International Human Resource Management

...

Solution

The Japanese assignment is a big opportunity for Fred that has some amazing benefits and promotion as the managing director of the Tokyo office. Aside from the dissatisfaction from his wife and some setbacks at the office, Fred has still not completely lost the game. He can still turnaround this situation in his favour and position himself as an effective managing director by developing an understanding of each other’s cultural perspectives. He should breakdown the hierarchal management style and focus more on relationship building. Instead, he should work together with everyone to develop an organization structure that takes the culture differences into consideration. He should try to minimize uncertainty in the employees tasks and responsibilities as the Japanese prefer uncertainty avoidance. Hire a language expert as coach who can train both Fred and his wife on Japanese language skills, customs and generally acceptable “behavioral” skills.

Conclusion

Kline and Associates management should train their expatriates about the host country’s culture and provide them with training sessions which would help people like Fred in avoiding culture shocks and adjust to their new environment more easily. The company management in US should support Fred in solving these problems. The main problem that can be identified from the case study is the cultural difference and this is where Fred and the top management should focus, to make sure it does not negatively affect the company’s performance.

References

BIHJELPEN, 2015. BLOGG.NO. [Online]

Available at: http://bihjelpen.blogg.no/1447023695_globe.html#/

[Accessed 28 November 2015]

Deshpande, S.P., & Viswesvaran, C. (1991). The Effectiveness of Cross-Cultural Training: A Meta-Analysis. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Academy of Management, Miami

Geert-hofstede.com. (2016). Japan - Geert Hofstede. [online] Available at: https://geert-hofstede.com/japan.html [Accessed 18 Sep. 2016].

Geert-hofstede.com. (2016). United States - Geert Hofstede. [online] Available at: https://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html [Accessed 18 Sep. 2016].

Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1).

Okpara, J. and Kabongo, J. (2011). Cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment: A study of western expatriates in Nigeria. Journal of World Business, 46(1), pp.22-30.