Total mark: ________/15

3004IBA SEMINAR PREPARATION – NO REFERENCING NECESSARY
Seminar week and time: Week 3 (Seminar 1), 11-11.50am
Student name and ID number: Jayeshlin Naidu, s2943053
Case name: JOHANNES VAN DEN BOSCH SENDS AN EMAIL
Goal of analysis: GET THE REQUESTED INFORMATION TO THE CLIENT IN A TIMELY MANNER; PREVENT LOSING THE CLIENT

A. Case introduction (describe relevant case background and scope of analysis):
The case is clearly about the email exchanges between both Johannes van den Bosch and his British client, Malcolm Smythe- Jones. However, his colleague at the Mexican City office was in charge of the dealings, hence the differences and the lack in communication.
In this case, there is a matter of time different at both firms which causes delays with emails back and forth; particularly from a client in Britain. Thus causing confusion between old time veterans Van den Bosch and Mendez, along with the disappointment Van den Bosch puts across to Mendez, Van den Bosh did not reread what he had sent. There is clear spelling and grammar mistakes throughout the email, as well as expressing concerns for clients over his co-workers. It is quite obvious that there is no sense of understanding cultural differences, no effective communication (as said before) and bringing the different perspectives together and building on the issue.

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B. List critical management issues that need to be solved in order to achieve the specified goal:
1. Decenter to transfer meaning – communicate in a way that the other person will not feel uneasy in the workplace.
2. Recenter to Align and Agree – effective communication, establishing a common reality
3. Lack of performance – there is a lack of performance being carried out by Mendez, as he does not effectively communicate the scheduled timetable for the financial statements.

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C. List the most critical issue (which needs to be solved as priority) and justify why it has priority:
- Firstly the most important and most critical issue that has to be dealt with, is the fact that there is a major time difference with the two countries. Another would be to express the urgency of a particular task to be done in a different way, in comparison to the way Van den Bosch has done so. It would have been wise if Van den Bosh has to keep in that although it is an important task, Mendez will not fully understand if the email is not written in a proper manner. Also both clients need to comprehend that they are not the only two to be looked after, as the firm may have a fair few clients under their care.

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D. Key players (list individuals, groups or organizations who are involved in the most critical issue discussed in C):
Johannes van den Bosch one of the corporates from Rotterdam office of BigFiveFirm (B&FF) is one of the main men who work alongside his counterpart partner in Mexico, Pablo Mendez. Their clients from British MNC (Malcolm Smythe-Jones) and his controller Mr. Parker.

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E. List appropriate cultural dimensions (they can be from different models) that impact the most critical issue discussed in C:

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F. Describe how is this most critical issue perceived by each key player from their cultural perspective (explain using appropriate cultural dimensions):
It would be wise if the british client would appreciate the that steps are being taken forward to help remove the issue of late replies for the project needed to be completed. The clients also need to be aware of the way they put themselves toward their employers. The influence of stakeholders should realize that often mistakes are made by their employers, clients should also have resilience which would be beneficial in unfavorable events such as this. However there should be no reason for the stakeholder to ‘lash’ out to Van den Bosch.

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G. Design an effective solution to your most critical issue, justified with insights from your cultural analysis in F. Explain how your solution will make the achievement of the goal (see p. 1) possible. Explain how it will be handled by each key player and why the solution will be accepted by them (use conclusions from your cultural analysis described above to justify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed solution).

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H. Describe how are other critical issues (which you listed in B) perceived by each key player from their cultural perspective (explain using appropriate cultural dimensions):

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Presentation (formatting, spelling, grammar)

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