Ellen Moore Working in Korea Essay Example for Free

Ellen Moore Working in Korea Essay Ellen Moore has been assigned to a project in South Korea. The project is a joint venture (JVI) between Western Systems Inc. (WSI), a North American company and Korean Conglomerate Inc. (KCI), a Korean company. Ellen was chosen to run the project on behalf of Andrew Kilpatrick, who is part of the System Consulting group at WSI. Andrew was to manage the project on a part time basis from North America. He chose Ellen to lead project on site as a result of her strengths in project management. Andrew also felt that Ellen’s previous success working in Bahrain showed that she would be able to handle the cultural differences. Andrew was aware of the culture difference in Korea and before he sent Ellen he was assured by American consultants that as long as Ellen was qualified for the position she would be accepted. Andrew wanted to consult the Korean consultants on this matter but was assured by the American consultants that is would be ok. In addition to Ellen, Scott Adams would also join Ellen a few months after her arrival in Korea. What Ellen experiences throughout her time in Korea does not suggest that the Korean consultants are ok with her being a woman. Why is Ellen a successful manager? The following characteristics seen in the case make Ellen a great manager/leader: * Competitive Highly Motivated – Without these she wouldn’t have gotten so far so fast. Both of these characteristics are why she graduated high school at 16. Ellen loves to learn; a great example of this is her learning the Korean language as she sits in traffic traveling home from work even though she is exhausted, by reading the signs. * Teacher – She enjoys teaching and does so whenever the opportunity presents itself. Her natural leadership qualities show when after her short period of working with the group in Jack’s absence you see members of the team sticking by Ellen when this wasn’t the case prior to Jack’s absence. They are naturally following her. * Compassionate/great mentor- Ellen is a natural leader, this is evident when she finally gets her chance to work with the group while Jack Kim is away. Upon return he finds them questioning what he wants stating that they are doing something for Ellen. * Assertive- Assertive but no so aggressive as too turn others off. * Self Confidence- Ellen always exudes confidence. One particular example of this at the dinner with Jack and other colleagues. Jack asked the translator to not translate for Ellen, the translator is fearful of losing her job if she tells Ellen why, so Ellen interrupts Jack’s speech saying the translator is having a hard time hearing him rather than sitting there letting his show continue. * Respectful but not passive – She tries to understand why her fellow workers do certain things by asking questions of them to help her understand. An example of this is when she questions the ill Korean worker who refuses to leave until his boss does even though his work is complete. She illustrates respect for his values but tries to show him there are alternatives. What would you advise Ellen to do and why? Before advising Ellen it is crucial to understand why she has experienced the conflicts she has in Korea. Koreans are more influenced by Confucian ways than any other business culture including China. So what does that mean? * It is important to make a friend first before a client, Koreans need to have this relationship built so that you’ll be trustworthy, honorable and respectable to them. They value family and similar relations a great deal. * Korean companies are vertically hierarchal; decisions are made at the top and delegated downwards. Age alone can dictate seniority regardless of skills and previous achievement. * Confucian values stresses obedience and loyalty. In return for this obedience and loyalty a manager provides the support needed by subordinates. * It is important to have relationships established before holding meetings, in fact initial time spent in meetings is generally to develop such relations. This will establish your honorableness, it is important to do some research so that you who the more senior contacts are to show them respect. It is also important to have the right levels at a meeting a more senior level person would not be expected to meet with less experienced individuals from other organizations. * Confrontation is not a good thing, Koreans work well in comfortable environments and when it isn’t this, they will flounder and become uncooperative. This stems from their family virtues they like harmony. Although Koreans like harmony they can become quite emotional, likely as a result extreme hardship they have experienced in the past. If a Korean is quiet in a meeting it is a good sign that the meeting is floundering. * Koreans do not like â€Å"no† as an answer. You must listen for subtle clues that they are not happy they will not voice their objections loudly. If you are trying to persuade them it is very important to remain calm and polite at all times. * Gift giving is important. If traveling to Korea you should have a number of small wrapped gifts to distribute. A good bottle of alcohol is a popular gift. * Dress is important as well as body language. Slouching or over exaggerated body language would cause concern on their part. Proper dress would be dark suit with ties for men and no trousers for women. * The role of women in Korean business is evolving but is still highly influenced their previous values. Women are seen as being inferior to men, they often hold low level positions and rarely succeed. A woman from another country can be accepted but it’s likely they will not receive the respect that a man would. Koreans do not react well to confrontation and it is crucial that you build a relationship of trust with them. It is clear from the case that Andrew reaching out to Mr. Song sent him to talk to Mr. Park before he’d meet with Andrew, most likely to get his stance on the issues first. Korea has a strong since of family and Mr. Song as a result will most likely take the side of Jack and Mr. Park. Given this and now the confrontation between Mr. Song and Andrew I feel there are two options available to WSI, which Ellen should suggest. One is to have Ellen move on to a new project and either Andrew or her colleague Scott Adams become the co-manager along with Jack Kim. This will require time to repair the relations between KCI and WSI but if they want to continue on in Korea than this is their best option. They likely will need to make concessions to the Korean’s and the project will be considerably extended both on a financial realm and time. The second option is to walk away from the assignment. As noted in the case, Andrew and his managers viewed this as a favor to WSI and really had no plans of developing their business in Korea. I think that the first option is the best; failure or walking away could be detrimental to business for WSI and although SCG’s group itself wasn’t planning on doing business in Korea they are a part of WSI and therefore have a stake in the JVI success. Leaving the project would not only cost them their position of the leading system implementation in Korea but their reputation which would cost them other business opportunities as well hurt future growth. Andrew and his managers will need to work with Mr. Scott and Mr.  Park to assure the relations are established this will involve a lot of schmoozing. They will have to accept a longer project line as a result. With the proper strategy and patience I believe they will be able to build a relationship with the Korean group and have a success in the end. Of course, this would not involve any women within the WSI group. For Ellen, I believe she is better off convincing them to move her to another project. Given her objectives below she really doesn’t have much to lose from leaving the project and a considerable amount more to gain by moving to a new assignment. She is an expatriate and therefore should expect to stay on any project or any job for a long period of time. What are her objectives? Are these objectives and actions consistent with what you would do if you were in her situation? Ellen objectives are: * Run a successful project and have it succeed and accomplish what they had set out too. This is not only because she feels she has an investment in the project but also will help her career the better she does the better she looks. * Try to gain experience to propel her to her next endeavor. Try to get along with Jack Kim to help the project but also because it will help her be more involved with the others on the projects so she can lead/mentor them. * Learn as much about the South Korean culture as possible and coexist within this environment. * Ellen is an expatriate so she is also trying to make her time with the company as pleasant as possible in addition to achieving the goals set out by the project. * Ultimately, Career growth Ellen’s objectives are consistent with what mine would be if I were in her position. I also believe her actions and what I have advised her to do going forward is what I would also do. That being said, I feel the issue was more a lack of preparation before going to Korea. The team from North American did not take the time to build the relationships needed so that they could be successful in meetings and lead the consultants in Korea. Although Andrew expressed the need to assure the Korean consultants were alright with Ellen being a woman this did not happen. I believe that if they were consulted they might have been more receptive of Ellen. If for no other reason than the mere consulting would of help formed a relationship, started some camaraderie between the North Americans and the Koreans. Additionally, adequate preparation would of prepared Ellen for what she would likely encounter. Had she had this knowledge maybe there were different actions she should of taken during her work there. I stress the maybe; it seems to me she handled herself quite well. Finally, I am all for women rights but businesses need to succeed and in this case maybe the mere fact that Ellen was a woman disqualified her for this particular assignment.