. The subsidiary may register understanding or show quiet vacillation to the determination. Without proper communicating channels. sentiment differences may take to loss of assurance to the company or involvement to work.
For these cultural differences that may finally germinate to office struggle. directors have to be really careful when pass oning. giving out statements and mandating determinations to their subsidiaries. Statements and determinations should be seen as based from existent facts. from democratic treatments and non from subjective. biased thoughts. It is besides recommended for directors to larn something about the cultural backgrounds of their subsidiaries. A director should ever be a measure in front of his subsidiaries. He should be cognizant of their thought procedures. ends and working manners.
With this cognition. he can besides implement appropriate techniques to actuate them and to knock them when necessary. Not everybody in the company may comprehend a co-worker from a different cultural background as an equal. It is so the duty of the director to mandate cultural equality in the office. He may make policies like for any show of cultural favoritism would intend an rating of unprofessionalism. Proper communicating is a really important factor in deciding cross-cultural struggle.
Professionally. directors and subsidiaries may set with each other so they can together run into certain ends. As in the instance of Chen and his co-workers. misinterpretation may hold been avoided if the communicating lines had remained unfastened. Chen would hold vocalized his hesitance to the Softdisk undertaking before it came to the point of seting the relationship with the client at hazard. Mcleod and Silverman would hold been able to do some accommodations as good in due clip. Similarly. Chen would hold retained his professional stature in the company and non happen himself unworthy in his place in the New Enterprise Group.
