Analyze the following case and answer the questions:
A family-owned carbon steel company from Germany has extended itsbusiness to Hong Kong.
The owners bought a small traditional Chinese firm and decided tocopy the successful
structure they had developed at home (in Germany). This structurewas headed by three
general managers who equally shared the responsibilities for thebusiness activities of the firm.
The consequences were as follows.
1 Now the Chinese employees were assigned tasks by people they havenever seen before
and whom they did not understand. Many misunderstandings occurred,some were quite
costly.
2 The employees back in Europe were only concerned with whether theassigned tasks were
completed and did not consider any other obligations to the Chineseemployees, such as
taking care of the relationships with the Chinese government,banks, etc.
3 Eventually, the local employees became frustrated and were readyto leave the company.
The result was that the management model was changed again and asingle managing director
of the subsidiary was accountable for all business activities inHong Kong.
Discussion Questions:
2 How does this situation compare to comparable situations in yourhome country Egypt ? What are
the limits of a cultural explanation?
