ABSTRACT
Karl Swenson is the head of a utilities engineering project group in a multinational enterprise based in the United States. With growing opportunities due to globalization, the company has emphasized the need to operate as a truly global organization, not as an MNC with different regions or a U.S.-based company with overseas operations. One implication of this goal is that employees are increasingly working together in different teams, including on a virtual basis, with representatives from all over the world and more frequently have supervisors from different countries. Karl’s U.S. group works with software support engineering groups in overseas operations, particularly in Malaysia, on an important new software program in utilities management. Because the team was provided the latest means of technology (for example, teleconferencing and electronic group software) to communicate globally, little training was given to team members on cross-cultural communication. The team is under pressure not only to meet quality standards on the new product but also to get the program to market quickly. To meet these goals Karl sends e-mail messages such as the following to his counterpart team leader, Yusoff, in Malaysia:
We have followed the procedures sufficiently and have done enough retests to reasonably meet our quality standards. Let’s now stop the testing of this phase of the program development and immediately move on to the next phase.
