us-malaysia joint project

8/15/2019 Us-malaysia Joint Project

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/us-malaysia-joint-project 1/17

4 2015/2016

KOM5215

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 2

CASE STUDY II(US-MALAYSIA JOINT PROJECT)

PROF. DR. EZHAR TAMAM

PRAGASH A/L MUTHU RAJAN JM 40833

PBUPM

P R A G A S H A / L M U T H U R A J A N

K O M 5 2 1 5

J M 4 0 8 3 3



KOM5215

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 2

CASE STUDY II

(US-MALAYSIA JOINT PROJECT)

PRAGASH A/L MUTHU RAJANJM40833

P ROF . D R. E ZHAR T AMAM16 th November 2015



Content List

Question 1 ......................................................................................................................... 1

Question 2 ......................................................................................................................... 3

Question 3 ......................................................................................................................... 7

Question 4 ....................................................................................................................... 10

Question 5 ....................................................................................................................... 12

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 14



Intercultural Communication | 1

Q1. What mistakes did the Americans make in dealing with the Malaysians? How could

they have prepared for the joint project more effectively?

i. The Americans did a mistake in appointing the project manager to work in the joint

project. Dale, is an ineffective team leader which is not suitable to deal with the

Malaysians. APC California should appoint Pete Loren as the project manager to lead the

joint project, instead of Dale. Due to character of Pete which is a soft-spoken and also a

humble engineer. Moreover, he had experiences of working with the Malaysians during

the previous project, and he enjoyed it. Lastly, Pete is a guy that easy to work with and

had a pleasant sense of humor which is most probably will be like by those Malaysian.

ii. The Americans assumed business would be conducted in Malaysia in the same way as

business is conducted in America. They expected Malaysian to be working in the way

that they used to work with any other American, which is practically not applicable on

Malaysian. American should learn more about how Malaysian do business before they

start up business in Penang or at least before they visit APC Penang. They simply believe

that the strong organizational culture of their company will provide a framework for a

successful joint project.

iii. The Americans knew very little about the Malaysian culture or style of doing business in

Malaysia. It is advisable that American get themselves exposed to the Malaysian business

style through some researches (books, magazines, Google, friends or any other business partners that had done business with Malaysian). Understanding Malaysian culture can

solve most of the problems, such as:

Malaysian timing (punctuality) or time orientation.




Q2. How did high- and low-context communication play a role in this case?

The primary work of Hall (1976) created his contexting model was Beyond Culture . In

explaining this model, he defined high-context and low-context messages as follows:

A high-context (HC) communication or message is one in which

most of the information is either in the physical context or

internalized in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit,

transmitted part of the message. A low-context (LC)

communication is just the opposite; i.e., the mass of the

information is vested in the explicit code. (p. 79.

HC cultures (a style of communication in Africa, Middle East, Asia, and South America) are

relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. This means that people in these cultures

emphasize interpersonal relationships. Developing trust is an important first step to any business

transaction. According to Hall, these cultures are collectivist, preferring group harmony and

consensus to individual achievement. And people in these cultures are less governed by reason

than by intuition or feelings. Words are not as important as context, which might include the

speaker’s tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, posture and even the person’s family history

and status. HC culture’s communication style doesn’t have to speak as much as LC does. One

word in HC culture, people will understand ten things, but in LC culture, one has to say ten

words to understand one thing.HC communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Flowery language, humility, and

elaborate apologies are typical.




LC cultures (including North America and much of Western Europe) are logical, linear,

individualistic, and action ‐oriented. People from low ‐context cultures value logic, facts, and

directness. Solving a problem means lining up the facts and evaluating one after another.

Decisions are based on fact rather than intuition. Discussions end with actions. And

communicators are expected to be straightforward, concise, and efficient in telling what action is

expected. To be absolutely clear, they strive to use precise words and intend them to be taken

literally. Explicit contracts conclude negotiations. This is very different from communicators in

high ‐context cultures who depend less on language precision and legal documents. High ‐context

business people may even distrust contracts and be offended by the lack of trust they suggest.

Obviously, in the US Malaysia joint project, Penang APC team is part of HC culture while

California APC team is based on LC culture.

During Kurt’s first visit to Penang APC, Kurt couldn’t fully understand the conversation with

Kong, thus he will ask Kong to repeat his lines. Kong found this gracious and appreciate Kurt’s

effort that trying to understand his words. Kong never find it as an act of offensive, because in

HC culture, it is common to clarify something even it need to be asked many times.

Unfortunately, when the Penang APC team ask a repeatedly question to California team,

regarding the any parts or as in the case of trapped air bubble, California team, as from LC

culture, found it very offensive and labeled Penang team as lousy team to work with. This is

because HC culture always straight forward and they don’t prefer any indirect conversation. If

you don’t get their point, straight away tell it to them, never remain silent or rise up the same

issue in the future.

Coffee/tea break is a must for any HC culture. Its plays the role to create bondings among their

colleagues, friends and family. A certain time will be allocated for the break, despite the busy




schedule, totally opposite to LC culture that will focus on accomplishing their objectives first,

before proceed with any break time. Therefore, Americans were not really happy with th e ‘mum -

mum’ break of Malaysian in the case study.

As in HC culture, business ventures are based on time spent in trusted relationships. During the

company presentation among the supplier and both Malaysian and American APC team,

questions in English from American will be explained in Chinese by Kong, to his fellow Chinese

supplier. This is due to the education level of most of the suppliers are not highly literate. Some

might be running their family business based on the experiences gained from their elders, with

zero level of English education. Being a Chinese man, Kong is aware of this situation, so hemakes the discussion smooth by using his mother tongue to brief his Chinese supplier. But as for

the Americans, definitely they are expecting all their business partners are able to understand

their standard language of English, which is not really applicable in Malaysia, because English is

not the national language of Malaysia. Again, it would be nice if the American can speak

Chinese as well.

In HC culture, people are tending to be more caring to other. The hosts keep filling the space in

the American’s plates with foods, to show that they are actually caring for their guest. But the

Americans might find it uncomfortable. Usually the lunch will last for hours, for the long chit-

chat among the hosts and the guests. This is part of their personal and social relationship bonding

strategies which American will find it waste of time. Also, another reason for the longer time

taken for lunch or dinner is to relax the mind after tired with work. Therefore, in HC culture, no

business talk is encouraged during the lunch or dinner.

AS LC culture is straight forward in their communication, they don’t prefer any changes in the

agreement. Dale seems not to be happy with the amended supplier visit schedule by Kong. And




he pointed it out angrily in the meeting room, which three new engineers were also there. This

had make Kong to lose his face in front of the three new engineers as well as his rest of

counterparts. As in HC cultures, in order to maintain harmony, Malaysian will not display

emotion openly in a business setting. Any mistakes or issues are always discussed privately

without affecting one’s dignity in the crowd.




Q3. Discuss the importance of relationship-building in Malaysian business culture.

In business meetings with international colleagues, it is good to have a clear understanding of the

perception of time of both the host and the attendees. When attending a meeting run by a

monochronic person, it is best to arrive early and be prepared to start exactly on time. On the

other hand, in a meeting run by a polychronic person, it is possible that the meeting will be

delayed and will start with the attendees catching up on each other’s personal lives in order to

strengthen their interpersonal ties. It is important when working as an expat or with expats to

ensure that everyone has a clear perception of the timeline and agenda expected from the

meeting so that no one leaves feeling frustrated or left out.

When you schedule a one-on-one meeting with an international colleague or in new country, it is

important to consider your perception of time and consider the time perception of the others who

will be meeting you. While it is always a good idea to show up on time for a meeting, if you are

planning to meet with a polychronic person, be prepared to wait or to make conversation with

others around the office. Remember, you aren’t being ignored or put off! What may seem to be

meaningless conversation to you is the first step toward building the all important personal

relationships that will help you success in a polychronic culture.

Developing a relationship is important to people who are from polychronic cultures. The

relationship is a key facilitator often driving the team towards deadlines and meeting the

schedule. Malaysia’s culture is strongly group -oriented. Asserting individual preferences may be

seen as less important than having a sense of belonging to a group, conforming to its norms, and

maintaining harmony among its members. Building lasting and trusting personal relationships is

therefore critically important to most Malaysians, who often expect to establish strong bonds

prior to closing any deals. Regardless of ethnicity, people in Malaysia usually do business only




with those they know and like. Establishing productive business cooperation requires a long-term

perspective and commitment. Consequently, proceed with serious business discussions only after

the counterparts have become comfortable with the Malaysian counterparts.

Relationships are based on familiarity, respect, and personal trust. Business relationships in this

country exist between people, not necessarily between companies. Even when you have won

your local business partners’ fri endship and trust, they will not necessarily trust others from your

company. That makes it very important to keep company interfaces unchanged. Changing a key

contact may require the relationship building process to start over.

When conducting virtual team meeting plan for the meetings to start late an end late and expectdialog to occur. Use application suites that allow participants to respond and not feel isolated.

Try to emulate real meetings as much as can. Methods for this may include time in the beginning

of the meeting to talk online about topical things such as social events, weather and also

vacations. Share pictures of each other so that people feel that the team is live and feel like

members are together.

Companies tend to be very hierarchical when it comes to decision making. However, decision

making is normally a consensus-oriented group process in Malaysia. This can be confusing for

Westerners looking to identify the ‘key decision maker’ in an organization, while in reality such

a role may not exist at all. Decisions are often made through a process involving many

stakeholders who establish consensus through a series of deliberations. This process can take a

long time and requires patience. Inuencing the decision making requires building strong

relationships with as many of the stakeholders as you possibly can. Senior leaders orchestrate the

process and secure the support of the group. Nevertheless, their input carries a lot of weight and

they sometimes have the nal say.




Q4. Explain why the Malaysians did not admit that they did not understand how to

overcome the "trapped air bubble problem" in the plating process. Why did they respond

affirmatively or with silence when asked by the Americans if they understood the problem?

Malaysian engineers did not admit that they don’t understand how to overcome the ‘trapped air

bubble problem’ is due to this concept of ‘saving face’. As with other Asian cultures, the

concept of ‘saving face’ is critical in Malaysian culture. Malaysians, as a high context culture,

place a strong value on face saving. Malays, Chinese and Indians all strive to maintain face and

avoid shame both in public and private. Face is a personal concept that embraces qualities such

as a good name, good character, and being held in esteem by one's peers. Face is considered a

commodity that can be given, lost, taken away, or earned. On top of this face also extends to the

family, school, company, and even the nation itself. Face can be lost by openly criticizing,

insulting, or putting someone on the spot; doing something that brings shame to the group;

challenging someone in authority, especially if this is done in public; showing anger at another

person; refusing a request; not keeping a promise; or disagreeing with someone publicly.

Conversely, face can be saved by remaining calm and courteous; discussing errors or

transgressions in private; speaking about problems without blaming anyone; using nonverbal

communication to say ‘no’; and allowing the other person to get out of the situation with their

pride intact. The desire to maintain face makes Malaysians strive for harmonious relationships.

In the situation of trapped air bubble problem, Malaysian does not really understand how to solve

the issue, yet they did not admit it. This is due to the discussion was on the teleconference which

the conversation was not private; it was between a group of US engineers and Malaysian

engineers. Malaysian worried that they will lose their face if they admitted that they were not

understood the problem and the solution given by the US engineers. It is kind of embarrassment




for the Malaysian counterparts. Therefore, they remained calm without any response to save their

face, and silently try to figure out the issue.

US engineers should bring up the issue in a private communication with the Penang engineers or

with Kong, either by Kurt or Dale. In that way, definitely Penang engineers will admit that they

have no idea about the trapped air bubble issue.




than the timeframe in which it is happening. They thrive at multitasking and are not bothered by

phone calls or interruptions. They tend to build strong personal relationships, and often see the

development of this relationship as their end goal rather than the task at hand. Malaysia, Latin

America, the Middle East, and Africa are places where the polychronic orientation prevails.

Examples that showing Malaysian are practicing polychronic time orientation is Penang APC

team always delayed in responding to any enquiry made by the California team, sometimes no

response at all. They were also late to pick up those American at their lobby and often late for the

teleconference with California team. The California team would sit in their cubicles at exactly

3:59 p.m. every Thursday waiting for the calls from Penang team is an example of American that

shows they are practising monochronic time orientation.




Bibliography

i. Abdel Moneim M.K. Elsaid. (2014). Effects of technological advancements on team

performance in high context cultures : A case study of Egypt. International Journal of

Business Management and Administration Vol. 3(3), 040-047.

ii. Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture . New York: Dubleday Dell Publishing.

iii. Michelle Lebaron. (2003). Communication tools for understanding cultural differences .

In Guy Burgess and Hedi Burgess, Beyond Intractability. Conflict Research Consortium,

University of Colorado, Boulder, United States. Retrieved from

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/communication-tools . Accessed on November

2, 2015.

iv. Nelson, O. N, & Chiew, T. M. (2005). Customers behaviourial responses to sales

promotion: the role of fear of losing face , Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and

Logistics, 17(1), (32 – 49). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13555850510672278 .

v. Triandis, H., & Suh, E. M. (2002). Cultural influences on personality. Annual Review of

Psychology, 53(1), 133-160. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135200 .

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/communication-tools


http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13555850510672278

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13555850510672278

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13555850510672278

http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_7/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135200




http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13555850510672278


us-malaysia joint project

Documents