Case A Day in the Life of a Global Leader
When the multinational, Berlin-based auto parts manufacturer acquired the company she worked for in her native Columbia, Nathalie wasn’t worried. She had risen steadily through the ranks, and felt ready for her management position. She had presumed it would be an easy transition, because she knew the industry well. However, she now managed manufacturing operations in several different countries, overseeing a “team” of plant managers. Team felt like the wrong term, as their geographic separation implied that most team communication happened through e-mail, with only occasional videoconference meetings of the whole group. Additionally, because of time zone differences, Nathalie only actually spoke to some plant managers, but with others—who worked while she slept—Nathalie had less of a personal connection. Consequently, there wasn’t much of a “team feeling” so much as there were independent relationships between Nathalie and her plant managers around the world.
Today’s challenges included getting information and input from her team, and building consensus on how to move forward. Nathalie had sent out draft budget projections for the unit, and asked team members to provide feedback. Three new e-mails in her inbox highlighted Nathalie’s frustrations. The first, from Lingfei at a plant outside Tokyo, recommended further team discussions about the budget projections Nathalie had shared. Nathalie sensed that Lingfei didn’t agree with the projections, but the e-mail never quite said that. The second e-mail, from Hasan in Indonesia, seemed vague, saying nothing about what he thought of the budgeting process, or whether the projections were remotely accurate. The third, from Christopher in England, clearly expressed frustration that the budgeting process was taking longer than scheduled, and seemed not to follow the company’s standard budgeting, because of Susan’s efforts to get input from the rest of the team. Christopher e-mailed that “time is money, you know.” A fourth team member, Cyrille from France, had not replied by the requested deadline … once again.
Nathalie sighed as she looked over these e-mails. Her boss in Berlin told her yesterday that she needed to take command of her team and provide clear and consistent direction. Though she was trying, that approach was just so foreign to her. She was used to building consensus in teams with strong relationships and personal loyalty. Those sorts of relationships seemed to form naturally “back home,” but hadn’t happened now, and Nathalie wasn’t sure where to start. She sensed issues weren’t just related to specific team members, but instead to the cultures they came from. Should she try to change her style to meet their preferences, or change them to meet hers?
Source: Den Hartog & Dickson in Antonakis & Day (2018); used with permission.
Read Case A Day in the Life of a Global Leader (end of Chapter 13).
In 500 words, answer the following questions:
How can Nathalie think about cultural differences that might be affecting her team without resorting to cultural stereotyping?
Does the lack of face-to-face communication contribute to Nathalie’s problem? If so, how?
If we believe that cultural value differences are affecting the team’s efforts, what should be Nathalie’s next steps?
