Intercultural management - the Rus Build case

Résumé du document

The Rus Build case is really interesting because it shows in an extreme version what happens when two different actors begin a joint venture. Russia and United States had a rich past of conflicts. It is two different views of the world : the communism and the capitalism but it is above all two visions of the company and the market.

A joint venture allows mixing the qualities of different actors for making a successful company. It is a real challenge of collaboration and thinking. It is also a challenge for designing new kind of organizations and entering in markets which are not yet developing as they can. It is a difficult but interesting way for making new businesses. The cultural issues are at the center of the questions and the company needs to measure, define, test, judge and find solutions for ensuring the future and the growth.

Rus build is a case of a joint venture between Fredericks Construction, Inc which is an American company and the Gribov Engineering Institute which is Russian. The joint venture is engaged in three businesses in Russia : the marketing of products in the construction industry, the management of large scale construction projects and the design and delivery of management training programs.

Extraits

[...] It is important for a company to clearly construct the future of their employees (medium and long term objectives and goals with concrete rewards and promotions). It is also a way to ensure the future of the company by finding the next managers and for keeping their good employees (maintain a high level of motivation). It is also a way for maximizing the results. - Building an efficient team : the company had to improve the horizontal communication and ensure a better coordination of functions. All the departments tried to conduct their business such as independent unit and lost time. [...]

[...] The company has been created in 1989 by the professor Gribov. John Fredericks was looking for a Russian partner in order to enter in the market. They worked 3 months and half for making the joint venture. At the creation, the joint venture counted legally two partners : dollars of investments for the Russians of office space and four hotel rooms (the facilities and the renovations); dollars of investments for the Americans and the office equipments (the photocopier, the telephones, the fax machine, etc . [...]

[...] There were more than twenty five people who worked for the company. The board past two or three days by month for talking about the company. The communication of to was ensuring by telephone and fax between the Americans and the Russians. The context of this joint venture is really particular: it was during the post cold war. The situation was difficult between Russia and United States because of this long period of In the cultural differences, you had to add the history of conflicts between these two countries. [...]

[...] - Creating a powerful culture : the construction of the global and long term strategy should be developed with a powerful and meaningful culture. The company needs to construct a global culture about the employees and the company and to communicate on it : the history, the mission, the values, the commitments, etc . These elements need to be defined, determined and globally followed and controlled. It allows also to reinforce a company, above all when it is a mix of several culture. [...]

[...] "Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions." Geert- hofstede.com. Web . :"Hall's cultural factors." Changingminds.org. Web . [...]