Scenario
You work for Quantigration, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturing plant headquartered in the United States. Quantigration’s main fabrication plant produces microchips used in mobile phones and laptops around the world. Capitalizing on advancements in its product, Quantigration has aggressively expanded and recently acquired two fabrication plants and workers from around the world.
Due to these acquisitions and partnerships, Quantigration must develop a plan to assist employees of different nationalities in understanding each other and working well together.
Yesterday, the plant supervisor, Gregory, called you into his office. He has some concerns about these cultural differences and is worried that the acquisitions might not go smoothly. The culture of a manufacturing plant in one country could be noticeably different from one in another part of the world. Gregory realizes that these differences could lead to conflict. To handle this issue, he has decided that Quantigration needs to update its company values to be more culturally inclusive.
Directions
Gregory would like you to begin by doing background research and analysis. He would like you to take stock of the current culture at Quantigration and then compare it to the national cultures of the two new acquisitions.
Part 1: Cultural Analysis
- First, examine your own national culture as a representative sample of the current Quantigration workforce. Think about how your own nationality relates to your culture. Consider the ways that your culture views interactions with others, workplace culture, teamwork, and communication.
- Then, look at the Understanding Global Cultures e-book, select two countries different from your own, and read their cultural narratives. You can find more information about the countries in the A to Z World Business resource and the Hofstede Insights Country Comparison Tool in the Supporting Materials section.
- Using what you have found, write a cultural analysis containing 250- to 500-word summaries of each of your selected cultures. Also include a summary of your own culture in this document. In these summaries, pay particular attention to how members of each culture interact with others, what values they consider important, and how they view work, family, and obligation.
Once you have completed your summaries of your selected countries, write a 500-word summary comparison to help Gregory understand the major difference and similarities between the cultures. In your comparison, identify three major cultural differences and three similarities between the cultures you’ve analyzed. As you write, consider common cultural dimensions that these cultures share, and the ways that they differ most.
Part 2: Cultural Value Reaction
Now that you have finished your analyses, Gregory would like you to examine Quantigration’s company values. (Read the article “How to Write a Company Value Statement That Will Achieve Strategic Impact” in the Supporting Materials section for more information on how company value statements can motivate employees and reflect company objectives.)
Review the three company values Gregory has given you:
- Family: Everyone who works here is part of the Quantigration family.
- Process: Following processes will result in quality products.
- Numbers: Precision engineering requires precision thinking.
Consider each company value from the viewpoint of each selected culture from your cultural analysis. Think about how these values relate to the cultural values you have uncovered in each of the countries you analyzed. Then, write a brief reaction for Gregory that examines the values.
For each company value, write a 200-word summary explaining whether it does or does not represent the values of the three cultures you have examined, providing specific reasons why or why not. In particular, ask yourself the following:
- Which company values align closely with the values of the cultures?
- Are there any values that seem directly opposed to any of your selected cultures?
- Would any of the company’s values cause tension for an employee coming from one of your selected countries?
You should also include recommended changes to the values to better align them to your own culture and the cultures you have selected to examine, and to encourage better intercultural interaction.
What to Submit
Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:
- Cultural Analysis
Using information from the e-book Understanding Global Cultures, write a cultural analysis of two cultures. This document should include:- One 250- to 500-word summary of your own culture
- Two 250- to 500-word summaries of countries chosen from Understanding Global Cultures
- A 500-word comparison of the similarities and differences between the cultures
- Company Value Reaction
Write an email to Gregory with three 200-word reflections about how the company’s three value statements align with your chosen cultures.
