Analyzing Multicultural Team Problems

Analyzing Global/Multicultural Team Problems: Computex Corporation, Sweden

I have learned during this semester that managing global teams can be challenging for many reasons. In the case of Computex, it seems that Mr. Miller is facing one of the issues that I suspect is the most commonly faced issue by a global manager. Communication breakdown. It is most often the sole responsibility of the global manager to learn the culture of the country to which he will be travelling to allow him to understand the nuances of the new culture and people he will be managing. Ideally, the multinational company for which the manager is working would provide him/her with the proper training and tools that will make them the most successful they can be when arriving at their new work location abroad. If this training is provided, it may be a quick, non-comprehensive training program that may fail to provide the manager with the tools needed to be fully prepared for what lies ahead. It can be the left up to the global manager to do his/her own research in their “spare time” before being sent to the new work location abroad. This effort must then be juggled along with all of the other arrangements and plans that must be made for work and personal life before the new assignment begins.

From the letter that the sales team wrote to the VP at Computex, it is my opinion that Mr. Miller is not adapting well to his new assignment. He has been described as losing his temper often, promising things that he cannot deliver, and mistreating certain employees. This behavior could be caused by various things, but I believe these events could be happening due to his lack of confidence in his ability to perform well in this new work environment. He could be lashing out at employees because they are not meeting his expectations – which could be skewed because he doesn’t fully understand their culture, he could be promising things he can’t deliver in order to gain favor only to...