Culture and Family Business Management Essay

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Introduction

Culture can be a hindrance to business. In this case study, the western educated Moho meets face to face with the ugly face of cultural rigidity when he takes a career as a marketing manager in his family’s textile business. He has to come up with ways to deal with the situation.

Case study summary

Moho Athman has pursued an MBA from an Australian university where he has been able to appreciate the principles of qualitative business administration which include the implementation of participative management and the emphasis on productivity as a way of rewarding workers. Upon his return to Indonesia to start a career as a marketing manager in a family textile business, he meets with stiff opposition from conservative family members such as Fatima, his cousin and Hamid Athman, his uncle who strongly believe in the traditional Islamic way of running the business. His attempt to bring his ideas forward is met with both skepticism and doubt. But the discontent of the workers who are treated in an unfair manner that is not based on their productivity is a sign of hope for him in that if he succeeds in implementing his ideas, he will have support. But the problem is that this chance is not available given the high level of opposition.

The frames, negotiation strategy and tactics of the Moho

The negotiation strategy and tactics that Moho Athman has include the application of the incremental change policy. It is definitely not possible to change the way the business runs overnight since this is the way it has operated for a long time. Therefore, using a slow approach whereby he talks to each individual member about his ideas and trying to convince them to support him is one option. Since what he wants to implement is sound, the positive feedback will make them give him a chance to apply more of his principles. Given the fact that his father is more tolerant of western approaches to management than the other members, he may be the right person to start with.

Far from the above, Moho can ask for a unique scenario where he agrees to perform on a contract basis whereby he will ask for the permission to apply his principles in a department of his choice for a given time, with the agreement that if the department performs better than it is currently doing, he not only retains his position but also gets the leeway to apply the new ideas to the rest of the business. There is no doubt that there will be a positive change if Moho applies the qualitative approach to any department in the business.

The frames, negotiation strategy and tactics of Hamid Athman

Hamid Athman’s major concern is the impact of Moho’s ideas to a business that the family has operated for a long time. He fears that these ideas may lead to collapse. There is no doubt that he wants the best for the business and this is why he and Ali have even discussed the idea of Moho marrying Fatima. Since Moho cannot be wished away as a family member, Hamid can come up with a strategy that can deal with Moho once and for all. This is by outlining to Moho what he expects from him in terms of management and letting Moho assure him that his ideas will not create disrespect for Islamic ideals and lead to business failure. He will then give Moho a short but reasonable experimental period to run a department using his ideas and the outcome will settle the conflict once and for all. Including the other members in this conversation will make it both effective and smooth.

Hofstede Model cultural dimensions for Australia and Indonesia in the case

The most pronounced Hofstede cultural dimension in this case is power distance. It is very high in Indonesia at 78 and relatively low in Australia at 36 (itim International 2009, p.1). This therefore means that the culture of closeness among people and families including the government and business leaders and their employees is higher in Australia while in Indonesia there is no closeness (Hofstede 1996, pp.45-46). This is why Moho’s open mind is not welcome by his family members who feel that their power will be interfered with if the employees are engaged in participatory management.

Recommendation for resolving the conflict

The best way to resolve the conflict is by Moho using his more tolerant father to negotiate a slow but incremental approach while assuring the rest of the team that Islamic traditions are not at stake. The success of whatever he applies will ultimately make them allow him to apply more of his ideas. Competitiveness in international business requires modern management ideas like the ones Moho has (Hill 2001, pp.19-22).Therefore he should try all possible means to implement them without spoiling its operations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Moho will be required to lobby his father who is more tolerant and offer to demonstrate that his ideas can improve performance while protecting Islamic traditions.

References

Hill, W.L., (2001). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hofstede, G., (1996). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival. New York: McGraw-Hill.

itim International., (2009). Geert Hoftstede Cultural Dimensions. Web.

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