Case 8: 3 August 2013

Ameritech in the Philippines: Failure to Adjust to Filipino Cultural Norms?

Analysis Prepared by Group 5:
Espinosa, Melissa Katherine Magtibay, Roxanne
Francisco, Marvin Nito, Orenz
Importante, Marlyn Rosapapan, Jennifer

Synthesis

Ameritech is a North Carolina-based computer supply company. The Company moved
its operations to the Philippines to take advantage of the countrys cheap labor cost.
The Company took over a Korean computer firm on Mactan Island in Cebu Province
and utilized its workforce and facility. Part of the expansion is the deployment of one of
its highly-skilled management personnel from North Carolina, William Dawson. Dawson,
who has never been to the Philippines and has limited knowledge about the local
culture, is sent to the country as Ameritechs plant manager in Cebu. To assist Dawson,
the Company also hired a Manila-based executive, Miguel Santos, to relocate in Cebu.

For consecutive months, the productivity level of the Ameritech employees remained
marginally low. Dawson then decided to implement several changes, including the
introduction of salary incentives and employee trainings to raise the productivity and
profitability of the company. However, this did not sit well with the majority of the
employees. Many employees are also demoralized after a productive and well-liked
employee was fired. A number of employees resigned and transferred to Ameritechs
competitor. Despite the changes Dawson implemented, Ameritech continued to
experience workforce challenges, especially relating to the Filipino culture of
pakikisama, face saving, and collectivism.

Point of View

The group decided to take the point of view of the plant manager, William Dawson.

Statement of the Problem

How can William Dawson adjust to the local Philippine culture, improve his relationship
with the Filipino employees, and restore the morale of the employees with the end goal
of reaching Ameritechs target profitability and productivity levels?

Statement of Objectives

1. To achieve acculturation of Dawson with Filipino employees in order to improve
professional relationship and create a workplace conducive for efficient and effective
operations.
2. To motivate the employees of Ameritech that would lead to increased production rate
and minimized attrition rate.

Areas for Considerations and Assumptions
William Dawson His management style works well in North Carolina.

He is apparently ill-prepared for his assignment in the
Philippines.

He is unaware of the local culture.
Miguel Santos He cannot influence Dawson since he does not have the
experience working in a similar environment.

He also has a different subculture since he came from Manila
and has never been to Cebu. Language and cultural barriers
are affecting his relationship with the other employees.
Employees Employees perceive the incentive plan as a threat rather than
a motivation. This made a lot of employees tender their
resignation.

The arrival of an Ameritech competitor in Cebu serves as an
opportunity for them.
Human Resource
Director
She failed to manage the workplace pressure and mass
resignation.

She failed to serve as the buffer between the management
and the employees.

Theoretical / Conceptual Framework

The mainstream offers a variety of conceptual framework for managing motivation. One
of the bases of motivation we used is from McClellands Acquired Needs Theory.
According to David McClelland, certain types of needs or desires are acquired during an
individuals lifetime.
1
He names three needs: need for achievements, affiliation, and
power. He also cited the need for fairness as the desire to be treated fairly and equitably
compared to others as important source of motivation at work.


1
Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451
The need for achievement is the extent to which an individual strongly desires to
perform challenging tasks well and to meet personal standards for accomplishments.
2


The need for affiliation is the desire to form close meaningful relationships and
establish warm friendships.
3


The need for power is the desire to control other people, to influence their behavior, or
to be responsible for them.
4


In this case, the employees tend to look for the needs of affiliation. Employees may
seek to affiliate with other people, groups, or even organizations. Organizational
commitment is a motivational force that binds a person to a particular organization.
Mainstream managers promote organizational commitment so as to lower turnover
costs or to increase productivity.
5
The employees of Ameritech needs to feel the sense
of attachment to contribute positively to the organization.


Figure 1: Emotional exhaustion and seven dimensions of job satisfaction (Rutherford et al, 2009)
6


Alternative Courses of Action (ACA)
ACA 1: Change the management style of Dawson, with the help of Santos, in
order to adjust in a collectivistic culture.

2
Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451
3
Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451
4
Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),451
5
Dyck & Neubert, Principles of Management: Motivation, 2012,( Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd),457
6
http://dkelana.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/a-brief-overview-towards-job-satisfaction/; accessed 08/02/2013
Pros Cons
1.Dawson and Santos will have a good
relationship and can lead the plant
effectively.
2.Production can be eventually
improved with Dawsons expertise and
Santos new management styles.
1.Efforts to establish good relationships
may fail due to previous events.
2.Employees may no longer be
connected to the company.

ACA 2: Dawson will continue with his preferred management style that works well
in North Carolina.
Pros Cons
1.Since Dawson instituted a number of
quality improvements and inventory
management techniques in North
Carolina, the Company will be able to
continuously utilize his expertise.
1.Company may face undermanned
due to high attrition rate, which can
hamper production due to possible
strikes.
2.The pressure from his superiors to
turn the situation around will not be
addressed.

ACA 3: Hire an assistant who is from Cebu and understands the locals. Dawson
will learn from this new assistant and gradually change his management style
Pros Cons
1.Possibility of miscommunications
between Dawson and the employees
can be minimized.
2.The assistant can help Dawson how
to understand the local workforce
culture in Cebu.
1.Employees may establish good
relationship with the new assistant and
Dawson may not be able to earn the
employees sympathy or approval.
2.The assistant may cause
insubordination of employees.

Recommendation
ACA 1: With Santos help, change Dawsons management style to make it suitable for
the Filipino collectivistic culture. The group believes that it is not too late for Dawson to
turn the situation around; he just needs to adjust his management style according to
the Filipino culture.
Collectivist orientations stress the importance of cohesion within social groups (such as
an "in-group", in what specific context it is defined) and in some cases, the priority of
group goals over individual goals. Collectivists often focus on community, society,
nation or country.
7

In the case of Ameritech, the relationship between Dawson and his employees should
be based on trust and harmony. He needs to understand the collectivistic orientation of
his Filipino employees to gain their trust and loyalty.
Implementation Plan
Week 1: Dawson and Santos will have a closed-door meeting to discuss their
differences and what should they focus on to address the issues at hand. They need to
ask for forgiveness from each other to start a harmonious relationship.
Week 2: Santos will serve as Dawsons hatchet man to the employees to start
rebuilding the relationship. Although Santos has a different perspective of Cebuanos, he
is still the best man to establish rapport with them. Since Dawson needs to understand
the Filipino culture, he can start attending seminars about learning and understanding
Filipino practices and traditions.
Week 4: Hire a new Human Resource (HR) Director. The new HR Director must be
from Cebu so that he/she will be able to communicate and understand the locals. The
new HR Director will initiate team-building activities that could foster teamwork among
employees. Changes should be introduced gradually. Dawson should also break the
social barrier by respecting cultural differences.
Week 5: After evaluating the performance of the remaining employees, Dawson could
promote two production employees to become the production supervisors who will help
the managers in achieving the set goals.
Week 6: Design and launch a Performance-Based Incentive Plan that will show that
the plant management values the work of their employees. On a weekly basis, reward
the employees for meeting their goals. The reward may be as simple as a free lunch
and /or his/her name will be posted on the bulletin board. In awarding a team
performance, if the production team meets or exceeds their target goals they will
receive a Free Movie Pass as a group effort reward.
Learning Insights

7
Wikipedia;Collectivism; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivism; accessed 07/31/2013
For global managers to be successful, they should adapt their management styles to fit
the local cultural environment. Yes, it is really hard to do it because both parties might
experience culture shock because cultural environment consists of many factors that
can influence ones perception and understanding of many managerial, organizational,
or social phenomena.

Cultural knowledge is insufficient to be aware of ones cultural environment. Though if
its equipped with sensitivity, for sure it will lead to better understanding and appreciation
of other cultures. Global managers particularly those with remarkable cultural
awareness are more open and very willing to adjust their behaviors and attitudes to
local cultural environments. Thus, it will facilitate and make these managers more
effective.

Communication skills and cultural empathy are the basic requirements for the managers
to holistically understand ones culture. The group learned that culture really can
influence how an individual understands and make sense of the environment.