Case Study:

Wayne was a 30-year old Canadian set by his Vancouver-based company to set up a buying office in India. The new offices main mission was to source large quantities of consumer goods in India: cotton piece goods, garments, accessories, shoes and also industrial products such as tent fabrics and cast iron components.

Indias Ministry of Foreign Trade had invited Waynes company to open this buying office because they knew it would provide exports, bring in badly-needed foreign exchange, and provide manufacturing know-how to Indian factories.

Waynes was in fact the first international sourcing office to be located anywhere in South Asia. The MFT wanted it to succeed so that other Western and Japanese companies could be persuaded to establish similar procurement offices.

The expatriate manager decided to set up the office in the capital, New Delhi, because he knew he would have to meet frequently with senior government officials. Since the Indian government closely regulated all trade and industry, Wayne often found it necessary to help his suppliers obtain import licenses for the semi-manufacturers and components they required to produce the finished goods his company had ordered.

Wayne found these government meetings frustrating. Even though he always phoned to make firm appointments, the bureaucrats usually kept him waiting for half an hour or more. Not only that, his meetings would be continually interrupted by phone calls and unannounced visitors, as well as by clerks bringing in stacks of letters and documents to be signed. Because of all the waiting and the constant interruptions, it regularly took him half a day or more to accomplish something that could have been done back home in twenty minutes.

Three months into this assignment, Richard began to think about requesting a transfer to a more congenial part of the world somewhere where things work. He just could not understand why they didnt hold their incoming calls and sign those papers after the meeting so as to avoid the constant interruptions?

After all, the government of India had actually invited his company to open this buying office. So didnt he have the right to expect reasonably courteous treatment from the officials in the various ministries and agencies he had to deal with?

CASE QUESTIONS ARE ON THE NEXT PAGE

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS by typing your answer below each question.

Make sure your doc is single spaced.

1. Waynes situation (Total=10 points)
   1. What did the Wayne not understand about the other culture? (2 points)

(you can use bullet points)

2. What questions from Global Affairs would be helpful and why? (4 points)

(cut/paste the questions that relate to this situation and explain why those questions would have been useful to Wayne)

Ans:

• What should I know about the workplace environment (deadlines, dress, formality, etc.)?

• In the workplace, how are decisions taken and by whom? Is it acceptable to go to my immediate supervisor for answers or feedback?

• How important is it to establish a personal relationship with a colleague or client before getting to business?

• Would a colleague or employee expect special privileges or considerations given our personal relationship or friendship

The Indian culture mainly give the priority to their personal relationships with workers and ready to help them. Thats why they answer to their colleagues calls and issue at the time busy times also as- meetings.

3. What specific concepts from our course apply to this situation? (4 points)

2. If the Vancouver Company were going to create an intercultural communication training program to help employees who will be working overseas, what content would they cover? (5 points)