Meeting on a Friday in Kenya?

IHRM in Action Case 2.4 Meeting on a Friday in Kenya?

Our building company had finished an important project concerning a new major road in Kenya. However, the company had not been paid for all of the completed work. The managing director of the Kenyan subsidiary of the building corporation organized a meeting with a representative of the relevant Kenyan government agency.

The meeting started and the representative was very polite and friendly. However, at the same time he also seemed to be quite nervous. Every few minutes he received a telephone call or had to initiate a telephone call himself. All tele- phone discussions were carried out in the local language. Despite the interruptions, I tried to explain the reason for my visit – the outstanding account balance. Of course, the government representative apologized for every interruption. However, after 15 minutes we were both very tense because the conversation had not advanced at all.

Eventually I said that I was sorry that my counterpart had so much to do and asked for another meeting next Tuesday. Instantly the government representative was relaxed again and happily confirmed the new meeting. Now he could finally concentrate on the preparation and organization of his big family meeting that weekend, which is typical for large Kenyan families.

Discussion Questions:

1Relate the described situation to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. How can you explain it?

2How does this situation compare to comparable situations in your home country? What are the limits of acultural explanation?