Having studied Marketing in college, I landed a job with a company that deals with selling American novelties. The company sponsored me for further training in salesmanship for six months. In return, I had expected to assume the role of a sales agent in the company’s call center but I was surprised to learn that, the company’s expansion plans led to the establishment of a subsidiary call center in India. I was supposed to go to India and head to this subsidiary call center as a manager. In India, the cultural differences were explicit. The major difficulty that I faced in decision-making was to allow the staff free days for the many national and religious holidays at the expense of increasing company sales and demands. If the company sales drop, the profitability of the company goes down. Also, the staff raised many complaints against me regarding claims of indecent behavior. The work environment in American society is very different from that in India and I had to take time to adjust to the new working environment including diet.
The scenario illustrated above is a clear example of conflict brought about by cultural differences. I was with the dilemma of aiming to increase the sales while at the same time, I did not want to violate individual right to worship. The company CEO complained of a drop in sales and recommended that I fire the less productive employees. This created panic among the employees who feared for their jobs. However, I realized that employee motivation was the necessary thing to improve the performance of the employees rather than sacking the current employees and recruiting new ones. I had to strike a compromise with my staff to work half-day during the holidays instead of giving them a whole day off or instating that they work during their religious holidays.
The complaints regarding my behavior at the workplace sent anonymously to the company CEO gave me a hard time. I figured that I could not get the employee behind it all, and in any case, it would be unethical to take any disciplinary action on him /her. I had to seek advice from one member of the staff regarding what indecent behavior constitutes in the Indian culture. I learned that hugging or patting one on the shoulder to congratulate them is offensive.
Culture is an essential part of any society and it affects our perceptions, personal judgments, ideas, and one’s life as a whole. Failure to respect one’s culture can lead to conflict that can cause profound effects on performance in the workplace. Culture encompasses language, mode of dress, ethnicity, race, and nationality. Culture plays a meaningful role in enacting our identities and shapes our interaction with others. Cultural messages help us to relate well and enable us to deal with any conflict that arises in a public place. Working in a multicultural environment may be difficult but it allows the sharing of experiences and building of good working relationships. Since culture affects our identities and what we consider important to us, it usually the cause of conflict in a cross-cultural environment. However, to avoid this conflict one needs to respect the diverse cultures, especially in the workplace. A good understanding of the nature of culture is important in solving conflicts that may arise. Also, the motivation of the employees is an essential part of increasing staff productivity. Firing unproductive employees might work in the short term, but in long term, it proves inefficient.