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You will be responsible for finding sources or articles of current events related to intercultural communication. These can be from newspapers, magazines, online news sources. These should be current. For example, newspaper articles should be within the past year. Magazines should be within the last two print cycles. Currency is different for different sources, but the sources should be relevant to what is happening now in our society. Please note that if the source does not relate to intercultural communication you will receive no credit for the assignment.

Use this template to format your assignment.

Title: Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

Source: New York Times (Online)

Date: Jun 10, 2017

URL (or attach printed copy): https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.greenriver.edu/docview/1907726288/F147A4807B114699PQ/1?accountid=1558链接到外部网站。

Summary (50-150 words): Chinese entrepreneurs are opening manufacturing plants in towns in the U.S. with mixed results. A glass company in Dayton, Ohio, provide many jobs to locals, but workers filed complaints with management, and later the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, over unsafe working conditions. Eventually OSHA fined the company $225,000, reduced to $100,000 for fixing the violations. In the end, the workers formed a union and got a $2/hour raise.

A copper tube plant, opened in Wilcox County, Alabama, hired 300 workers who unionized over lax safety issues and low pay. The Chinese owners claimed workers in both places were lazy, slow, and wasted their money. Differences may be due to the way workers in China do their jobs, putting productivity above all else, while Americans value safety and relationships over higher productivity. Also, Chinese owners are reluctant to turn over management of the plants to Americans, preferring to give high-level jobs to Chinese managers, whose style is much different than what Americans are used to.

Analysis (50-150 words): In reading this article, it’s apparent that Chinese management styles and expectations differ significantly from American management styles and expectations. Worker safety is an expectation in the United States. The article references several safety concerns and cites Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines for safety violations. Fuyao paid more than $225,000 for violations such as insufficient access to locks that shut down power to a machine when workers fix or maintain it. Differing expectations result in conflict which is exacerbated by differing communication styles resulting in increased uncertainty and distrust.

Tensions have escalated in the two plants since Chinese management has failed to turn over management control to American as previously stated. American managers were fired because the they were perceived as lazy and wasting company funds. As stated in the article, “Mary Gallagher, who directs the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan, said entrepreneurs like Mr. Cao often populate their factories with migrants from rural areas, whom they expect to be relatively submissive, unlike American workers, who expect a more collegial management style. He hasn’t ever had this type of pressure from a work force.” This cultural difference have increased tension and distrust and must be addressed to support the success at the factories.