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– Nelson Mandela

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public humiliation

public humiliation

Q Sam Lucas, a construction supervisor for an international engineering firm based in Manchester, England, had been chosen to supervise construction on a new hotel project, in Saudi Arabia, permanently because of his outstanding work record. On this project, Sam supervised nearly 100 Saudi laborers. It was not long before Sam realize that the Saudi laborers, to his way of thinking, we’re nowhere as reliable as the workers he had supervised in England. He was becoming increasingly annoyed at the seeming lack of confidence of the local workforce. Following the leader ship style that held him in such good stead at home, he began reprimanding any worker who is not doing his job properly and made certain that he did it publicly so that it would serve as a lesson to all the other workers. He was convinced that he was doing the right thing and was being fair, for after all, he reprimanded both the Europeans and Saudis alike. He was troubled, however, by the fact that the problems seem to be growing worse and more numerous. What advice might you give to Sam?

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The way Sam behaved with the Saudi workers can be considered as the public humiliation. In the United States, where Sam belongs to, public humiliation is an effective strategy for handling the misbehavior and lack of efficiency in job. However, in Saudi, this kind of public humiliation is taken as insult. All of the Saudi workers prefer to be treated with respect and dignity.