Intercultural Communication, Case Study Example

Business deals are always sealed on the grounds of cooperation and utmost unfailing faith. The key participants in such engagements expect that the other party honestly in order to prevent probability of future confrontations. Unfortunately, there is no single business deal that can be described as perfect. Situations from both within and without the organization may arise thus straining the tranquil relationship that existed between the organizations. In the discussion that follows, North American Industrial Mining (NAIM) is in a conflict with one of its suppliers Wendland. NAIM contracted Wendland, a German-based company to supply it with PM2 electronic mining machine. However, Wendland supplies the machine through a subcontractor, Medici, who has compromised the quality of the machine. A tussle has emerged between the CEOs of the two companies that jeopardize their business deal.

As it is evidently clear, the two companies operate into two different countries, USA and Germany. While trying to resolve the conflict, a great challenge of harmonizing the diversity in culture threatens to fuel the conflict beyond uncontrollable levels. In my opinion, the decision by Mr. James Richardson, NAIM’s president to instruct his vice to carry out a research on how to handle the conflict is genuinely welcomed. Richardson has portrayed a critical concept in so far as conflict resolution is concerned. He comprehends that he is paramount to the performance of the conflict resolution meeting that they were going to have with Wendland’s president, Wallenburg. As such, he chooses to gather opinion of others, including the juniors on how to handle the conflict.

Also, I find the strategy used by Miller, NAIM’s vice president to be appropriate in so far as gathering collecting opinions of others is concerned. From Miller’s action, it is evidently clear that understanding the intercultural differences play a significant role in resolving conflicts. Germans are portrayed as people who are perfectionists. According to German’s culture, conflict resolution is conducted through a precise procedure that begins by full understanding of the critical issues. The decision to understand the German’s culture before getting into negotiation table is essential as it serves to clear unsubstantiated information that may strain the negotiations.

As regards to the information that Miller was able to gather about Wedland, it is clear that the changes in management should have contributed immensely to the quality problem the company is facing currently. Wellenburg has done is portrayed as an authoritarian leader, who insists on the quality of his job. Despite of this attribute, he is always willing to listen to other opinion on the negotiation table and analyzes every situation to understand the economical value to the organization. On the other hand, Richardson is equally authoritarian although hot-tempered. In advice to Richardson, who is the aggrieved party, there is an urgent need for him to regulate his temper during the meeting. He also needs to understand that Wedland fear’s losing them as their outstanding customer. As a strategy, NAIM should lie down their grievances and present possible solutions to Wedland as a goodwill strategy to resolve the conflict.

In conclusion, conflict solving is a complex procedure that calls for commitment and goodwill of the parties concerned. NAIM’s president has acted appropriately be seeking to understand the little details that could jeopardize their negotiation. When resolving conflict in the corporate world, all players should understand each other as well as the cultures of the organizations in the market. This action will promote understanding between the aggrieved parties.