Case 8.1: Spanning Boundaries

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to learn how to effectively span international boundaries.

Situation:
You have been invited into Ricardo Fraterni's office, who was recently promoted to a new position as VP of International Development. For three generations this construction, architecture and design company has slowly grown into a major player in the U.S. market. Fraterni has been tasked with expanding the company into Europe. His first expansion is to open a small new office in Poland. Three architects and two designers that currently work out the Chicago market will be moving to Poland for a 5-year stint to get the office up and running. They are excited because of their Polish ancestry and the opportunity to work overseas. However, these employees are complete neophytes; they have only traveled overseas on vacation and they do not speak the language. Fraterni has called you into his office to set up a coaching program for these employees to ease their transition into this new culture. His charge: "You know I'm a big fan of puzzles. I can't think of a better puzzle than figuring out how to quickly integrate these personnel into the culture and quickly getting the new division profitable. I don't want these employees to feel like they are out there all alone like the seaman aboard the Endurance."

Objectives:

1. Describe the differences between the communicative cultures of Poland and the U.S.
2. Develop a coaching strategy.
3. Suggest some sample tactics that could be used to implement the strategy.