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Case Study 2: Young, Confident, and Moving too Fast

Introduction
            The increasing complexities of organizations as it grows and as some take the path of globalization resulted in diversity and attracted many forms of cultural differences. Hence, the need to manage these cultural differences existing within organizations has been increasingly becoming necessary. This is particularly true for managers who may be caught in between various individual culture that each of its subordinates is accustomed to. Managing cultural differences requires what they called cultural intelligence (CQ). Broadly speaking, CQ is the ability to cut across various cultural contexts such as ethnic, generational, or organizational cultures (Livermore, 2011, p. 5). In this paper, the generational cultural differences between Joanne, the manager, and Julia, the newly hired subordinate will be discussed. To give a brief background, Julia is a confident, fast learner, and passionate young woman who wants to do more in her job without being micromanaged. On the other hand, Joanne, through the years of experienced, wants things done without mistakes, thus, led her to slow down Julia by having Julia report to her frequently before making major decisions regarding work. This did sit well with Julia and felt the Joanne was hindering her to learn and grow at work.
Joanne and Julia’s Individual Conceptions of Self
According to Foo & Yazdanifard (2013, p. 4), generational cultural differences in the workplace can be attributed to differences in behavior, attitudes, principles, experiences and other traits. In the case of Joanne and Julia, the root of their beliefs on their individual self-concept at work that created friction between them majorly lies in their experiences. For Julia, who was freshly out from graduate school, the excitement to apply what she learned from her studies in the real-life application must have been overwhelming, thus, her passion and eagerness to do more at work. On the other hand, Joanne who is already well-versed in the ins and out of their line of work knows very well that the paced Julia is demonstrating well eventually burn her out and can be prone to mistakes based from Joanne’s experienced. Thus, explains why Joanne wants Julia to slow down and be patient.
Suggestions in Working with a Person of another Generation
The article “How to Thrive in a Multi-Generational Workplace” (n.d.) pointed out some strategies that could be employed to avoid unnecessary conflict in working with a person in a different generation. Firstly, established respect by learning to understand and accept that the other generation differs from yours and that their beliefs, orientation in life, and even their talents may not be the same as yours. Secondly, be flexible and accommodating to the other generation’s needs and preferences. Thirdly, avoid stereotyping and always be reminded that every person is unique. Fourthly, try to learn from one another as there are things that you pick up from other generations. Fifthly, tailor your communication style that is acceptable and understandable to the other generation. Lastly, celebrate similarities between generation rather than focusing on the differences. Joanne and Julia can employ these strategies for their interactions with other generations so that misunderstandings and conflict can be avoided.
Cultural Intelligence in Resolving Joanne and Julia’s Intercultural Situation
In resolving Joanne and Julia’s intercultural situation, we may reflect back to the strategies with mentioned earlier in working with a person in another generation. Those strategies are manifestations of cultural intelligence. They can be all employed in Joanne and Julia’s case. However, for Joanne’s part, she should focus more on being flexible and accommodating to Julia’s needs and preferences. Joanne should come to terms as to what motivates Julia and that is to give her more challenging work and learnings. Joanne should be flexible and should not impose her experiences on Julia as they may have different learning curves. In this way, Joanne can avoid stereotyping Julia’s generation. On the other hand, for Julia’s part, she should learn to respect Joanne’s beliefs and not act rebelliously. If she’s not satisfied with what is going on with her role at work, she should communicate more to Joanne about things that motivate her and perhaps, compromised with Joanne so they could come up with an agreement that satisfies their individual beliefs. This could possibly prevent Julia from stereotyping Joanne’s generation if Julia understands where Joanne is coming from.
Conclusion
Cultural intelligence is not an innate skill but rather can be learned and acquired if we allow ourselves to be open-minded and willing to cut across cultural differences. The need for cultural intelligence at the workplace such as the case of Joanne and Julia has been, nowadays, a source of concern particularly for global organizations as cultural diversity grows. Misunderstandings and conflicts can be avoided while cooperation and effective collaboration may result when cultural intelligence is applied. David Livermore, the president of Cultural Intelligence Center said that an organization whose workforce with a well-developed cultural intelligence is more productive (as cited in Mitchell, 2014).








References
Foo, S. & Yazdanifard, R. (2013). The Issues of Generational Conflicts in Workplace and Solutions for it.  Centre of Southern New Hampshire University. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253787990_The_Issues_of_Generational_Conflicts_in_Workplace_and_Solutions_for_it
How to Thrive in a Multi-Generational Workplace. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/multigenerational-workplace.htm
Livermore, D. (2011). The Cultural Intelligence Difference.  American Management Association: New York. Retrieved from:  http://davidlivermore.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CQ-Difference-Chapter-1.pdf

Mitchell, R. (2014). Cultural intelligence: Everybody needs it. Retrieved from: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/11/cultural-intelligence-everybody-needs-it/

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