Ameritech in the Philippines: Failure to Adjust to Filipino Cultural Norms?
Analysis Prepared by Group 5: Espinosa, Melissa Katherine Magtibay, Roxanne Francisco, Marvin Nito, Orenz Importante, Marlyn Rosapapan, Jennifer
Synthesis
Ameritech is a North Carolina-based computer supply company. The Company moved its operations to the Philippines to take advantage of the countrys cheap labor cost. The Company took over a Korean computer firm on Mactan Island in Cebu Province and utilized its workforce and facility. Part of the expansion is the deployment of one of its highly-skilled management personnel from North Carolina, William Dawson. Dawson, who has never been to the Philippines and has limited knowledge about the local culture, is sent to the country as Ameritechs plant manager in Cebu. To assist Dawson, the Company also hired a Manila-based executive, Miguel Santos, to relocate in Cebu.
For consecutive months, the productivity level of the Ameritech employees remained marginally low. Dawson then decided to implement several changes, including the introduction of salary incentives and employee trainings to raise the productivity and profitability of the company. However, this did not sit well with the majority of the employees. Many employees are also demoralized after a productive and well-liked employee was fired. A number of employees resigned and transferred to Ameritechs competitor. Despite the changes Dawson implemented, Ameritech continued to experience workforce challenges, especially relating to the Filipino culture of pakikisama, face saving, and collectivism.
Point of View
The group decided to take the point of view of the plant manager, William Dawson.
Statement of the Problem
How can William Dawson adjust to the local Philippine culture, improve his relationship with the Filipino employees, and restore the morale of the employees with the end goal of reaching Ameritechs target profitability and productivity levels?
Statement of Objectives
1. To achieve acculturation of Dawson with Filipino employees in order to improve professional relationship and create a workplace conducive for efficient and effective operations. 2. To motivate the employees of Ameritech that would lead to increased production rate and minimized attrition rate.
Areas for Considerations and Assumptions William Dawson His management style works well in North Carolina.
He is apparently ill-prepared for his assignment in the Philippines.
He is unaware of the local culture. Miguel Santos He cannot influence Dawson since he does not have the experience working in a similar environment.
He also has a different subculture since he came from Manila and has never been to Cebu. Language and cultural barriers are affecting his relationship with the other employees. Employees Employees perceive the incentive plan as a threat rather than a motivation. This made a lot of employees tender their resignation.
The arrival of an Ameritech competitor in Cebu serves as an opportunity for them. Human Resource Director She failed to manage the workplace pressure and mass resignation.
She failed to serve as the buffer between the management and the employees.
Theoretical / Conceptual Framework
The mainstream offers a variety of conceptual framework for managing motivation. One of the bases of motivation we used is from McClellands Acquired Needs Theory. According to David McClelland, certain types of needs or desires are acquired during an individuals lifetime. 1 He names three needs: need for achievements, affiliation, and power. He also cited the need for fairness as the desire to be treated fairly and equitably compared to others as important source of motivation at work.
1 Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451 The need for achievement is the extent to which an individual strongly desires to perform challenging tasks well and to meet personal standards for accomplishments. 2
The need for affiliation is the desire to form close meaningful relationships and establish warm friendships. 3
The need for power is the desire to control other people, to influence their behavior, or to be responsible for them. 4
In this case, the employees tend to look for the needs of affiliation. Employees may seek to affiliate with other people, groups, or even organizations. Organizational commitment is a motivational force that binds a person to a particular organization. Mainstream managers promote organizational commitment so as to lower turnover costs or to increase productivity. 5 The employees of Ameritech needs to feel the sense of attachment to contribute positively to the organization.
Figure 1: Emotional exhaustion and seven dimensions of job satisfaction (Rutherford et al, 2009) 6
Alternative Courses of Action (ACA) ACA 1: Change the management style of Dawson, with the help of Santos, in order to adjust in a collectivistic culture.
2 Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451 3 Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451 4 Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451 5 Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),457 6 http://dkelana.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/a-brief-overview-towards-job-satisfaction/; accessed 08/02/2013 Pros Cons 1.Dawson and Santos will have a good relationship and can lead the plant effectively. 2.Production can be eventually improved with Dawsons expertise and Santos new management styles. 1.Efforts to establish good relationships may fail due to previous events. 2.Employees may no longer be connected to the company.
ACA 2: Dawson will continue with his preferred management style that works well in North Carolina. Pros Cons 1.Since Dawson instituted a number of quality improvements and inventory management techniques in North Carolina, the Company will be able to continuously utilize his expertise. 1.Company may face undermanned due to high attrition rate, which can hamper production due to possible strikes. 2.The pressure from his superiors to turn the situation around will not be addressed.
ACA 3: Hire an assistant who is from Cebu and understands the locals. Dawson will learn from this new assistant and gradually change his management style Pros Cons 1.Possibility of miscommunications between Dawson and the employees can be minimized. 2.The assistant can help Dawson how to understand the local workforce culture in Cebu. 1.Employees may establish good relationship with the new assistant and Dawson may not be able to earn the employees sympathy or approval. 2.The assistant may cause insubordination of employees.
Recommendation ACA 1: With Santos help, change Dawsons management style to make it suitable for the Filipino collectivistic culture. The group believes that it is not too late for Dawson to turn the situation around; he just needs to adjust his management style according to the Filipino culture. Collectivist orientations stress the importance of cohesion within social groups (such as an "in-group", in what specific context it is defined) and in some cases, the priority of group goals over individual goals. Collectivists often focus on community, society, nation or country. 7
In the case of Ameritech, the relationship between Dawson and his employees should be based on trust and harmony. He needs to understand the collectivistic orientation of his Filipino employees to gain their trust and loyalty. Implementation Plan Week 1: Dawson and Santos will have a closed-door meeting to discuss their differences and what should they focus on to address the issues at hand. They need to ask for forgiveness from each other to start a harmonious relationship. Week 2: Santos will serve as Dawsons hatchet man to the employees to start rebuilding the relationship. Although Santos has a different perspective of Cebuanos, he is still the best man to establish rapport with them. Since Dawson needs to understand the Filipino culture, he can start attending seminars about learning and understanding Filipino practices and traditions. Week 4: Hire a new Human Resource (HR) Director. The new HR Director must be from Cebu so that he/she will be able to communicate and understand the locals. The new HR Director will initiate team-building activities that could foster teamwork among employees. Changes should be introduced gradually. Dawson should also break the social barrier by respecting cultural differences. Week 5: After evaluating the performance of the remaining employees, Dawson could promote two production employees to become the production supervisors who will help the managers in achieving the set goals. Week 6: Design and launch a Performance-Based Incentive Plan that will show that the plant management values the work of their employees. On a weekly basis, reward the employees for meeting their goals. The reward may be as simple as a free lunch and /or his/her name will be posted on the bulletin board. In awarding a team performance, if the production team meets or exceeds their target goals they will receive a Free Movie Pass as a group effort reward. Learning Insights
7 Wikipedia;Collectivism; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivism; accessed 07/31/2013 For global managers to be successful, they should adapt their management styles to fit the local cultural environment. Yes, it is really hard to do it because both parties might experience culture shock because cultural environment consists of many factors that can influence ones perception and understanding of many managerial, organizational, or social phenomena.
Cultural knowledge is insufficient to be aware of ones cultural environment. Though if its equipped with sensitivity, for sure it will lead to better understanding and appreciation of other cultures. Global managers particularly those with remarkable cultural awareness are more open and very willing to adjust their behaviors and attitudes to local cultural environments. Thus, it will facilitate and make these managers more effective.
Communication skills and cultural empathy are the basic requirements for the managers to holistically understand ones culture. The group learned that culture really can influence how an individual understands and make sense of the environment.