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CISCO SWITCHES IN CHINA: THE YEAR OF THE MANAGER SOLUTION QUESTION 1 & 2

QUESTION 1 If you were in Raznjevic’s position, would you promote Jasmine Zhou? Why or why not? 1.

Background a.

Cisco is an US software and IT company, which had its Headquarters at San Jose, USA. The initial development plan was to focus on technologies and products targeting service providers and consumer networking sectors.

b.

It had established an R&D centre at Shanghai, China by the fall of year 2004. By 2007, CRDC received $100 million for establishing the first office in China, albeit, CRDC had a sales office in Beijing in 1994. The aim of this office was to rapidly publicize and recognize Cisco’s name through contracts to help the state-owned phone companies build nationwide networks.

2.

Challenges. On establishment of R&D Centre at Shanghai, numerous

challenges were faced by the team led by Jan Gronski, Managing Director of CRDC. The spectrum of challenges ranged from the aspects of human resource management, organizational design, organizational culture and diversity. 3.

Issue of Jasmine Zhou. The question relates to a situation which developed

after establishment of CRDC at Shanghai, when a test manager by the name of Jasmine Zhou was being considered she was being considered for a lateral move to a managerial position on the development side. This issue arouse controversy due to following reasons:a.

There was a natural rivalry between the test and development side of research and development.

b.

There was a perception in China that testers were not as qualified as development managers.

2 c.

Another development engineer was an equal aspirant for this post and nomination of Zhou was likely to create serious issues for Ivo Raznjevic as Engineering Director of CRDC.

4.

Analysis of the Issue a.

First we need to dig deep into the management perspective to find out why this became a controversy. To this end, let us see who a manager is and could Zhou become a good development manager from being a tester. A manager is someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people so organizational goals can be accomplished. That may mean coordinating the work of a departmental group, or It could involve coordinating the work activities of a team with people from different departments or even people outside the organization such as temporary employees or individuals who work for the organization’s suppliers.

b.

In the context of Jasmine Zhou, the role of a tester is purely the technical and scientific handling or management of products, equipment or services. Whereas the role of tester is confined to the domain of testing, qualifying and research, the role of a manager is more comprehensive, overarching and strategic. The managers are important is because organizations need their managerial skills and abilities more than ever in uncertain, complex, and chaotic times. As organizations deal with today’s challenges, changing workforce dynamics, the worldwide economic climate, changing technology, and ever-increasing globalization, managers play an important role in identifying critical issues and crafting responses. Notwithstanding the qualifications and competence of Zhou in the field of science and technology, the traits of a good manager require much more skills and previous management experience.

c.

With only two and half years of working in Nortel Canada before joining Cisco in January 2005, Jasmine Zhou has comparatively limited experience of management of diverse groups and teams operating in a newly established R&D site at Shanghai.

d.

Let us also review the major management function, which Jasmine Zhou might have to undertake to fulfil management obligations. These include the following:-

3 (1)

Planning – setting goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and develop plans to integrate and coordinate activities.

(2)

Organizing - arranging and structuring work that employees do to accomplish the organization’s goals.

(3)

Leading – working with and through people to accomplish goals.

(4)

Controlling – evaluating of whether things are going as planned. To ensure goals are met and work is done as it should be, managers monitor and evaluate performance.

e.

We can assume that with meagre managerial experience as a baggage she carries, the mammoth managerial obligations would be difficult for her to bear, especially in a diverse and newly established company.

f.

In our management curriculum, we have studied that in today’s demanding and dynamic workplace, the managers must constantly upgrade their skills, and developing management skills can be particularly beneficial. In case the decision for promotion of Zhou to the post of Development Manager is taken, it must be analysed what managerial skills would she require to be trained in. The multitude of skills are enunciated below:-

5.

(1)

Managing human capital.

(2)

Inspiring commitment.

(3)

Managing change.

(4)

Structuring work and getting things done.

(5)

Facilitating the psychological and social contexts of work.

(6)

Using purposeful networking.

(7)

Managing decision-making processes.

(8)

Managing strategy and innovation.

(9)

Managing logistics and technology.

A View from Raznjevic’s Perspective a.

We have studied in the case that Ivo Raznjevic is Engineering Director of CRDC and is Master’s degree holder in Computer Science. The decision which he is likely to take will have implications on his credibility and rapport of the newly established firm. As we have studied in our management curriculum, a good leader or a manager must adopt a correct approach to decision-making. Out of the four approaches of decisionmaking, i.e, rational decision-making, bounded rationality, Intuition or

4 Evidence-based Management, Raznjevic is likely to taken correct decision if he adopts evidence-based management – the systematic use of the best available evidence to improve management practice assisted by four essential elements, which are (1) the decision maker’s expertise and judgment,

(2) external evidence that has been evaluated by the

decision maker, (3) opinions, preferences, and values of those who have a stake in the decision and (4) relevant organizational (internal) factors such as context, circumstances, and organizational members. b.

In my reckoning, Ivo Raznjevic must evaluate the promotion standards laid down in the SOPs of CRDC and base his decision after analysing following aspects:(1)

Gender balance in promotions.

(2)

CRDC’s culture.

(3)

Gather referral information about Jasmine Zhou and base decision on informed opinion.

(4)

Be neutral and evaluate the professional standing and experience of the other Development Engineer. Comparison of decision should be objective and without biases or errors.

6.

In light of above discussion, I believe that Jasmine Zhou’s promotion or transfer

from testing expert to Development Manager is not justified, mainly because of lack of requisite managerial experience, diversity of envisaged tasks obligated by new appointment and abrupt switching over to an entirely new function.

QUESTION 2 What, if anything, would you do about the blast e-mail? Be specific? 1.

Context a.

In order to analyse the issue at hand, we need to first study and understand the peculiar Chinese culture, manifested by CRDC staff at Shanghai. Chinese society has been portrayed to be in transition. As described in the case, Chinese culture is characterized by a conservative mind-set, introvert behavior and averse attitude related to expatriates. The case narrates numerous occasions where the Chinese staff are shy in

5 opening up and expressing their viewpoint. Besides, their comfort level before the expatriate team members has been shown as negative. b.

With establishment of CRDC R&D site, the firm’s culture has nuance of Chinese culture due to a predominant Chinese human workforce. Thus, a western-based company in China will have traits of local culture and these had to adopted by default by CRDC. An organization’s culture can make employees feel included, empowered, and supported. Since the culture can be powerful, it is important for managers to pay attention to it. These are the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act and that distinguish the organization from other organizations. It has three attributes; 1) it is perceptive, 2) it is descriptive, and 3) it is shared.

2.

CRDC’s Organizational Culture a.

The staff had a hierarchical thinking style, and it was reflected in the manner in which the employees interacted with their superiors. The adherence to office timings, avoidance of late sittings and more of a robotic routine were the salient aspects of CRDC culture. The Chinese staff felt uncomfortable in the presence of expatriate leaders and deliberately avoided interaction with them, may it be official or unofficial. They lacked interpersonal relationships and manifested a more conservative approach towards life and work.

b.

CRDC’s culture can, thus, be defined as a weak culture, wherein the employees / staff had little knowledge of company’s history or heroes, manifest less connection between shared values and behavior, and values were limited to top management. This type of culture is peculiar of any multinational company with diversity in work force and lifestyle. CRDC staff distanced from their team and group leaders initially. Sharing of ideas was restricted indirectly through messaging and emails. Objective discussions and interactive brainstorming session were a futile effort, since Chinese employees were inexpressive and avoided sharing ideas or giving valuable input (examples have been cited in the case).

c.

CRDC leadership made efforts to bridge the gap between local staff and the expatriates, but a significant endeavor was still required. Common recreational areas were constructed for informal interaction amongst

6 diverse culture and system of joint breakfasts, birthday lunches and dinners was instituted to reduce the cultural gap. However, the Chinese concept of losing face in the eyes of others was very strongly embedded in their culture, and same became the cause of the issue at hand. 3.

Issue of Blast Email a.

The Chinese staff were encouraged by Ivo Raznjevic to share their ideas through emails and messages. As highlighted in the case, one of the senior CRDC engineers sent out an e-mail sharing his idea about an issue. In response, one of the UK - based managers rudely replied to everyone saying, “You are completely incorrect and false in this area.” This was taken very seriously by the junior engineers who felt that the senior Chinese engineer had lost face.

b.

In the management course, we have studied certain factors which determine the ethical and unethical behavior in an organization; namely stages of moral development, individuals characteristics, structural variables and issue intensity. In light of the case in point, I would like to discuss the aspect of ISSUE INTENSITY in this issue. In theory, the six characteristics determining issue intensity are 1) greatness of harm, 2) consensus of wrong, 3) probability of harm, 4) immediacy of consequences, 5) proximity to victims, and 6) concentration of effects. In the blast email case, the consensus of wrong, immediacy of consequences, proximity to victims and concentration of effects are applicable. The close and conservation Chinese culture and affiliation bond between the senior and junior engineers is likely to affect the overall working environment in CRDC.

c.

Introspectively, it was an unethical display of attitude by the originator of email. However, in an organization of such diversity and multinational character, such incidents are a common feature. In case the situation was brought to my domain of action, I would have taken following steps:(1)

Firstly, I would immediately call the UK-based manager to mend his tone and language while initiating emails and letters. I would also ask him to personally call the Chinese senior engineer to submit apology on the email. He would be asked to explain the Chinese

7 engineer that it was not meant to malign his views or disregard his professional thought. (2)

Concurrently, I would immediately hold the meeting of all staff to pacify the situation. In the meeting, I would have the senior engineer seated besides me to show his respect and honour to all other Chinese staff. On behalf of the expatriate community, I would apologize for the untoward incident and ensure that recurrence will be avoided in future.

(3)

Taking opportunity of the meeting, I would also like to apprise the house of the changing nature of corporate world and its complexities, which has to be accepted as a reality. The system of objectively sharing the ideas, accepting disagreements and showing respect to expatriates by accommodating their views.

(4)

I would also personally take the senior engineer alongwith selected junior engineers out for lunch or dinner as a matter of respect and dignity.

(5)

There are certain modifications which I would implement in the official capacity. These include formulation of code of ethics for the company, rules and procedures of initiating official correspondence (letters, email, etc). In this regard, strict rules on using action and information addresses by the originator of mails would be prepared.

(6)

I will also prepare a comprehensive report, covering following steps to address ethical dilemmas:(a)

What is the ethical dilemma?

(b)

Who are the affected stakeholders?

(c)

Which personal, organizational and external factors are important in this decision?

(7)

(d)

What are the possible alternatives?

(e)

What is my decision and how will I act on it?

Finally, I will ensure that all such cases are properly archived as nest practices and lessons for guidance in the future.

QUESTION 3

8 How would you coach Ehud Oentung on his first encounter with Cisco’s ranking system? 1.

Context a.

Ehud Oentung is described as an American of Chinese origin who worked for Verizon, Bell Atlantic and Cisco in Herndon, Virginia. Thereafter, he transferred to the CRDC and became a software manager on the development side. Cisco’s ranking system for measuring success in the organization used a set of criteria that made Oentung uncomfortable: Every six months, managers evaluated employee performance against other employees to differentiate talent. “Even if you are the bottom it doesn’t mean you haven’t been doing good work,” Oentung said. “Every six months we have to pick someone to do better.” During the most recent performance review cycle, Oentung had one engineer who ranked the lowest, which meant that this individual would not get a bonus. Razjnevic recalled Oentung saying, “I didn’t want to do it.” How should he coach Oentung to deliver his employee a difficult message?...