Reference no: EM132574358

Achievement-oriented corporations in Western countries

Read the Case Study of an Achievement-oriented corporations in Western countries.

(Chapter 8) and then answer the questions at the end of the case.

Please be sure to back up your answer to the case with facts from the textbook.

Achievement-oriented corporations in Western countries often send young, promising managers on challenging assignments to far away countries without realizing that the local culture will not accept their youthfulness and/or gender however they will achieve.

A young (aged 34), talented, female marketing manager had worked for an American company in both the US and Britain. She was so successful in her second year there that she was named the most promising female manager in Britain. This vote of confidence influenced her decision to accept an offer to transfer as director of marketing to her company's operation in Ankara, Turkey. She know she had always been able to win the support and trust of her subordinates and colleagues.

The first few weeks in Ankara were as usual in a new job, getting to know the local business, the staff, and how to get things done. Luckily, she know one of the marketing managers, Guz Akil, who had been her marketing assistant in London. They had worked well together.

Working as hard as she could over the first few months, she found her authority gradually slipping away. The most experienced Turk, Hasan (aged 63), informally but consciously took over more and more of her authority, getting things done where her own efforts were frustrated, although his marketing knowledge was only a fraction of her own. She had to watch him exercise influence, which most often led to unsatisfactory results. Through Guz she learned that the head office complied with this arrangement, communicating more and more through Hasan, not her. She also heard that 10 years earlier an American male manager the same age she was had been withdrawn because of his inability to command local managers effectively. He was now working with much success for a competitor back in the US.

Question:

1. Do you think that this is a case of discrimination based on gender and age or it is just the way in which ascribed-oriented countries conduct business? Explain

2. A better tactic could have been to make a young female an assistant or adviser to a "local" manager. She would make up for deficits in knowledge they have, while using local seniority to get things done. What do you thing about this approach? Would it work? Why, why not?