BUS 5115 - AY2021-T2-MANAGING IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT UNIT 1

CASE STUDY: Young, Confident, and Moving Too Fast

University of the People

Submitted to: Dr. Joaquin Angles (Instructor)

Group 0002

November 18, 2020

 RUNNING HEAEDING: CASE STUDY: YOUNG, CONFIDENT, AND MOVING TOO FAST

Introduction

In today's organizations, there are many increasing complications as it relates to its

growth in the globalization of the workforce which can eventually result in integrating cultural

diversity in many unfamiliar forms of cultural practices. Henceforth, the ability to manage

existing cultural differences within organizations as managers among employees is key to the

success of global organizations. This is usually faced with managers who may have diverse

people from various cultural backgrounds as his subordinates within the organization. The ability

to manage organizational cultural differences, such as generational, ethnic, organizational culture

is termed as cultural intelligence (CQ) (Livermore, 2011). For the purpose of the assignment, I

am going to discuss the generational cultural differences between the newly hired subordinate

Julia, and Joanne, the newly hired subordinate manager. To briefly introduce both, Julia as a

confident young woman with a master's degree in social science who is a passionate new hire

wants to do more in her new job without being micromanaged by her boss. While on the other

hand, Joanne, the manager, wants Julia to do her job without mistakes gradually slows down

Julia by warning her to report to her any issue before rendering major decisions regarding her

work. This made Julia think that Joanne was creating obstacles for her to learn and grow in the

workplace.

The beliefs and values of Joanne and Julia relate to their individual self-conceptions

Generational cultural differences usually occur in the work environment because of

difference in behaviour, principles, attitudes, experiences, and other related traits (Foo, S. &

Yazdanifard, R. (2013) However, Joanne and Julia's case is focused deeply on the root of self-

concept beliefs when it comes to individual work experience which created resistance between

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 RUNNING HEAEDING: CASE STUDY: YOUNG, CONFIDENT, AND MOVING TOO FAST

them. For Julia, the young graduate, who was happy to apply lessons learned with passion and

eagerness from her career into reality at the workplace so that she can prove her competence.

While on the other hand, Joanne, the manager, knows very well the work environment and the

pace Julia bringing in the organization could possibly result in mistakes based on Joanne’s

experience. Consequently, resulting in the reason warning Julia to slow down with patience.

My suggestions for working with a Person of a different generation

The article “How to Thrive in a Multi-Generational Workplace” clearly indicated six

strategies in resolving different generational conflict in the workplace.

1. Have respect for your colleagues by understanding that their generation is different from

yours. Know that all generation has its own beliefs, orientation, talents.

2. Be open-minded to be flexible by accommodating other generation’s needs and

preferences.

3. Always know that every individual is unique, therefore, avoid stereotyping in the

workplace

4. All generation has its own talent, therefore, try to learn from other generations.

5. Know your audience when it comes to communicating with other generations especially

what is acceptable and unacceptable to the other generation.

6. Mostly importantly celebrate similarities between generations rather than the differences

between generations.

I, therefore, recommend that Joanne and Julia employ these six strategies in order to

avoid confusion and fight to do their interactions with each other generations at the workplace.

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Cultural Intelligence principles in resolving Joanne and Julia’s Intercultural Situation

In resolving the intercultural situation between Joanne and Julia may possibly reference

the strategies mentioned about how to work with a person of another generation. Those strategies

set as clear indicators of cultural intelligence. In the case of Joanne and Julia, I believe that

Joanne could focus on being flexible by accommodating Julia’s needs and preferences in the

workplace. Joanne should come out with strategies that will motivate Julia which may include

giving her more challenging responsibilities and learnings opportunities. Joanne should

understand that there is an experience difference between both of them and imposing her

experiences on Julia may not be compatible because both of them may possibly have different

learning capacities. Doing this will make Joanne avoid stereotyping Julia when it comes to its

generation association. While on the other hand, Julia should develop a culture of respect for her

boss Joanne’s beliefs and should not be recalcitrant. If there is dissatisfaction about her role at

work, she should communicate this issue more professionally to Joanne about her motivations

and demotivation, which may eventually be satisfying for both individuals’ beliefs. This could

possibly result in preventing the conflict of Julia stereotyping Joanne’s generation.

Conclusion

While it is true that cultural intelligence is helpful in solving the cultural issue at the

workplace, it is not an inborn ability but somethings that can be learned and acquired on a daily

basis depending on our ability to be open-minded and willing to learn from cultural differences

in the workplace. Confusions and conflicts can be avoided when we employ the culture of

cooperation and collaboration, especially when applying cultural intelligence. Cultural

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Intelligence is more important for organizations whose workforce is well-developed and

productive (David Livermore, 2014).

References

Foo, S. & Yazdanifard, R. (2013). The Issues of Generational Conflicts in Workplace and

Solutions. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253787990_The_Issues_of_Generational_Conflicts_in

_Workplace_and_Solutions_for_it

How to Thrive in a Multi-Generational Workplace. (n.d.).

Retrieved from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/multigenerational-workplace.htm

Livermore, D. (2011). The Cultural Intelligence Difference. American Management

Association: New York. Retrieved from: http://davidlivermore.com/blog/wp-

content/uploads/2011/03/CQ-Difference-Chapter-1.pdf

Mitchell, R. (2014). Cultural intelligence: Everybody needs it. Retrieved from:

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/11/cultural-intelligence-everybody-needs-it/