From Regional Star to Global Hero
GSM 511- Case Analysis | From Regional Star to Global Leader | | Yogita Inamdar | 6/18/2011 |
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Case Analysis: From Regional Star to Global Leader
Statement
Yang Jianguo has been promoted from Country Manager China to Global Head of Product Development at Deronde International. The CEO of the company chose Country Manager Yang from China over other three high performers based on his technical expertise and his knowledge of Asian markets. Yang currently faces a challenge in transitioning to the new culture and is evaluating his future in the organization. While his team members face a challenge of including Yang in their culture. Moving forward, Jianguo, his team members and the CEO of the organization have to make conscious efforts to acknowledge differences and value diverse opinions for the future of the organization.
Root Cause
Yang Jianguo
The cultural distance between France and China is relatively large. Yang comes from a culture with a large power distance . In this culture, power is concentrated at a high level, roles and responsibilities are defined according to the social hierarchy. Prior to the global assignment Yang was a Country Manager in China and has been operating the business by the cultural norms in China, such as hierarchy, where he must have made decisions and his subordinates implemented those decisions. It appears that Jianguo has not been able to acknowledge cultural differences and has been unable to grow from Country Manager to the Global Head of Product Development. His lack of self-awareness and a low cultural intelligence quotient is evident from instances where he is unable to acknowledge the food differences, his body language during conversation with the CEO and Yves and his product launch proposal that featured a Chinese athlete.
CEO and other team members
Deronde International is a family business with unmistakable pride in its French identity. Due to the prevailing market conditions, Alain Dermonde,
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Case Analysis: From Regional Star to Global Leader
Statement
Yang Jianguo has been promoted from Country Manager China to Global Head of Product Development at Deronde International. The CEO of the company chose Country Manager Yang from China over other three high performers based on his technical expertise and his knowledge of Asian markets. Yang currently faces a challenge in transitioning to the new culture and is evaluating his future in the organization. While his team members face a challenge of including Yang in their culture. Moving forward, Jianguo, his team members and the CEO of the organization have to make conscious efforts to acknowledge differences and value diverse opinions for the future of the organization.
Root Cause
Yang Jianguo
The cultural distance between France and China is relatively large. Yang comes from a culture with a large power distance . In this culture, power is concentrated at a high level, roles and responsibilities are defined according to the social hierarchy. Prior to the global assignment Yang was a Country Manager in China and has been operating the business by the cultural norms in China, such as hierarchy, where he must have made decisions and his subordinates implemented those decisions. It appears that Jianguo has not been able to acknowledge cultural differences and has been unable to grow from Country Manager to the Global Head of Product Development. His lack of self-awareness and a low cultural intelligence quotient is evident from instances where he is unable to acknowledge the food differences, his body language during conversation with the CEO and Yves and his product launch proposal that featured a Chinese athlete.
CEO and other team members
Deronde International is a family business with unmistakable pride in its French identity. Due to the prevailing market conditions, Alain Dermonde,
References: * Crowe, K. (2008). What Leads to Cultural Intelligence? * Javidan, M., Teagarden, M & Bowen, D. (April 2010). Making it Overseas. Harvard Business Review. * Robert T Moran, Philip R Harris and Sarah V Moran, Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for Business Success, Chapter 10 Managing Transitions and Relocations in the Global Workplace (2011) Butterworth Heinemann