Summary: In this case, the author talks about the various communication problems and social

anxiety in the global company known as UBS, which consisted of culturally diverse workers .
They believed that diversity developed better understanding and interest and had multiple
working languages like English, French and later on Standard German . An employee , in charge
of doing videos for internal clients was contacted by a German employee of another business
management office to organise the timing of filming. As he had worked with the GMBs before ,
he mailed them directly as well as their assistants regarding the event, which surprisingly
offended the German people in the office. That was not a good start to the work relation. It got
worse later until one day when the Swiss German co-worker was being belligerent , he spoke to
him in Swiss German , which suddenly changed his behaviour and he became more friendly and
supportive. He also faced this when he was head at Media Relations, where the introduction of a
new German CEO made the working environment more hostile , maintaining professionalism.
Similarly, the Germans did not feel welcome at Switzerland.

Issue: The main issue at UBS was the behavioral issue . Despite both of them speaking the same
language and coming from the same cultural background the German co-worker was aggressive
and unfriendly towards the Swiss employee . The subsidiary issue was the intercultural
differences between the Swiss and German at Switzerland Airlines . Arrival of a German CEO
changed the entire working environment . The office became more hostile and developed a
social gap between workers of diverse culture . This , along with the non-acceptance of
intercultural differences made the work life very difficult .

Recommendation: Although behavioral issues start to develop at an early age it is a result of

improper parental guidance . However , during adulthood , one can go to counselling and attend
group therapies , in order to get accustomed to different people around them.The German co-
worker was clearly unaware of this and his colleagues should have helped him address it.
Regarding intercultural differences , one should always have an open mind and the ability to
accept the diversity of various cultures. Here, the German CEO ,as well as the German workers,
should have learned more about the Swiss culture . Instead they forced their culture upon the
Swiss by changing the working environment .The Germans should have tried to blend in with
them , or maybe introduce them to German culture .