Difficulties in cross cultural communication Case Study

Difficulties in cross cultural communication - Case Study Example 2001). As such, this paper is mainly concerned with analysing a case study that is related to difficulties experienced in a situation that deals with cross cultural communication. The paper starts by analysing the case and this will be followed by problem identification and presentation. The main part of the paper will analyse the measures that can be implemented in order to deal with the problem in an amicable way that is not likely to create more problems. A summary of the major points discussed will be drawn at the end of the paper. Case analysis Leary is the manager of a thriving financial company, Merrill Lynch, and she uses people oriented strategies to manage the company. She prefers to engage the employees in their work so as to try to get the best out of them. She also closely monitors the performance of the employees so as to be in a position to effectively manage them so that the goals of the organization can be achieved. There are about 45 financial consultants who carry out the work in the company. Of notable concern is the fact that the company has an employee, Ted Chung whose primary origin is Taiwan. Chung is specifically meant to target Taiwanese people since this segment is comprised of affluent people who can bring meaningful business to the company. Indeed, Chung brought a whopping account worth $6 million, one of the highest in the history of the company. Chung states that he has to use the Taiwanese tradition in order to attract these targeted people and there is no other financial consultant with the exquisite skills to perform this particular task. Problem identification For quite some time, Leary has noticed certain behaviour in Chung which she thinks is a cause for concern. For instance, Chung is a self centred person and he does not like to interact with others. He does not want to share his things with others and he is also short tempered. All these factors worry Leary. The other problem is that Chung has requested a private office b ut regardless of the fact that he brought one of the largest accounts to the company and he is performing well, he is still too junior to get a private office. Of the 45 financial consultants, only eight have private offices. Therefore, the problem in this case is twofold: if Leary gives in and try to appease Chung, this is likely to attract the wrath of other senior financial consultants who can also demand the same favour. This will certainly impact on the morale of other employees as well as their performance. It can also be seen that the problem is culture based. By virtue of being Taiwanese, Chung thinks that he deserves special treatment since he is dealing with a niche group of customers that has potential to bring a lot of business to the company. As such, a holistic approach ought to be taken when dealing with this case since it can negatively affect the whole organization if care is not taken. Measures that can be taken to resolve the problem identified According to Korac- Kakabadse et al (2001), the difficulties that arise in cross-cultural face-to-face encounters may be addressed with a better understanding of communication styles utilised by different cultures. In this case, it is imperative for Leary to understand the culture of Chung before taking a decisive step. People who come from different cultural backgrounds have different communication skills and this fact impacts on the way they interact with others. It can be noted that Chung is a sort of withdrawn person but this may not be his fault as may be thought by other people within the company. A closer reading of the case study shows that