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Case 1

Visit of Maastricht University delegation to Saudi Arabia

1. What were the problems that the delegation faced and

why did they occur?

Answer: At the day before the planned departure there were some
problem arrived and the situation was as follows:

For Saudi authorities it was therefore not obvious to issue visa for women
who were traveling without being accompanied by a relative.
Where as for the Dutch is was In the Arabian world people are more
important than rules on the other hand, Netherlands, however, is known
as a country where rules ,criteria and procedures are important, they make
sure everything runs smoothly.

Diffrences in dealing with time and making appointments to people in

western societies "time" is sensible which can be measured and divided
into smaller elements .
The Dutch are extreme in this behavior and are well known for their
management of Agenda.To people from like Arabian culture time is not
such a straitjacket.

In Arabian society someone, dignity, honour and reputation are of utmost

importance and they are mainly determined by the group of family. On
the other hand people of Netherland belong diffrent group of countries
where social status is not very important.

This element may have played a role in the misunderstanding and

expectations to receive a confirmation about the planned visit.

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2. How those problems could be avoided or overcome?

As far as I am in a position to say anything about how the problem could

be avoid or overcome. 
First of all the used codes between two countries should not be a informal
language rather that has to be a formal language since the persons
involved had a formal relationship and did not know each other very well.

The codes must be partly based on the legal procedures for getting a visa
and influenced by a diffrence in opinion about the application of these
procedure to either men or women. 

The channels /instrument of communication should use of fax, email and

telephone and a couple of personal meetings between the director and
Dutch businessman.

The medium should be written or oral communication in mainly English.

They should establish a barrier to enter into personal contact.It would be
great to investigate to what extent the norms, ways be behavior,
knowledge, importance of status and reputation, legal framework,
influence of policies etc.

They both should know each others culture really well.Since the persons
involved do not know each other very well,they should in a process of
exploring each others intension, trying to build trust and looking for ways
to receive and show respect.

In addition to individual characteristics social circumstances are an

important in intercultural communication as well.

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Case 2

Sundown Bakery

1. Analyze the likely causes of the resentment over the employee

manual and uniforms by considering the impact of the sender,
message, decoding, feedback, context, and probable sources of
noise. Describe how the problems you identified could have
been minimized by different communication strategies?

Answer: The main causes of resentment over the employee manual and
uniforms by the Sundown bakery employees are high context & low
context difference and the communication channel used to
communicate the important messages & employee manual.
As we have analyzed in the case there are different nationality people
are working in the Bakery. Where there is lot of diversity in the work
place then it becomes very critical to understand the cultural
differences, use of logic & understanding of verbal & nonverbal cues.

Another issue is use of communication channel in the Bakery to

communicate with the employees. As it was observed the important
policies & manuals were distributed to the employees in the form of
memos. The communication with the employees was in the bureaucratic
form and they were not allowed to take a participation in the decision
making.

It would have been a better recommendation to hold a meeting a face to

face read the memo in the presence of Carol and Bruce so that the
employees issues could be addressed and the workers would also be
able to associate themselves with the organization. As there feedback
would be given importance which was missing in the situation.

The communication process begins with a sender, the person who

transmits a message. The sender must choose certain words or
nonverbal methods to send an intentional message. This activity is called
encoding.

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The channel (sometimes called the medium) is the method used to

deliver a message. The receiver must still decode it, attaching meaning
to the words or symbols. Receivers don't just absorb messages like
sponges; they interpret and respond to them. The evident response of a
receiver to a sender's message is called feedback.

One of the greatest sources of communication problems is noise. The

most obvious type of noise is external (also called physical) noise. A
second kind of noise is physiological: hearing disorders, illnesses,
disabilities, and other factors make it difficult to send or receive
messages. The third type of noise is psychological —forces within the
sender or receiver that interfere with understanding, such as egotism,
defensiveness, assumptions, stereotypes, biases, prejudices, hostility,
preoccupation, and fear.

The story of Sundown Bakery shows that, as organizations grow, a

system
for managing the flow of communication has to develop. The regular
patterns of
communications between people are called communication networks.
Two kinds of networks exist: formal and informal.

2. Identify the changes in communication channels used for

communication between employees and management as
Sundown has grown. What channels can be used to make
communication about changes in the business most productive?

Answer: The original communication channel was oral. Then it

shifted to written.
It changed from being directly from the boss to being though 2 or
3 lines of authority perhaps originally there was more upward
communication which eventually declined as the communication
process went from informal to formal.

Sundown bakery should incorporate an anonymous employee

comment box to insure upward communication and forment
open communication without relation .

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Most changes have a reason why they happen , so to insure

everyone is on the same page .some of this reason should be
disclosed.
Supervisors should held periodical meetings with employee , or
have a small daily meetings briefly outline what needs to be done.

As well to highlight any positive improvements or to give personal

recognition for outstanding performance , thus creating a sense of
team work or belonging.

3. Consider the relational messages employees seem to have

received from management as Sundown’s business grew.

Answer: Employee's at sundown dwelled on the idea that the

company was becoming a bureaucracy.
Generally speaking bureaucracy carry negative conations ;therefore
employee assumed the company was becoming more driven to
pursue larger profits which would require the employees devoting
more to the company, which in turn would give less to the
employees.
As the business owner's spent less time at the work place, that would
send the message that now they are at high level, which would start
defining the hierarchies even more .
I assumed this since at the beginning Bruce and Carol were practically
working shoulder to shoulder with their  employees, which would
create a sense of "we are in the same level, we understand each
other very well.

4. How have Sundown’s formal and informal communication

networks changed as the company expanded? In what ways
have both the formal and informal networks contributed to
Sundown’s growing pains? In what ways can these networks be

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used to improve the relationships between management and

employees?

Answer: As the company shifted from informal communication, most

employees felt left behind or felt less valued.

As the numbers expand and multiple locations open up, the more
formal it becomes. But also little gestures can transform or minimize
the formality.
For instance, instead of memo, it could be an email or a letter sent
from the management. Or the fact that the owners could visit more
frequently the different location so new employees can know who
they work for. In the other hand employee need to realize that as the
company grows,

More standardize procedures come into play to ensure efficiency

and consistency. The fact that most employees were used to the
informal communication made the transition to a complaining.

They lacked adaptability and resented change. As the management

takes a more active role in establishing more informal
communication with the employees, the delegation of authority
would be more apparent to the employees thus lessening the
resentment towards the new formalities.