Kiwi Market Conquest: Can Abu Dhabi Gas Bridge the Gap or Face Cultural Hurdles?

Table content

Economic Freedom

Challenges expected during expansion

Communication and Negotiations

Verbal communication styles

Direct and Indirect Styles

Succinct and elaborate styles

Contextial and Personal styles

Affective and Instrumental styles

Barriers of Communication

Recommendations for effective communication

Negotiations

Factors to consider during negotiations

Negotiation tactics

Steps to effective negotiations for Africa

Motivation across cultures

The Maslow’s theory of needs

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation

Foundation for Leadership

Theories X, Y and Z

Insights about Leadership

 

INTRODUCTION

Economic Freedom

Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Limited needs to expand its existence in developed countries like New Zealand; it is a country that has a market economy dominated with both exports and imports. New Zealand is ranked highly in national performances. The country’s modernized and competitive economic gains are as a result of its commitment to policies that facilitates vigorous of trade, there is always transparency and efficiency in the private sector which encourages dynamic entrepreneurial activities in this sector (Kelsey, 2015).

New Zealand’s firmness of the economic and social sectors is as a  result of the continuous protection of the rights and the existence of a just judiciary system that ensures anti-corruption measures are undertaken, as a result, New Zealand has a remarkable reputation on its gross profit.

A survey carried out showed that out of the 175 countries studied, New Zealand emerged the 2nd in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions index in 2014, and this country has been known for its hard work in punishing bribery and other forms of corruption. Companies have great flexibility on issues of licensing and its known to have the lowest subsidies which increases productivity.

Abu Dhabi Gas Limited needs to expand into New Zealand since its known to be a predominantly urban country, 72% of its entire population lives in its main 6 cities and, the cities in this country are generally ranked among the livable cities in the world. This is a characteristic that suits Abu Dhabi Gas Limited; with the largest share of the population living in the cities, it means the higher the demand for modernized sources of energy like gas, this, promises better profit margins if the company ventures in the country (Kelsey, 2015).

Challenges expected during expansion

There are several problems expected to be faced during the company’s expansion, one, the expansion requires a lot of resources for it to successful, resources in terms of capital, manpower, technology among others will be needed, this, definitely means that Abu Dhabi Gas Limited will have to incur extra cost for the foreign market expansion to be a complete success. The company will also be faced with competition from the developed countries; it is usually hard for a developing country to compete in a market that consists of developed countries and New Zealand is no exception (Rothaermel, 2015).

Communication and Negotiations

Communication is referred to as the process of transferring meaning or information from the sender to the receiver, however, there are problems associated with communication if there is failure in transferring the intended meaning. There are two types of communication; verbal and non verbal.

Verbal communication styles

Context

This is information across communication and helps in conveying the content of the message, here; messages are usually overly coded, hidden and indirect especially in the high-context societies, for example, this happens in Japan and many of the Arabs countries whereas in US and Canada messages are usually direct and the speaker says exactly what he/she means but in low context societies, the main styles in verbal communication are; direct and indirect style, succinct and elaborate style, contextual and personal style, effective and instrumental style.

Direct and Indirect Styles

These styles are divided into two cultures; the high–context and low-context culture, in high-context culture, messages are hidden and indirect, facial expression and voice intonation play a huge role in conveying the message. In the case of low-context culture, individuals only gather to attain certain objectives, here, people always tend to be direct to the point and focused when communicating. (Rothaermel, 2015).

Succinct and elaborate styles

    Succinct communication style is commonly used in high-context cultures a substantial uncertainty-avoidance custom. Here, people are limited to say a few words and seemingly understatements are allowed, there is freedom for one to pause or even go silent to deliver a certain meaning. Elaborating style is very common in high-context cultures too but it has a moderated degree of unsure avoidance, this communication style is commonly used in the Arabic countries.

Contextial and Personal styles

        Contextual form of communication focuses on the relationship of the parties and the speaker, it is usually characterized with a higher power distance and high-context cultures. The speaker carefully chooses words that dictate his/her status relative to other people statuses. Personal style on the other hand, insists on the speaker and the lessening of barriers among parties, this is a style that is very popular low-context culture and low power distance, for instance the speaker prefers to use the first name when addressing someone (Hamilton, 2013)

 

Affective and Instrumental styles

Affective communication style is mainly characterized by a certain language that demands for the listener to keenly note what the speaker is saying and to monitor how the message is being conveyed. The meaning is usually communicated nonverbally and requires the listener to use his/her intuition to interpret the message; this is a common style in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Instrumental styles focuses on the sender who categorically let the listener to know what he/she wants to know, it is a style that is mostly found in low-context cultures and popularly used in the US and Denmark (Du, 2013).

Barriers of Communication

A person’s perception is one of the communication barriers, one’s view of reality may differ with the message being communicated to him/her, for instance, perception influences the way the managers relate and speak to others.  Advertisement of certain messages can also be a barrier in communication; this happens when advertisements are misinterpreted by others and lose their initial meaning (Lester, 2013).

What are Barriers to Communication | Barriers of Communication

Recommendations for effective communication

In order to achieve effective communication, the company should improve feedback systems like phone, email, report and budgets among others. The company should also provide training on languages and culture to enhance communication. For example, one should at the very least understand the others language and culture (Du ,2013).

 

Negotiations

Negotiation is the process in which one or more parties bargain to arrive at an agreed solution, it is better known for its power in creating combined ventures, expansion and recapture of profits. There are two types of negotiations, these are, distributive negotiation which involves two parties with contrasting goals competing over a lay down value and integrated negotiation where two parties put together their interests and come up with a an agreement that is a win-win situation for both parties.

The Art Of Negotiating - Harvey Mackay Academy

Factors to consider during negotiations

It is always wise not to identify the other party’s home cultgure immediately, common clues like name and appearance might be deceiving. One should not assume that every culture aspect is equally significant. It is for the best to recognize the dos and donts of a certain culture since different culture differs.

Negotiation tactics

Location chose should be neutral. One party should be under time constraining. There should be a buyer seller relationship.

Steps to effective negotiations for Africa

Planning; the parties should identify the objectives, adopt strategies and come up with a common ground.  Each party should get to know the other well to build interpersonal relationship. Exchanging the information related to the negotiations and air out their position regarding the issue. The negotiating parties should come up with a final agreement.

 

Motivation across cultures

There are two factors that determine motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic determinants. Intrinsic is where an individual feels fulfillment through conducting an activity itself or in helping other people. Extrinsic refers to the external factors if form of incentives or compensation.

The Maslow’s theory of needs

The five basic needs are listed here; physiological; need for basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. Safety needs; the need for security and stability. Social need; need for one to feel accepted to others. Esteem needs; need for power and status in the society. Self-actualization need; need for one to exploit his/her full potential (Lester, 2013).

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation

This is a theory that focuses on the two main factors that characterizes job satisfaction, motivators; these are factors such as recognition and achievement and it’s only when the motivators are there for one to be satisfied. The second factor is the hygiene related factors such as salary, working conditions and the company’s policies; if the hygiene factors are taken care of then definitely there will be motivation.

Foundation for Leadership

There are three styles of leadership. The first style is authoritarian leadership which involves using work- centered behavior to ensure accomplishment of a particular task or duty. The second style of leadership is the paternalistic leadership which uses a behavior that is work centered together with protective worker centered concern. The last leadership style is the participative leadership that combines both the task and centered concerns to subordinates.

Theories X, Y and Z

Theory X manager believes that workers are generally lazy and if they are threatened to be punished, they end up working.

Theory Y manager believes that people will work hard but under the right conditions.

Theory z manager believes that team work is the key to motivation.

Insights about Leadership

There are two types of leaders; transformational and transactional leaders. Transformational leaders are agents with vision who have the capability to motivate their followers; most of them are charismatic leaders. Transactional leaders are individuals who prefer to exchange reward for the effort done.

 

References

 

Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L. B., Li, H., Liao, X., & Chen, Z. (2013). A Maslow’s hierarchy of needs analysis of social networking services continuance. Journal of Service Management, 24(2), 170-190

Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J. R., Rammal, H. G., & Rose, E. L. (2014). International business. Pearson Australia.

Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A., & Sen, S. (2013). The roles of leadership styles in corporate social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 114(1), 155-169.

Hamilton, C. (2013). Communicating for results: A guide for business and the professions. Cengage Learning.

Kelsey, J. (2015). Reclaiming the future: New Zealand and the global economy. Bridget Williams Books.

Lester, D. (2013). MEASURING MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS 1. Psychological reports, 113(1), 15-17.

Rothaermel, F. T. (2015). Strategic management. McGraw-Hill.