BUS 5211: Managing in the Global Economy, University of the People
Unit 3 Written Assignment
In Chapter 7 of your textbook, Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, read Case Study 4: A New Leadership Culture. Please be sure to particularly address the following questions related to the case:
- How does Kolab’s self-identify influence her ability to lead?
- What cultural value dimensions does the organization operate under? What about Kolab? How can Kolab integrate the organization's cultural value dimensions with her own to ensure overall success?
- What cultural intelligence strategies do you recommend for Kolab and her employees? How do these strategies benefit the organization?
Grade: 88/90 (553 words)
Case description
Kolab has been a leader in a large, nonprofit organization, IEC, for six months. Kolab has a goal-oriented and achievement-focused attitude which is shaped by her personal experience as a refugee from Cambodia. On the other hand, the previous president working for IEC for 10 years, did not have the strategic thinking and vision to move IEC, even though she was very effective at building relationships throughout the state. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
There was a clear gap between Kolab's leadership style and previous ones. These gaps made employees challenging to adapt to Kolab's strategies and her orders. Also, Kolab got frustrated due to the employee's attitude and low-motivated working style. The board of trustees hired Kolab to who can challenge employees and push the organization to reach its financial and fundraising goals. The previous president couldn't achieve the goal under her leadership style. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
Kolab's self-identify which influences her ability to lead
Kolab is a task- and goal-oriented person, which affects her to want the organization's culture to move toward accountability, goals, and achievement. It is drastically different from the leadership style and organizational culture familiar to the employees. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
The cultural value dimensions of IEC and Kolab
Hofstede studied cultural values on leadership in the workplace. Based on the collected data, he created a model of value dimensions that speak to how cultures tend to operate. His work is helpful to any business doing global and multicultural work. The main dimensions of Hofstede's model are identity, power, gender, uncertainty, and time. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
IEC and Kolab's cultural value dimensions are illustrated as follows.
Dimension of Identity
Individual needs Group need
Dimension of power
Inequality Egalitarian
Dimension of gender
Cooperation Competition
Dimension of uncertainty
Ambiguity Certainty
Dimension of time
Traditions/past Current of future
The cultural value dimensions of IEC and Kolab are far different.
Proposal for Kolab to integrate the organization's cultural value dimensions with her own
To achieve Kolab and the organization's goal, she must eliminate the cultural value dimensions gap. As a solution, I propose Kolab and employees improve their cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence is the "ability to successfully adapt to unfamiliar cultural settings" Cultural intelligence heavily emphasizes meta-cognitions, including an individual's artistic consciousness and awareness during interactions with those with different cultural backgrounds. (Kumar et al., 2008) The framework for cultural intelligence consists of ABCs: Acquire, Build, Contemplate, and Do. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).
The first step of framework A stands for Acquire Knowledge. Knowledge is a central tenet in intercultural training and unfamiliar cultures, and learning Hofstede's cultural values dimensions is practical knowledge for them. After learning, they can realize the gap between them. After gaining knowledge, Kolab and their colleague can build awareness of their surroundings together. Next, contemplating motivation and ability to work together. Finally, Kolab and its employees can adapt to a new environment.
Conclusion
In this case study, Kolab, the new boss of IEC, and her employees got frustrated due to gaps in cultural value dimensions. However, they can overcome the situation by utilizing the framework of cultural intelligence, especially by learning Hofstede's cultural value dimensions and objectively realizing the gaps between them. Each step will help them understand each other and achieve the organization's goals.
References
Cultural intelligence for leaders (2012, December 29). Lardbucket. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/cultural-intelligence-for-leaders.pdf
The German Way & More. (n.d.). Religion in German. Retrieved from https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/germany/religion-in-germany/
