Nicole Nielsen
Article 2
Seminar 1

Language and cultural differences interact with the manager's ability to motivate the employee (i.e., motivate through reinforcement). For example, managers need to reinforce the desired behavior to motivate the employees. Most of the time, positively reinforcing behavior is a simple matter: Just notice that the worker is doing what you want and praise him or her for it. When it comes to motivating across cultural boundaries, however, this step becomes a bit trickier. For one thing, behaviors such as expressing problems or admitting lack of understanding can be difficult to reinforce because there is the temptation to "shoot the messenger." It is, for example, understandably difficult for managers to bring themselves to praise the worker who arrives bearing news of a missed deadline or a broken piece of equipment. Even though it isn't easy, try to distance yourself from the problems long enough to praise the worker for keeping you informed and to encourage him or her to continue to do so. Another problem with reinforcement is the danger of taking certain behaviors for granted. American managers, for example, may not realize how difficult it is for a non-native speaker to sustain the speaking of English in the workplace and, therefore, fail to compliment them on that effort. Try to be aware of behaviors that are easy for you, but difficult for others. People are different, but they all respond -- each and every one of them -- to a kind word and thoughtful praise.

The differences between the deal-focused (DF) people who are fundamentally task-oriented and relationship-focused (RF) folks, who are more people-oriented is considered to be the "Great Divide" between business cultures and interacts with motivation by causing conflicts and misinterpretations. For example, conflicts are common when DF export marketers make an