Case Study 1:

You have become the new European controller of an European company.

During your first visits to the different European subsidiaries you visit
the Belgian subsidiary. There you discover that the Belgian CEO of the
subsidiary had bought the majority of shares of small Belgian service
company. This without any financial plan or the permission of the
headquarter. But the regulations of the headquarter say that in such
cases you need the permission of the headquarter and a financial plan.
The Belgian CEO had financed this purchase by using the sales of both
companies (Belgian subsidiary and new service company) and the hidden
reserves of the company.
The Belgian CEO has an excellent reputation and a record of numerous
successes.
Even the purchase of the small service company has been very
successful.

What would you do? In Anlehnung an Haller/Nägele, 2013)

Case Study:

Solution:
Pragmatism. The Belgian CEO was successful so the headquarter did not do anything
Case Study2:
Your are a team leader of a project group that is responsible for the acquisition and
development of key accounts. Your next project is a an important delegation from china
that could become a key account. The Chinese delegation will stay for two weeks for
negotiations in Germany.
The Chinese delegation has not got so much experiences with non Chinese negotiators .

On the first day of the planned meeting the Chinese negotiation partners were very
unpunctual and arrived separately one after the other. This despite the fact that you have
given them an exact schedule and a precise description of the way to the meeting.
During the negotiation process some questions of the Chinese were not understood by
the Germans. Furthermore a change request of the Chinese chief engineer on the
technical product the delegation talked about was rejected by the German chief
engineer. He said: “It is not a good idea”
The next day the Chinese delegation did not come to the negotiations any more.

What would you do?

In Anlehnung an Haller/Nägele, 2013)
Case Study2 Solution:
Maybe the Chinese negotiation partners thought that they are not important enough to
be taken from the hotel and brought to the negotiation. So they were unpunctual
although this means disharmony even in the Chinese culture. It would have been better
to pick them up from the hotel and bring them back after the meeting or ask them if
they want to go the city.
The problem of the rejection of the change request was seen as a “No” what led to the
abortion of the negotiation.
To solve this problem a letter from the CEO of the German company would have been
appropriate. This letter should contain an apology about an unimportant part of the
contract without naming the point of contention.
Concepts of Culture

Symbols

Heroes

Rituals

Values

Norms

Artefacts

5
1- Develop an onion model of culture. Try to name elements of each of the four layers for
German culture and/or another national culture of your choice.

2- Please collect positive as well as negative images and concepts of „German“.

Case Study 3: You have been sent to a subsidiary in China to replace the former Chinese CEO.
The replacement was successful and took place without any problems. The relationship with
the former Chinese CEO is good. The former Chinese CEO suggests that his secretary Sue
Lin should also work for you to demonstrate the hierarchy and the new distribution of power.
The daily work increases and Sue Lin complains about the workload. To solve the problem
you call for a meeting with all the affected employees. You suggests that Sue Lin can choose
for whom she wants to work. She doesn’t need to work for two supervisors. Suddenly Sue Lin
demands a higher salary. You reject her request and suggests again that she can choose for
whom she wants to work, for you or the former Chinese CEO. Sue Lin seems to be unsetteled
and leaves the meeting.

a) What reasons led to this situation?

b) How do you solve or prevent this problem?

In Anlehnung an Haller/Nägele, 2013)

Case Study 3, Solution:
a) Trying to implement a western management style was not a good idea (meeting with all
affected employees – general discussion, involving all). It is impossible for Sue Lin to
decide. Each decision means the loss of face because Sue Lin thinks that her decision will
hurt one of the two supervisors. So she tries to escape the decision by demanding a higher
salary.
b) To prevent such a conflict it would have been helpful to determine for whom Sue Lin
should work

In Anlehnung an Haller/Nägele, 2013)