The problem discussed in this case is related to such a field as cross-cultural management. The main issue is that John Higgins might have become too attached to the Japanese culture, its values, and workplace practices. Furthermore, this change in his attitudes began to affect his business decisions and some of them were not effective.
For example, he refused to terminate an employee who failed to improve his performance. Higgins’ justification for this decision is that this worker has been loyal to the company while loyalty is essential for Japanese organizations. Very often European or American managers do not know much about the customs and traditions of non-Western people (Kawar 2012, p. 105).
Therefore, they have to adjust the new business environment. However, this situation is quite different because John Higgins immersed himself in the customs and traditions of Japan. One of the main risks is that he could understand the Japanese culture too literally. Higgins could simply overlook the possibility that the values and priorities of local people could be changing. These are the main aspect of this problem.
There are several possible approaches to this situation. One of the possible strategies is to move Higgins to a different position or even to a different country. One should bear in mind that in many cases, companies choose to rotate expatriates.
They let them stay in a certain country only for a limited period (Jonsson & Kalling 2006). The main rationale for this policy is to prevent them becoming too accustomed to the values or norms of local culture. Furthermore, this strategy is helpful for sharing information or best practices among various divisions of the corporation (Jonsson & Kalling 2006).
This is one of the strategies that can be adopted. The main limitation of this approach is that the Japanese division of Weaver Pharmaceutical can lose a very valuable employee. Moreover, the corporation will have to spend a significant amount of time to find a person, who can substitute Higgins. This is one of the problems faced by multinational corporations (Bozionelos 2009).
Furthermore, the senior management can prompt Higgins and Prescott to discuss the specific cases on which they disagree. Each of them should provide evidence to support his position. In such a way, they can resolve their conflict. However, it is also possible that their disagreement can turn into animosity. This is one of the pitfalls that should be avoided.
It seems that the senior executive should closely examine the actions and decisions of Higgins. Provided that some of his decisions really run against the long-term interests of a company, the senior management should tell Higgins that he should focus on the objectives that a company sets. For instance, one of these objectives is efficiency.
Therefore, it is not reasonable for an organization to retain an employee provided that he/she cannot cope with the requirements set by the management. This approach is useful for identifying and eliminating possible limitations in the work of John Higgins. Moreover, senior management can improve the functioning of the Japanese division.
On the whole, this discussion indicates that multinational corporations can face a great number of challenges. One of their main tasks is to make sure that an expatriate can understand the values or customs of local people. However, they should remain impartial while taking business decisions. These are the main aspects that can be identified.
References
Bozionelos, N 2009, Expatriation outside the Boundaries of the Multinational Corporation: A Study with Expatriates Nurses in Saudi Arabia. Web.
Jonsson, A. & Kalling, T 2006, Knowledge, Organizational Context, and Institutional Forces: Knowledge Sharing in IKEA and SCA. Web.
Kawar, T 2012, ‘Cross-cultural Differences in Management’. International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 105-111. Web.