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Kelly's Assignment in Japan Case Answers Essay

Decent Essays

Kelly’s Assignment in Japan

Title: Solutions to Kelly’s Assignment in Japan Case Study
Module Title and Number: Managing Across Borders MGT 3203

Date : January 28, 2013
Word Count : 1650

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE Introduction 3
Culture Shock Stages Reflection…………………………..………………………….………………..3 Assessment of Clashes 5 Successful International Assignments 5 Suggestions to Remedy the Situation 6 Conclusion 7 REFERENCES 8 APPENDICES Appendix 1 10 Appendix 2 11 Appendix 3 13

INTRODUCTION The American and Japanese cultures have been compared in a general context for their contrasting values. In addition, the two cultures have been described as …show more content…

It is known that many individuals do not bypass this stage. Moreover, McFarland (2006) reported that 40% of expatriates fail to complete their abroad assignment. In this case, the crises stage lasted for 4 months. Kelly then realized that she had to make a decision between rejecting or accepting the assignment. Kelly and her family are experiencing a phase between the second and third stages of the cultural shock.
Stage Three and Four: The Adjustment and Biculturalism stages are when individuals start to comprehend the new culture then accept and respect the cultural variations. Kelly is deciding on whether to adjust or not. If the family continues then they would move to the third stage. However, if they leave then they would not reach the third and fourth stages.
ASSESSMENT OF CLASHES
(Answer to First Question)
Being in a different culture may result in clashes because peoples’ expectations, interpretations and values differ. In this case, many clashes occurred during the early culture shock stages with the Japanese but not the American or German team members whom values are similar to Kelly’s (Refer to Appendix 2 A and B). The clashes are linked to the differences between the American and Japanese national cultures. Therefore, Hofstede’s and Trompenaar’s frameworks are deployed to evaluate the clashes (Refer to Table Appendix 3) since these frameworks provide an excellent basis for understanding cultural differences (Higgs, 1994). These

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