Case Study Victoire Braquehais Celia Collard

Fitzburg Tire Company

When you think of Mexico…

When you think of America…

Index

I. Presentation of the case

II. Strengths and Weaknesses

III. Problematic

IV. Solutions

Presentation of the case

Names

Leopoldo Sanchez Garcia

Chief Engineer, Fitzburg Company

Max Bierman

American construction Manager, Fitzburg Tire Company

Maestro Miguel Munoz

Works Forman

Location

Cuernavaca, Mexico

Philadelphia, United States

The construction site

Dates

Report: From April 1 to April 30 1997

Memo: From April 29 to May 2 1997

Introduction

Three months delay in construction

Work has to be redone due to a lack of specification

First time Bierman works outside the US

Synopsis of exhibits

From Leopoldo to Max

- Demolition of the wall and reconstruction of a new wall before May 3rd under the supervision of Munoz.

- In case of any mistake: breach of contract

- Hiring of 30 more unskilled workers

- Hiring of three or four young engineers to supervise the subcontractors

- No cancelation of the “siesta”

From Max to Leopoldo

- Refusal of Leopoldo’s preposition

- No hiring of more unskilled workers or engineers costs have to remain the same

- Cancelation of the “siesta” as requested Loose of two hours a day of work productivity

Bierman’s progress report to the Head Office

- Previous work (Start of the construction in august 1996): foundations, storage rooms, curing room and basic frames.

- Work completed (April 1997): Some delays due to construction errors. Procurements problems.

- Work scheduled (May 1997): Continuation of the work.

Proposed Changes:

- Increase of the work tempo: cancelation of the “siesta” break and 8 hours work/day

- Tighter fiscal and supervisory control

From Leopoldo to Max

Proposed changes not accepted:

- Request to keep the “siesta”

- No young inexperienced Americano to play the watchdog

- New methods of buildings instead of ultimatums

Strengths and Weaknesses

Communication

Strengths

They are trying to make things right

Weaknesses

Sanchez: too permissive

No listening skills

Lack of diplomacy

Loose of temper

Bierman: hostile attitude towards workers

Due to a lack of specifications, a part of the work has to be redone

Language barrier (Spanish)

Intercultural Differences

Strengths

Mexicans care for people and for doing things right

Americans want efficient work and are result-oriented

Weaknesses

Difference of work tempo

Difficulty to accept the supervision of a young Manager

Ethics

Strengths

Weaknesses Beautiful houses, swimming pool and

servants

Working on a Sunday afternoon in a Christian country

Use of clichés (“He can’t read” “Let’s get rid of him”, “Land of manana”)

Using pressure on co-workers to make them react

Bierman sends the report to Philadelphia without taking into account his conversation with Sanchez

Management

Strengths

Blame nobody (Leopoldo)

Weaknesses

Blaming others (Max)

Lack of experience with Mexican Culture

Young inexperienced “Americano”

Mexico United-States

Personnal Sensitivity

No separation private and work sphere Differences of opinions Avoid conflicts

Separation work / personnal relationships Sensitivity seen as weakness Tough business front

Ethics Truth = diplomacy

Truth = absolute value

Communication No = “maybe” or “I'll get back to you”

Direct Yes/No answers

Time Management No meetings on week-ends

Straight to the point

Management Authoritative ≠ authoritarian No criticizing in public Instructions clear and precise

Managers are more likely to disregard the opinions of subordinates Individualistic

Problematic

Problematic

How can Max and Leopoldo resolve their communication problems?

How can Max take into account the latin american culture and is it possible for Leopoldo to put aside his working methods and his traditions?

The situation remains the same

Advantages

They will keep the same working methods. They stay in their comfort zone. No effort to change things.

Disadvantages

They won’t be able to work together in the future and they will have a bad opinion of the other culture.

Hiring of more unskilled workers and engineers for more supervision

Advantages

It will speed up the construction. More supervision.

Disadvantages

More costs

Cancelation of the “siesta”

Advantages

Increase of the work tempo

Disadvantages

No respect for traditions

We transfer Max and John to another department and we put someone who’s more experienced with latine culture

Advantages

It lows cultural differences

Disadvantages

It will cost more delays because there will be a new organization and a adaptation time is needed

We fire everyone and they follow a training course of listening skills and intercultural differences

Advantages

Full intercultural immersion

Disadvantages

The construction site will be forgotten for a while

Question

Do you think cultural differences can lead to a fail in business? Do you think these cultural differences could occur in our daily business world?