Case Analysis

Read the below Case "Shipa":

Summer Internship in Ecuador: An Example

Take the case of Shipa Patel. Indian-born and Spanish-educated, Shipa spent her summer MBA internship in Ecuador, working for a nonprofit ecological foundation. Upon arrival, she quickly realized how little she knew about the organization, its workings, its people, or its context. She felt like a complete stranger. So, she asked the managing director of the foundation to introduce her to its members, about forty Ecuadorians. She thought it would be a good idea to convene a general meeting so that she could explain her work plans and ask her new colleagues about the principal challenges of their jobs. The general manager agreed and most members attended the meeting where, to her surprise, she faced a wall of silence. No one seemed receptive to her or her ideas; she began to wonder what had gone wrong and whether they really wanted her there or liked her. Afterwards, she ran into one of her colleagues in the street and they began talking. Soon, he began to open up about his opinions. Shipa started having more conversations with colleagues, either one at a time or in groups of two or three. She was surprised by how much more forthcoming and vocal people were individually or in very small groups in a non-formal setting, compared to their silence in the meeting. In retrospect, Shipa realized that she had put her colleagues in a very uncomfortable position in the large meeting by asking them to voice their concerns in front of others. She also suspected that she had intimidated them by taking notes. To her this was just an efficient way of recording impressions and ideas. The Ecuadorians, however, felt threatened by this and were extremely reserved in the little they said, probably Because they neither knew nor trusted Shipa at this point.

Then answer the below questions in 300 words:

1. Everyone at the Ecuadorian non-profit knew that Shipa Patel was a foreigner and new to the country. Why didn't they offer her more help in the meeting when she was obviously trying to get to know them and asked about the challenges in their jobs?

2. How were Shipa and the Ecuadorians making different interpretations about their interactions? Is it possible that the local Ecuadorians were perhaps leery about publicly identifying problems, which could be taken as public criticism of someone else in the room?

3. If you were in Shipa's place with little knowledge of Ecuador, what could you have done differently upon your arrival?