Unit 2 Discussion Assignment
BUS 5211: Managing in the Global Economy, University of the People
In the discussion forum, you are expected to participate often and engage in deep levels of discourse. Please post your initial response as early as possible and continue to participate throughout the unit. You are required to post an initial response to the question/issue presented in the Forum and then respond to at least 3 of your classmates’ initial posts. You should also respond to anyone who has responded to you.
Discuss how cultural strategic thinking plays a part within your current organization or an organization that you are familiar with. What two specific cultural strategic thinking techniques have you observed within your team? Did you see evidence of Cultural Intelligence (CQ)? Using the article you read and your text discuss some of what you observed, both in terms of positives and deficits and discuss how CQ could have been improved.
Grade: 8/10 (688 words)
When working on a multinational team or supervising and leading an international staff, we need to have a higher level of thinking. I begin by describing the concept of cultural strategic thinking briefly. After that, I answer the questions.
Cultural strategic thinking
Cultural strategic thinking is the ability to think and solve problems in specific ways under unfamiliar cultural situations. Cultural strategic thinking is mainly composed of two elements: cognition and metacognition. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012) Cognition is the ability to process information. Metacognition is the ability to control one's thinking processes through various strategies, such as organizing, monitoring, and adapting. Additionally, the ability reflects upon the tasks and selects and utilizes the appropriate strategies necessary in particular intercultural interactions. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
Culture levels can be categorized into five: national, regional, organizational, team, and individual. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012) ." I will answer the question focused on the cultural levels of team and individual.
Cultural strategic thinking techniques
Cultural intelligence for leaders introduced three steps for developing cultural strategic thinking.
- connect new information to the old
- select the appropriate strategies, and then
- plan, monitor, and evaluate the strategies
(Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
Also, here are the specific techniques: "peer learning, writing your experiences, gaining cultural knowledge, thinking, being, and staying positive, finding a coach or mentor, being an observer, active listening, and changing your questions" (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Two specific cultural strategic thinking techniques in my team (my experience)
To answer the question, I will briefly describe my situation. My organization, a private university in Tokyo, Japan, requires cultural strategic thinking techniques mostly when we transfer to a different department.
Like other typical Japanese companies, my organization conducts “job rotation”. Under the job rotation system, employees must transfer to various departments every 3-10 years. The transferring department span is different depending on the employee.
I have experience working for the organization for 7 years and have worked for three departments: Career center, International, and Academic Affairs Office. Although in the same organization, the jobs of the three departments are far different, and the cultures of the departments and teams are different. Therefore, cultural strategic thinking techniques are required when we transfer to another department.
I use two specific cultural strategic thinking techniques: Being an Observer and Writing my experience. Last year, I transferred from the International Office to the Academic Affairs Office. There are many differences at the point of working procedures and communication tools.
In the previous department, most jobs were based on bottom-up decision-making, so I had to think about new ideas and make proposals. On the other hand, in the current department, all works are conducted with the same plan as the previous year. To notice the differences, I must be an observer.
Regarding communication, the current colleagues like to utilize the internet chat even when we sit next to the next. When I just transferred, I felt it was an awkward and inefficient work style, and I wrote my feelings honestly in my work diary. After spending almost one year in my current department, I could find the positive side of this communication style. Compared to the previous department, we have many matters to handle and operate our work without any mistakes, so avoiding verbal communication and recording by chat is crucial for the current team.
Based on my experiences, I successfully dealt with cultural differences appropriately. It is evidence of cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence is the ability to adapt to unfamiliar cultural settings successfully. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
I described my workplace experiences and showed that cultural conflicts could happen in the same organization and not only occur in multi-national environments. Culture includes five categories: national, regional, organizational, team, and individual. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012) We can overcome the conflicts by developing our cognition and metacognition and utilizing cultural strategic thinking techniques.
References
Cultural intelligence for leaders (v. 1.0). (2012, December 29). Lardbucket. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/cultural-intelligence-for-leaders.pdf
