A Malaysian Manager in a Singaporean Company\" \"Malaysia Airlines Flight MH123 to Kuala Lumpur is now boarding. Please have your boarding passes and passports ready for the attendant at the gate." Ahmad picked up his briefcase and started toward the jet way. He paused to look around the waiting area and. as had been the case so often here in Singapore. he saw nothing to indicate that he was in a foreign country. The language was English and readily understandable. This supercial familiarity, he concluded. must help explain why he had had difficulties adjusting to his role at the Enormous Pharmacy Ltd. (EFL) ofce in Singapore. EFL was headquartered in Singapore, with partners and subsidiaries in countries around the world. Ahmad had worked at EFL's Malaysia ofce for 10 years before being offered the chance to work at Singapore headquarters for two years. His boss, Syed Abdul. has encouraged Alnnad to apply for the job in Singapore because he knew it would enhance Ahmad's chance for promotion within EFL- Singapore. Although Ahmad's family- his wife and two middle school-aged children- was not very enthusiastic about the move. he reluctantly applied for the job because he knew it was critical to his success at EFL. During his rst few weeks at the Singapore ofce, everything seemed to go well. He met with his staff to introduce himself and his goals for his two-year assignment. Everyone seemed friendly enough. although he didn't get much feedback at the meeting or in subsequent meetings on his request for their ideas and input on how he could fit in and be effective. Thinking that maybe he needed to get to know the staff in a more informal setting. he invited them to join him after work one day at a local eatery. Several staff members begged off, citing personal commitments. and the three senior managers who did come were clearly uncomfortable and left after about 30 minutes of awkward conversation. Over the next six months, Ahmad stayed busy learning operations for his area at EFL headquarters. He met often with his Singapore boss. George Tan, to discuss the changes he wanted Ahmad to help him realize during his tenure. \"I'm counting on you, Ahmad. to help me bring the staff around on the changes we've discussed. Your group hasn't moved nearly as fast as I think they could and that's partly due to the staffs reluctance to change the ways they've always done things. I'm condent that a new leader. especially someone from a nearby country, will convince them of the soundness of what I'm proposing. \"Keep me posted on your progress," Georga Tan concluded, as he walked Ahmad to the reception area outside his ofce. One of the things Ahmad noticed soon after arriving in Singapore was how many more management levels the Singapore operation had than comparable ofces in Malaysia. The hierarchy seemed excessive to Ahmad, and he sought to break down some of the communication barriers he perceived by meeting with all staff members in one large meeting. At one of these meetings, Ahmad brought up the proposed changes in procedures that he had discussed with George Tan. \"1 know that some of you may not be in favour of the changes we're proposing and I'd like to know your reasons for this. Let's have an open discussion of the changes in general and see where our maj or disagreement lies.\" After a few minutes of silence, one of the senior managers explained his reasons for resisting a change in their reporting procedures for expenses. \"I'm not sure that the new method will capture a true picture of the expenses and outlay if we change what we're doing now. I'm not opposed to making changes that improve our work-I just am not convinced that the new method will be better.\" \"Okay, I'd like to hear from others on that specic change. Let's table this discussion,\" Ahmad said. The managers and staff at the table looked at each other in confusion at that point. No one said anything for several minutes. and Ahmad concluded that no one else had an objection or concern on this paignlarupgint. The meeting continued for another hour as Ahmad moved through the list of changes he was charged with making and when no one offered much objection or proposed any alternatives. he concluded that his predecessor and George Tan had misinterpreted the staffs resistance to the changes. A week later, in a meeting with Bill Crosby, one of the senior managers in his department. Ahmad decided to get his manager's views on how to involve junior managers in decisions and how to encourage their ideas on various topics. \"I noticed that in most meetings only the senior managers seem to participate in discussion," Ahmad began, \"I'm eager to have more input on some ideas I have for a new marketing plan, and I'm wondering how I can get junior managers and staff to contribute in our meetings.\" Bill hesitated before saying, \"Sometimes staff are reluctant to put forward ideas when their bosses are in the same meeting. Perhaps you should have some of the senior managers solicit ideas in their own staff meetings and then bring these to the meeting with you.\" \"But what about the synergy we can create if we have people from different levels discussing an idea together? Especially if the idea will affect the work staff are expected to do. I think there's too much separation of people by level in our department. I'd like to eliminate some of the impediments to collaboration that hierarchy creates." Ahmad said. \"What are your thoughts on how to do that?\" \"I'll need to take some time to think about that,\" Bill said. \"Maybe we can talk about it in our next one-on-one.\" Later that day, during lunch with one of his peers in the company cafeteria. Bill brought up his discussion with Ahmad. \"He wants to eliminate some of the barriers that the hierarchy puts in the way of collaboration.\" Bill began. \"What exactly do you think he means by collaboration? We all get along just ne as far as I can see. We cooperate when we need to. And I really don't know how to get staff to speak their minds if they don't want to. I don't feel comfortable forcing anybody to be part of a discussion in a meeting if they prefer to just listen.\" At the next all-staff meeting. Ahmad began by handling out a sheet with ve topics on it. \"Rather than following one of our regular agendas today. I thought we might do a little brainstorming on the topics I've outlined here. As you can see. these topics all relate to marketing. and what we come up with in our discussion can go a long way toward nalising that plan. \"And here's a twist on our usual meeting protocol: instead of me leading the discussion, I'm going to assign one of these topics to ve people and let you take over the discussion.\" In thinking about the meeting afterward. Ahmad decided that although it hadn't been a complete success, he thought he had made some progress in getting increased participation. When one of the senior managers requested a meeting a couple of days later, Ahmad was surprised at the manager's comment about the meeting. \"I'm sure you were sincere in your request for ideas from everybody but I need to tell you that you made a lot of people very uncomfortable. Staff are not used to leading a discussion with senior managers present. When that staff member is leading a brainstorming session and haste; tell a manager that he's out of order because he's criticizing someone's idea, you're putting the staff member in a really awkward position." \"I guess I don't understand,\" Ahmad said. \"The whole point of doing what I did was to break down the barriers that make people feel uncomfortable. I think everybody has good ideas, and I'm trying to gure out how I can get them to share those ideas. I thought putting people together would be helpful.\" At his next meeting with George Tan. Ahmad expressed his frustration with achieving as much as he hoped for when he started. \"It just seems as though I'm being stonewalled at every turn. In fact, I've heard that several people are thinking of transferring to another department,\" Ahmad said. \"What am I missing? I've done things just like I do at EFL-Malaysia, but the results are not the same. \"Maybe I can make some progress when I get back after vacation. Sometimes three weeks away help give a different perspective on things.\" \"Yes. Ahmad.\" Geroge Tan began. \"we'll need to talk about this when you get back from vacation. Three weeks is a prettylgng time for a senior manager to be gone, but I know you and your family have plans to visit a lot of the national marks in the west. so I reluctantly approved your request. Have a good trip and I'll talk with you when you get back.\" When Ahmad return from vacation. George Tan was out of the ofce for a week and they didn't have the chance to meet before Ahmad got word that his mother had passed away suddenly and that he needed to return to Malaysia for the funeral. As he headed for Malaysia, Ahmad wondered how he could explain to his former boss in Malaysia the problems he was having at EFL headquarters. Answer the following questions (using APA style citation & reference): 1. Using Geert Hofstede's cultural characteristics, compare Malaysia and Singapore on various measures. As y_t_)_1_1_f_l_l see, the two countries are fairly similar, but there are some differences that may help explain Ahmad's apparent lack of success in the Singaporean setting. Which of these do you think is the most signicant and why? 2. What could EFL have done to prepare Ahmad for his assignment in Singapore? Describe an action plan for companies to use in preparing executivesand their familiesfor international assignments. (3-4 points) 3. Critically discuss your own opinion about the degree of distance prevalent in Singaporean companies between managers and their direct reports. Who is protected by this management style? What adverse organizational impacts might result from this style? Make comparison with other countries if deemed necessary