跨文化交际案例分析

Case Study

张洁2015410931 四班

1. What problem did Sara encounter at the bank in Mexico City?

A successful foreign assignment was an important step for those on the “fast track”at the bank. For this reason, Sara applied and assigned the Mexico City, but she actually encountered some problems which she didn’t expert.

Firstly, these Mexican banker -- the clients, they appeared reluctant to accept Sara’s authority and they would often by pass her in important matter.

Secondly, even Vitam knew this unfair fact, he still patronized Sara as “my cute assistant”and “our lady banker” in front of Mexican clients. What’s worse, more than once Sara complained to Vitam, he just replied that it’s a way of playing the game Latin style and he hoped Sara could cooperate, it’s good for her promotions.

Thirdly, when Tom Fried came to Mexico City, Sara described her problems and explained that she worried about her chance of promotion within the bank, but Tom just responded that Sara should accepted reality. Sara was totally disappointed, her hard attitude made she just received an average rating.

2.Why did the bank clients bypass Sara in important matters? What’s Vitam’s and Tom’s reply to her complaints?

(1)For those who work in international business, it’s sometimes amazing how different people in other cultures behave, so we have to realized that different countries has different cultural dimensions. In societies labeled masculine, men are expected to hold the primary jobs and women are expected to remain at home and raise families. Mexico is a typical country of masculine culture, so gender inequality is common and only few women are in powerful jobs. In this case, the bank clients bypass Sara in important matters is due to Sara is a woman. In other words, Sara was treated with unequal treatment for the reason of cultural differences.

(2)When Vitam and Tom faced Sara’s complaints, they just told Sara it’s tradition of Latin America, she should “see it through” and try her best to cooperate.

3. What should Sara have done to get an above-average rating and seize the opportunity for promotion?

Sara stepped into a new cultural world in Mexico, everything around her is new, she began to

adapt but after a long time she still didn’t adapt even appeared symptoms of culture shock.

Vitam told Sara “you and I am not going to be able to change their attitudes overnight” and that is cruel truth. Therefore, what should Sara do now is to fully understand Mexican culture and be more flexible and resourceful when work with Vitam and her clients. Only in this way can Sara develop her career.