Cultural and Ethnic Studies Revised

Cultural and Ethnic Studies
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Abstract
This essay discusses the merger between Chinese multinational automotive manufacturing business, Geely and Malaysian automotive company, Proton; from a cross-cultural perspective. It identifies a number of possible cross-cultural conflicts from two perspectives, i.e. a national and organizational level. Such conflicts that may arise from the merger include communication problems, loss of national identity, a disparity in organizational values and beliefs and difference in strategies such as pricing. Upon occurrence, these conflicts may bear severe implications such as poor project performance, fear of cultural erosion and ultimately, cultural anxiety. The essay then provides a number of possible remedies to the conflicts. These remedies include the massive inclusion of the Malaysian local people in employment opportunities that the merger will create, in order to help retain their pride and identity; the establishment of a proper knowledge and communication flow system between the two companies to avoid miscommunication; human resource strategies such as employment of bicultural people to participate in the merger to enhance effectiveness; adoption of democratic management styles to avoid implications of authoritarian decision making; and the establishment of focus groups in order to unite the employees of Proton and Geely’s other subsidiaries.
Executive summary
This essay provides an analysis of the potential cross-cultural conflicts between the Geely and Proton merger, their impacts as well as the possible mitigation measures.

The potential conflicts may stem from communication problems, the loss of national identity, difference in strategies such as pricing and differences in organizational values and beliefs. Such conflicts have been noted to give rise to a number of organizational challenges that ultimately result in poor project performance, fear of cultural erosion and creation of cultural anxiety. A possible remedy to such a challenge would be the massive inclusion of Malaysian locals in employment opportunities. Other possible remedies have also been discussed in the essay.
Potential cross-cultural conflicts in the merger between Geely and Proton
Cross-cultural conflicts are conflicts that result from an interaction between two culturally distinct places such as cities, states, and countries. Because of the cultural differences between Geely and Proton, cross-cultural conflicts can be anticipated after the merger. The cross-cultural conflicts likely to result from the Geely-Proton Merger can be discussed from a national and organizational perspective since they involve business enterprises from two different nations. According to Deines (2016, p. 27), the more the foreign aspects imported in a merger, the more the cultural complexities become while, the more domestic a merger is, the less different it will appear from a national perspective. Since Proton will adapt production and manufacturing technology from China’s Geely, then a cross-cultural conflict is inevitable.
From a national perspective, there will be an identity conflict. As stated by Malaysia’s Finance minister in the Excerpt, the Proton is perceived as a national car and with it comes a form of national pride. This implies that the Proton brand and its model designs are symbolic to the Nation. Although locally praised and appreciated, the Proton car designs are internationally shunned as they are perceived to be “weak in providing extroverted needs states such as attraction and popularity” (Effendi & Azmeer, 2011, p.2).Though the Malaysian citizens may be dissatisfied with the merger, the Proton stands to benefit a great deal from it. The merger will perhaps see that the Malaysian Proton adopt the design aspects of one of Geely’s other subsidiaries, a factor that will cause great national dissatisfaction in Malaysia.
The Organizational cross-cultural conflict likely to occur from the merging of the two companies can be elaborated using Schein’s layered conceptualization of culture (Deines, 2016, p.19). Under this concept, the first layer consists of artifacts and represents an organization’s symbol, stories, norms, etc.; which both companies uniquely possess. Geely, for instance, has its own history, organizational symbols and unique designs while Proton, a brand of its own also has its own symbol (a tiger logo with the brand name encrypted), well-articulated designs for its cars models and has operated independently for years since its founding. Apart from the loss of its independent operation, the merger will also cause erosion of crucial aspects of the Proton brand such as car designs, nature of the operation and to some extent, organizational codes, as they shall be streamlined with that of its parent company, Geely.
Each company also has its own ideal organizational structure comprised of its management styles, beliefs, and philosophies encompassed in their slogans, mission and vision statements. Since it is not possible for the organizational structures from both companies to be completely identical or compatible, problems resulting from such differences are inevitable. One of Geely’s main subsidiaries, for instance, strongly values environmental care, quality, safety, and design (Janson 2013, p.2); which may not necessarily be the case with Proton. Organizational culture is a crucial element of its structure, and for Proton to fit in with its parent company, an adjustment may be necessary. This will create organizational conflicts between the two companies as assimilation of one company’s culture may face heavy resistance from the advocates of the other’s.
The basic assumption section in the Schein’s layer relates to the company’s perceived relationship with its employees (Deines, 2016, p.19). Communication is one of the factors embodied in this layer as it facilitates the transfer of information from one level of activity and authority to another. One of the elements of communication is language. Hailing from nations with distinct language and ethnicities, there will, most likely, be a communication problem between Proton’s workforce and that of Geely, respectively. Furthermore, both companies have different techniques of relaying information, a factor that may conflict when communicating with each other. The basic layer also covers how both companies employ, dismiss and reward their workforce. If these activities are poorly integrated, inter-organizational conflict may ensue.
Organizational strategies, a crucial part of the organizational culture, may also conflict. One such factor is pricing. According to Janson (2013, p.24), People consider Geely and its subsidiaries’ products to be expensive but worth the money. Proton’s cars, on the other hand, are regarded as affordable but of poor quality (Effendi & Azmeer, 2011, p.2). Each of these companies has a unique pricing schedule to achieve its main objective. While the former’s business strategy employs quality to boost sales and attract loyalty, the latter uses low prices in order to boost sales and revenue. The two companies may, therefore, conflict when developing a feasible strategy.
Possible impacts flowing from the cross-cultural distinctions between Proton and Geely
One possible impact of the cross-cultural conflict between the two entities is Poor project performance. It is easy to communicate within one organizational hierarchy since all units are carefully synchronized. However, a merger, as is the case between Geely and Proton will have delayed and sometimes misleading communication due to the disparity in language and channels. There also may be interpersonal conflicts based on misapprehensions and contrasting ideas, e.g. Geely’s acquisition of proton may be perceived as only an ambition to dominate the ASEAN inroads instead of enhancing the Proton brand and heritage of the Malaysian people. According to Aza (2017, p.18), misunderstandings and interpersonal conflict in a cross-cultural entity may lead to “project implementation failure,” a factor that will translate to great financial loss and damage the credible reputation of both the parent and subsidiary automotive companies.
Cultural anxiety may also be an implication of cross-cultural conflict between the two merging companies. According to Cao & Li (2010, p.50), Cultural anxiety involves “perceived emphasis of top management control,” a case that may be possible as each of the individual company owners and managers may seek to influence the merge to suit them best. It also involves “the perceived lack of trust,” where both entities (Geely and Proton) may, for the purpose of maintaining organizational security, ensuring the integrity of information and lack of proper communication channels, conceal crucial information from their merging partner. Cultural anxiety also comprises inequality among workers, as one group in the merger may feel superior to the other and finally, an individualistic culture, where one group disregards collective thinking and chooses to work alone (Cao & Li, 2010, p.50), may also develop.
Steps and measures to mitigate the possible cross-cultural conflicts that may arise in the merger.
The designing of an effective knowledge transfer and information dissemination system is one of the most effective ways of mitigating possible communication problems that may occur in the merger between Geely and Proton. According to Mba (2015, p.90) “effective knowledge transfer is one of the most important tools for cross-cultural management.” Each organization can share their individual values and principles which shall then, upon analysis and negotiation by both sides, be conveyed in the merger agreement. For instance, both companies can agree to maintain Geely’s quality standards and find ways to minimize costs to customers with regard to Proton’s pricing levels. An integration of beneficial aspects of each organization’s culture eliminates any feelings of cultural erosion. This strategy will not only solve the communication problem occurring in the merger but also improve the performance of the company after the merger. This is because only the best and most beneficial principles and values from each company will be applied after the merger.
As a measure to counter any interpersonal conflicts that may arise among workers between the two organizations, the effective and efficient management of the human resource is necessary. Each company can achieve this by training their employees on proper communication skills as a way of ensuring effective interactions (Mba, 2015, p.91). Furthermore, both companies can select employees with a proper grasp of their partner’s culture, such as language, to carry out transactions and interact on behalf of their organization. This can, for instance, be achieved by employing Bicultural employees (with proper knowledge of Malaysian and Chine’s Cultures) since, apart from the ability to easily adapt their behavior, they also can “grasp different conceptions of themselves as concurrently independent of others and interdependent with others” (Mba, 2015, p.91).
To ensure that the Malaysian people maintain their sense of identity and pride in the project, the Merger should not completely do away with the designs of the Proton rather; they should make slight value- adding adjustments. Also, Geely’s owner and management should incorporate a substantial number of the Malaysian population into their employee workforce. This is because they understand the Malaysian environment better than their Chinese counterparts and can, for instance, be subcontracted or assigned certain, supply and distribution tasks for the merger. This translates to increased employment in Malaysia.
As a measure to counter the cultural anxieties such as the need to exert authoritarian control by management from both sides, a democratic form of management should be employed. Both brands should encourage an open door policy in which employees can be able to access their superiors and share innovative ideas. Also, managerial commitment should be asserted in order to ensure that any arising conflicts in the merger are immediately attended to. Furthermore, the decision-making process should be streamlined by reducing protocol so as to avoid a delay in the decision-making process.
From an employee- interaction perspective, focus groups between employees from Geely, its subsidiaries and Proton companies should be established. These groups shall address any grievances and welfare issues affecting the merger employees. The focus groups shall also provide an interactive platform where members from each team shall exchange ideas with the aim of promoting creativity and innovation in order to boost chances of merger’s success. Additionally, The focus groups shall not only ensure that employees from both companies are equally treated but shall also help create a cohesive bond, a factor that will eliminate any cross-cultural conflicts among them and hence establish a system that integrates and coordinates their activities in order to achieve the core objectives of the merger.

References
Aza, H.T., 2017. A Case Study of Cross-Cultural Complexities and Interpersonal Conflict Faced by Project Managers in Multicultural Software Development Project Teams. Nova Southeastern University.
Cao, V. and Li, R., 2010. A study of cultural differences in cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions: Case studies review in Swedish companies.
Deines, A., 2016. Mergers and Acquisitions: National and Organizational Cultures (Doctoral dissertation, Empire State College).
Effendi, R.A.A.R.A., 2011. The Product Effect: Do Designed Products Convey Their Characteristics to Their Owners? (Doctoral dissertation, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia).
Jansson, E., 2013. Cross-cultural differences in brand image perception (Master’s thesis).
Mba, I. N. (2015). Conflicts Encountered by Multinational Corporations in Cross-Cultural Communication and its Solutions. Journal of International Business and Economics, 3(1).