Question

Rainbow Cosmetics hires Tiffany as the Sales and Marketing Manager. She finds the culture of Rainbow Cosmetics is quite different from the companies that she worked before. In Rainbow Cosmetics, the staff of the department are divided into different teams, and members of each team have to work collaboratively to achieve the annual sales target. The winning team of the year would be rewarded with a team-based bonus. The personal achievement is also counted that the individual would be rewarded if they propose new ideas for new product development. The supervisors within the company are high tolerance in careless mistakes. The company will conduct a face-to-face interview with each of its employees for the plan of career development. Because of the arrangement, members within the teamwork aggressively just like they are running their own businesses. Tiffany used to work alone as a marketer, and she believes that teamwork is more time- consuming. She has a daughter who is two-years-old. She would like to spend more time with her.

(a) Identify and explain any FIVE cultural characteristics. Use them to describe the culture of the “Rainbow Cosmetics”.

(b) Describe the stages that Tiffany will process to adapt herself to the culture of “Rainbow Cosmetics”. Use examples to illustrate your answers.

Answer 1

Ans a. The five cultural characteristics are as follows:

a. Collaboration. The company have segmented its staff into teams as per their relative departments and all the members of the team work collaboratively in achieving the sales target annually.

b. Teamwork. The teams work together in proximity with supervisors in order to achieve the targets. Within the team everyone individually works aggressively. The best team will be rewarded with bonus.

c. Innovation. Every individual in the system works as if they are running their own business. The individual’s new ideas and plans are acknowledged and rewarded by the management.

d. Manners of interacting. The company interacts with each employee and plans for their career development plans. The company acknowledges the ideas given by the employees for new plan or new product development.

e. Practices. The company practices healthy competition within the different departments and later reward the winning team. The company acknowledges individual’s personal accomplishments within a team. So, the company values its employees and practices different activity to support them and increase their efficiency.

Ans b. As a new member in the organisation, Tiffany should focus on the culture and values of the organisation. As the organisation focuses on team building and group efforts, Tiffany should make efforts to be part of the team. She should try to create bond with her team members, gets involve in the group meeting, be part of informal gathering and conversations to break the ice and be a group member. As she has worked individually in her past, now in this organisation she should focus on teamwork. She must try to come up with innovative ideas and plans. As a sales and marketing manager, she should appreciate and welcome her team members ideas and try to implement those in new plans and product development. She should practice open communication with her team members. As collaboration and team efforts are important values within the organisation, she should try to put extra efforts in making the changes in her behaviour. To collaborate with team members, she can have an informal meeting or lunch with her team and try to learn about them individually. She should focus on every team member of the group and acknowledge their efforts. She must try to influence and motivate them by setting some competitive goals within the team members.