Dancom in Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dancom in Russia - Essay Example If they had been equals, administration would not have been easy. MNCs carefully avoid behaving like overlords and expect cooperation from native workers. Western countries, who were impressively successful in imperialism, had been unable to attain same level of achievement here while dealing with cultural syndromes. The provided case study of Dancom operating from Russia is an eye-opener, a situation in crying need of cross-cultural management. Study gives importance to the Russian voices of dissent heard in a Danish company. Russian workers, especially middle managers, who are 'united against headquarters in Denmark,' do not feel loyal for their company belonging to Danes. Problem of languages, lack of frequent/meaningful communication, poor and misguided interpretation, and isolated decision making with very little trust on the integrity and cleverness of Russians are the issues nagging this company. Another complex question is of insiders and outsiders, hosting insiders and hosting outsiders. Looking from Danish angle as the company belonged to them, Russians are workers from another dense culture, that too, ex-communists. From Russian point of view, overbearing Danish company is operating from Russian soil, and this should make Russians main players. There is a major difference in planning between Danish (long term activity, hence, important) and Russians (a short immediate task, not much to be bothered about), while Russians feel that Danes should have more trust in the knowledge and experience of Russian middle managers. What brings the differences other than culture, language and working pattern and natural bias How to reduce cross-cultural conflicts It had been a major challenge to Dancom. Russians are more tuned to the 'one authority' ordering, being under Communist rule for decades and Danes, being capitalistic in their approach, are more decentralised in their handling, even though they depend mainly on themselves. Years of mutual mistrust and prejudice about the other's capability (mainly due to political propaganda fed during days of Cold War) cannot be wiped out at one go. It takes time to develop trust, respect and mutual understanding and such an effort could be made through cross-cultural management. As a solution, cross-cultural relationships should be trusted and developed. Communication and co-ordination have to be developed. It is imperative to find out how Russians perceive themselves and this might be the key to many stagnating questions. Lamenting on not having research results, Jonson and Cullen argue: "Research on trust and its role in exchange has proliferated since the 1990s. However despite the insights offered by scholars, we do not yet have a generalizable and comprehensive model of trust in exchange," Jonson and Cullen in Gannon (2002, p.335). They hope to have much more research on the dynamics of trust, culture's role in the bases and evolution of trust and on business ethics across cultures. There are issues which showcase Danish approach being different from