MGMT 1115 Chapter 12 Homework

Which of the following examples shows the use of inspirational communication?

Ivan, a senior employee of a company, often narrates stories about the organization's growth over the years to new employees.

Accommodative style

Appeasement

Read the following case and use your knowledge of this chapter's concepts to answer the questions that follow. Margot, the Cross-Cultural Communicator Margot is the sales development manager of an online retailer that specializes in the sale of upscale clothing for men and women, at drastically low prices. Most of the clothing sold stems from reselling of inventory from high-end retailers who have gone out of business, are bankrupt, or liquidating merchandise for other reasons such as needing cash desperately. Based in Los Angeles, the online store has an office and a distribution warehouse. Yet some sales are shipped directly from the distressed retailers who receive a small payment for making the shipments. Margot was raised in Mexico. She speaks both English and Spanish fluently, which facilitates her working well in Los Angeles. However, Margot considers herself to be multicultural beyond working well with Americans, Latinos, and Mexican-Americans. "Give me anybody, whatever ethnicity and race, and I'll warm up to that person," she says. Not all the staff members at the company are so convinced about the effectiveness of Margot's multicultural skills. Derek, the company website designer, who is African American, said this about Margot: "I love the lady, but sometimes I think she patronizes me. She starts almost all our conversations asking me something about professional basketball. Oh, yes, I know that the vast majority of NBA players are black, but so are almost all the doctors, scientists, and lawyers in Africa. To please Margot, I make a few general comments about basketball so the conversation can proceed." Lucie, an order-fulfillment specialist, is a Latina raised in Costa Rica. She said that she appreciates Margot's working hard to establish rapport with her, but that she gets tired of Margot so frequently asking her questions about Costa Rican cooking and holidays. "Okay, I was raised in Costa Rica. That doesn't mean that I think about my home country every day. I am here living and working in L.A." Basil, a purchasing specialist, is the only senior working at the company. He has forty years of experience in merchandising women's clothing. "To me, Margot is like a niece, but I don't think she gets it about dealing with a senior. Margot keeps talking to me about my health, retirement planning, and how I like working with younger people in an online business. I just don't like talking about senior concerns." Margot considers herself to be "multicultural" beyond working well with Americans, Latinos, and Mexican-Americans. If you were in Margot's position as the sales manager of the online retailer and had to negotiate with clients from other countries, what are some practices you would follow to minimize communication barriers? Select all that apply.

Challenge one's own cultural assumptions and be sensitive to international differences in negotiating style

Sharing style

Compromise

Linguistic style

David characteristically speaks in a slow and deliberate manner and pauses after every few words to allow people to assimilate his words.

Competitive style

Domination

Collaborative style

Interrogation

Louis often has face-to-face talks with his subordinates by casually dropping by their work stations. He enquires about their progress, problems, and concerns. Which of the following best describes Louis's actions?

Making the rounds

Margot chats to her colleagues about things that are specific to their respective cultures. Her colleagues like her, but they are not convinced about her multicultural skills. If you feel that Margot's colleagues are being too intolerant about her attempts to establish a rapport with them, then you can justify your stance by claiming that _____.

Margot is not using her colleagues' race or ethnicity as an adjective in a negative manner, nor is she confusing the identity of her colleagues because they are members of a particular ethnic group.

The purchase department of a chemical company requests information on raw material requirements from the production department in order to plan for procurements.

Operational network

The managers of all the departments of a company share information and collaborate with each other on various work-related issues.

Peer leadership network

Making the rounds

Robert, a manager, often has informal conversations with his team members about their accomplishments and their concerns.

Rupert, a manager, wants to implement the practice of maintaining work logs to monitor the progress of projects. This process requires all the members of the team to update their daily activities on a dedicated online portal. Rupert asks one of the team members to speak in favor of this process. He feels that the team members would be convinced if one of their peers convinces them about the benefits of this process. Which persuasion technique is Rupert using to convince his team about the new process?

Social proof

Patrick, the director of a food processing company, is in contact with various business consultants to know about the latest developments in the industry and possible business opportunities.

Strategic network

Linda and Leonard are having an argument about the division of household chores. They come to a compromise where neither of them is entirely satisfied. Which one of the following conflict management styles is seen in the given scenario?

The sharing style

Margot works hard to establish a rapport with her colleagues. However, Margot's colleagues are not happy with her approach to communicating with them. If you were in Margot's position, what are the mistakes you would look to avoid while communicating with people from other cultures?

Using a person's race/identity as an adjective or other descriptor and being diverted by a person's accent or personal appearance.

Win-win approach to conflict resolution

When the production units and sales units of his company disagree on budget issues, Charles, the CEO, tries to solve the issue in such a way that both teams gain something of value.

Mark is the manager of the finance team of a company. He wants his subordinates to use macros for repetitive calculations to operate efficiently and save time. He tells them about his expertise in developing macros and offers to assist them whenever required. In the given example, the principle of persuasion used by Mark to convince his team is _____.

authority

Vivian heads the product development team of a company. The team is multicultural with a mix of races and ethnicities. In order to establish a rapport with them and minimize cross-cultural barriers, Vivian should _____.

observe cross-cultural differences in etiquette

Andrew, a renowned biologist, is invited by a top university to deliver a lecture on the current trends in biomolecular research. In order to ensure that his lecture is powerful and authoritative, Andrew should _____.

be bold about ideas