Motorola, Essay Example

The types of cultural challenges that the visioning process of Motorola faced revolved mostly around language. Non Americans had a hard time with the use of English constantly. The word “family”, for instance, had a different meaning from one culture to the next hence; there was a need for clarification of each core term (Cadwell 17).

Different people interpreted key words differently, hence; Alison and John solved this by clarifying all the salient words. Alison sent a communiqué and guiding questions to the managers. The report summarized the findings of the meetings. The managers were to share these finding with the rest of their organizations. Alison emphasized that words were not as powerful as the spirits and shared experiences that produced them. Alison and John also created an English video and materials that entailed a summary of the meetings and presentations transparencies.

Alison and John made a mistake of allowing employees of Japanese origin who had not attended the first meeting that was held in Phoenix, to participate in the meeting in Tokyo. This resulted into delay and confusion since the new comers did not comprehend what was happening. They walked out of the meeting and did not attend the second one.

The seven tasks added fundamental value to the final vision statement. The seven tasks broadened the participants mind and they realized they were responsible not only on a personal level but to the general global world as well.

The changes that might be made to the vision statement will concern the term “family”. Different cultures have different meanings of this term and respect it. They might opt to change it to another word that ahs a closer meaning for purposes of culture preservation.

The players in the case were Marco Michelotti, vice-president and general manager of Analog, Alison Palmer, consultant for organizational effectiveness in the human resources department of Motorola’s semiconductors sector, the training and human resources manager John Sherwin, and country managers. Marco realized that the communication among country managers was poor hence he decided to come up with a common vision that would foster teamwork.

Issues in the case were that country managers had dissimilar priorities hence; they did not work as a team. The participants originate from dissimilar countries thus have diverse cultures and interpret aspects differently. There is a need to come up with a common vision that is intended to foster collaboration. This will easily react to the environmental changes being experienced in the division (Cadwell 17).
The alternative courses of action would be for the division officials to adopt the training approach or to advertise the new change within the division.

The training approach will allow employees to obtain additional knowledge regarding the significance of the vision. Despite the fact that the employees might feel that the change will be imposed on them, they will benefit from the training and even foster company relationships. It would have been worse if the change was imposed on the employees without any form of training. Training will also save time and money. Advertising, on the other hand, would communicate the message to a large mass of employees though it will be costly (PR Newswire).

The best course of action is the one Alison and John agreed upon, involving all employees across the globe in the conception and implementation of the common vision. This will encourage team building and foster company relations. Employees from different countries will be able to share diverse ideas and cultures and come up with a vision statement that is satisfactory to the majority. The participants will also feel appreciated and part and parcel of the company. Creating a good vision statement calls for sacrifice and commitment (PR Newswire).

Work cited

PR Newswire. Motorola Realizes Vee TIME Corp.’s Quadruple Play Vision: Motorola’s expertise in WiMAX ensures high quality and fast network deployment. Web. Retrieved on 15^th April, 2012 from <http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2010/04/15/CG86253>

Cadwell, Charles. M. Leadership Skills for Managers. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2004, P.72