Saturday 1 October 2011

Post #4: Evaluating intercultural behavior

Due to globalization, it is not an uncommon thing to work with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds. This post will describe an intercultural conflict which occurred during my vacation job at a multi-national company. The main characters in this intercultural conflict involved the two bosses whom I was working under and a new colleague, S from another country. For easy understanding, I will name my two bosses as small boss (a female) and big boss (a male).

S was newly employed by my company to assist small boss. Being an under-probation staff, S was taking leave once every two weeks. To make matters worse, S only informed big boss about his leave, leaving the rest of the department to ponder upon his uninformed disappearance. S’s actions irritated small boss because in Singapore context, S had violated the proper chain of command. I was also not spared in S’s working styles too. S would also order around employees ‘lower’ in position than him rather than ask politely. Furthermore, S would only listen to suggestions coming from big boss and ignore small boss. 

In an attempt to find an explanation for S’s working behavior, small boss and I went on to research on S’s cultural background and found something interesting which she shared with me. Her research findings indicated that in S’s country, there is an unofficial gender and strong hierarchical system where males are seen more superior than females. Generally, females receive less education and are less commonly seen in white collar jobs. Thus, S might had felt uncomfortable working under a female boss and refused to report directly to her all the time. Moreover, as a result of the strong hierarchical system present, it might be common practice that superiors would order around their subordinates and not empathize with how their subordinates would feel.   

No doubt, the accuracies of our inferences were questionable. There could be a totally different explanation based on S’s cultural background and perspective.

As my vacation drew to an end, I did not have the opportunity to see the resolution to this silent intercultural conflict, but I found out from a fellow colleague that S is currently a permanent staff.

 
   



6 comments:

  1. Hi Chris,

    I think S's behavior did offend the small boss and the rest people whose positions are lower than him.As he is employed to assist the small boss,he should inform his small boss of his leave.

    Working in a company or working with the people which have different cultural background, we should learn something about their working culture before we taking our jobs. I am curious about why S can become the permanent staff since he had offended his female boss and some of his colleges. Maybe he is excellent at his work.

    And I think the small boss is the person who is aware of the intercultural communication. She chose to learn something about her subordinate's culture first instead of criticizing.As you said, there could be a totally different explanation according to S's cultural background!

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  2. Hey there,

    I think Zoey aptly pointed out that small boss took initiative to be aware of S’s cultural background and try to understand S’s behaviour.

    et I feel that she could have taken a step further to approach S directly to clarify matters with him, albeit tactfully. There will be a limit to how much small boss will be able to empathize or be patient with S, especially when it is unclear whether cultural difference is the main explanation behind S’s behaviour!

    Meanwhile on S’s part, if cultural difference is indeed the reason, I think that S should also have done his part in trying to understand the company’s business culture in terms of work customs and protocols. After all, he is the one working for the company, not the company working for him!

    Anyway, just to point out an error in your sentence:
    “Being an under-probation staff, S was taking leave once every two weeks.”
    I believe it should be:
    “Despite being under probation, S was taking leaving once every two weeks.”

    Cheers :)

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  3. Though the small boss was irritated, she did not reprimand S and she even went to find out about S’s culture background? I guess not many people would do that. Small boss having patience for her subordinate actually helps to create a better relationship for both.

    Are you still in contact with anyone in that company? If you do, it’s good to know how S is now. Is S still acting the same way? Because, I am thinking, if S is working here and worked for quite sometime, he/she must have adopted the company’s or Singapore’s culture in a way and his/her behavior may have changed.

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  4. Zoey, Noelle and Klara, I think probably because the higher authority personnel are mostly males and they did not realise S's behavior. That's why he became a permanent staff. I recently spoke to one of my ex-colleague, who said S does not talk to them. They (females) communicate with S via emails (although they sit within the same cubicle).

    So, I guess nothing has changed.

    Thank you for all your comments and Noelle for pointing out my mistake:)

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  5. Thanks, Christopher, for this post. It's clear and concise. My only question is about how valid it is to attribute S's behaviour to his cultural norms. Could it be that this is simply S's style? In short, might not it be overgeneralizing?

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  6. Hi Brad, because in S's working environment and culture, there are close to no working females (due to the gender system), even if there are, they are low ranked position (females had received less education). Thus, S might be too used to 'dominating females' such that even though he is working under a female boss now, he would not listen to her.

    Hope that clarifies.

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