MGT614_02
Week 3 Assignment: Case Study Analysis - Part 1
Zihao Yang
04.02.2019

Question One
I think that uncertainty avoidance is the possible reasons for Collins' failure in the United States. According to Hofstede, a culture of strong uncertainty avoidance is usually rule-oriented, which reduces uncertainty by establishing a set of laws, regulations, systems, and restrictions. A weak uncertainty avoidance culture has high tolerance and adaptability to uncertain situations. It is usually more willing to change and ready to take risks. In daily arrangements, the degree of uncertainty avoidance is apparent. Leaders with strong uncertainty avoidance habits prefer to make wellplanned plans or arrangements in advance. Leaders with weaker uncertainty avoidance habits are just the opposite, and the methods or plans they make often leave room for their subordinates and will not let them feel bound. In terms of avoiding uncertainty, Australia is a neutral country while the United States is below average.
This may be partly due to the impact of 9/11. In the United States, however, people are not ready to deal with uncertainty. In this case, Collins asked each employee to meet with him privately. This is a conversation that is full of unknowns for the employees and will cause them a lot of anxiety. Some employees will guess the reason for the meeting. For example, is it that the work efficiency is low, or the work status is poor recently? They even make up some reasons to avoid this meeting.
Also, the power distance between employees and management makes this situation more complicated. The power distance is used to indicate the degree of acceptance of the unequal distribution of power in the organization. The power distance index can express the size of the power distance. The concept of the power distance index can be determined according to factors such as the way of superior decision-making and the fear of subordinates in conflicts between superiors and lowers.

Hofstede's research shows that the hierarchical distinction in organizations is mainly based on the convenience of management, and most of them are flat management institutions and tend to be bottom-up decision-making methods.
According to Hofstede's statistics, Asian countries usually belong to countries with high power distance, while most countries in the United States and Europe belong to countries with low power distance (Sweetman, 2014). In countries with low power distances, members of society emphasize different division of labor, decentralization and independent decisions in the organization, and do not pay attention to status
(Sweetman, 2014). In the organization, the lower level has less dependence on the superior, and it is easier to discuss the problem with the superior and often refute the superior and use the negotiation method to deal with the problem. The countries with high power distances are often weaker, with concentrated power and a more hierarchical hierarchy.
In the organization, the lower levels have a significant dependence on the superiors, and the emotional distance between the upper and lower levels is considerable, and the lower levels are unlikely to discuss the problems with the superiors. It is even more impossible to refute the superiors. There is an understanding of the differences in the level of management of different managers within the US government. Australia's power distance is shallow, and Collins didn't realize that. All he was trying to do is encouraging management to do some unneeded public discussions rather than the business discussions that employees expected.
Question Two
The GOC should first let Collins understand how the US headquarters operates and makes decisions. Collins wanted the employees to meet with him alone after work, which led to confusion and misunderstanding and caused negative results.

Before building a solid foundation and professional boundaries, Collins should not only establish formal meetings with managers but also work and build relationships with the right sites. Also, giving Collins timely feedback at the right time is necessary, because the manager's advice and the information are critical. Although there are many similarities, it still has a lot of differences between Australia and the United
States in cultural. The GOC should explain these differences to Collins. Of course,
Collins' own arrogance and narrowness also need to be corrected. Because of his excellent performance in Sydney, he had a high demand for himself, and everything wanted to do it on his own and rejected the cooperation of Tom Sanchez. In addition, companies should have a more definite plan for spending and destinations. (Deresky,
2017)
Here is my outline for companies to use In preparing executives:
1. Teaching Collins about the difference of management procedure and organization culture between the United States and Australia.
To the families:
1. Bringing up the cultural differences between the United States and Australia for Collins' family.
2. Providing the VISA for all the family members.
3. Offering a comfortable place for them to live, it could be a hotel or an apartment.
4. Providing insurance for all the family members in case there is anything terrible happens.
For international assignments:
1. Asking about Collins work in the US to make sure he can adapt to life in the US

Question Three
In a company organization, there are many steps from the company's top-level directors to bottom-level employees. Therefore, in the organizational structure of the
United States, there are significant differences in the level of hierarchy and power distance between managers and their subordinates. These two factors lead to communication barriers. The higher the number of levels in the hierarchy, the greater the likelihood that a message will go from the top management to the underlying staff, which means loss of communication and errors. Also, as we can see in this case, employees cannot interrupt their peers when they express their opinions. They did not take the initiative in the group discussion. This type of management protects top management because they can advise executives on whatever they want without having to think about them. However, I believe this organizational style has many negative effects. Employees would have lacked leadership qualities because they never could speak out their own ideas. Also, since Employees always follow the same timeline every day and no one asks them about their potential changes in the workplace, the company will not be able to make any changes and improvements. In order to be a successful company, every department needs an open communication system that allows people to express their ideas freely. This not only helps managers to give employees confidence but also brings new changes and ideas in the workplace.
Conclusion
As we have seen in the above analysis, Australian and American cultures do have some similarities, and these similarities indicate why some people can adapt and change. However, there are also many differences between the two countries, which makes each culture unique. Therefore, Collins was not fully prepared for this matter,

and his methods and suggestions made his staff feel very uncomfortable.
I think that the high power distance of Americans compared to the short power distance of Australia is one of the reasons why Collin’s employees can't open up new ideas. They did not speak of their own thoughts in front of the boss because of the culture, which made Collin's affairs difficult because Australian culture was very open and communicated regardless of the level of the hierarchy.

References
1. Deresky, H. (2017). International management: Managing across borders and cultures: text and cases (9th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
2. Country Comparison. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hofstedeinsights.com/country-comparison/the-usa/
3. Power Distance Index. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://clearlycultural.com/geerthofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/
4. Sweetman, K. (2014, July 23). In Asia, Power Gets in the Way. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/04/in-asia-power-gets-in-the-way
5.
Moriarty, A. M. (2016, October 07). Adapting Your Organizational Processes to a
New Culture. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/10/adapting-your-organizationalprocesses-to-a-new-culture