Identification of Problems
The focal problem presented in the given case study refers to the cultural defenses between the US and Jordan, the two countries that incorporate the western and eastern identities. From the very beginning, Anne started to face unequal treatment of women in the Export Jordan organization. The female employees also supported such a situation, which is evident from their questions about Anne’s family and children. These women also experienced internalized stigma and were in need of improvements related to equal treatment at the workplace. The attitude of Jafar, the Jordanian male employee, towards Anne and Hayat, a female colleague, was threatening and even aggressive, which was accompanied by pro-Muslim brotherhood ideas. The relationships with Anne’s director also proved that Jordan is a complex country.
Analysis and Evaluation
In this case, cross-cultural communication is associated with business issues since Anne and her husband came from the US to assist Jordan women with selling their products. The concept of culture becomes especially important when the problems identified in the previous section occur (Banihani & Syed, 2017). There are three men, the interaction with them shows that they consider women differently. The segregation of female employees is most vivid in the example of Jafar, who is hostile to Americans and discriminative to women. When she says incomprehensible phrases and refuses to explain where Hayat is, it is the expression of masculinity prevalence over femininity.
Furthermore, Karim’s behavior and slowness can be considered as well as Dr. Massimi’s avoidance of any explanations reflect that Jordan belongs to a culture with a high context. According to Khalaf, Nakhaleh, and Abu Sara (2015), both physical factors and social context largely determine the way the local employees approach each other and those who come from other cultures. In this case, it remains unclear what happened with Hayat, who was one of the most promising female staff members and suddenly quit visiting her workplace. One may suggest that it was Jafar who complained about her to the director or her husband was notified about some “incorrect” actions or behavior. It is not possible to state confidently, yet the intentional avoidance of the problem is a prominent characteristic of the Jordan culture.
Uncertainty avoidance is another cross-cultural communication concept that helps to understand the given case problems. While referring to the pursuit of truth, which is a sign of the American culture with its low level of uncertainty avoidance, Jordanians are more likely to engage in lengthy conversations and circumvent the core issues, which, from the point of Anne, require the immediate response (Obeidat et al., 2016). In cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, people tend to be intolerant to new thoughts and change in the commonly accepted way of life. This is evident in the case when Anne’s appeal receives no answer except the statement about the complexity of Jordan.
Recommendations
In order to establish the understanding between Anne, Jafar, and Dr. Massimi, one may recommend Anne to try to adjust to the Jordanian context instead of seeking other job opportunities. Since she aims to help the local women, there is a need to let the director and managers understand that she is a valuable employee, who deserves trust, loyal to the company’s mission, and enthusiastic about improving gender issues (Khalaf et al., 2015). By staying with this company and successfully selling products for at least half a year, Anne would prove her effectiveness make a step towards mutual trust. The fact Jordanian company initiated the project with women and hired Anne as an assistant shows that the country is on the way towards gender and employment equality.
References
Banihani, M., & Syed, J. (2017). A macro‐national level analysis of Arab women’s work engagement. European Management Review, 14(2), 133-142.
Khalaf, Z. M., Nakhaleh, L. A., & Abu Sara, M. W. (2015). Women’s participation in the workforce: Challenges and characteristics in Jordan. Middle East Journal of Business, 55(2433), 1-18.
Obeidat, B. Y., Al-Sarayrah, S., Tarhini, A., Al-Dmour, R. H., Al-Salti, Z., & Sweis, R. (2016). Cultural influence on strategic human resource management practices: A Jordanian case study. International Business Research, 9(10), 94-114.