De La Salle University

Ramon V. del Rosario

College of Business

Introduction to Business Case Analysis:

Culture Clash at the Boardroom

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Course Requirements for

Management of Organizations
1st Term, SY 2023-2024

Submitted by:
Ang, Maggie H.
Chua, Kyle Andersen C.
Darroca, Lawrence Edrian S.
Jimenez, Armie Christian E.
Selga, Gerard Gabbrielle I.
Uy, Lance D.

Submitted to:
Liza Mae Fumar

Submitted on:
September 22, 2023
I. Key Strategic Issue/Problem Identification

Numerous challenges emerge when conducting business overseas. When various countries are
included, it is likely to lead to different isues such as cultural disparities that can pose numerous issues
between foreign enterprises. This was apparent in the case of the joint venture between Almond
Chemical, a German company, and a local company in Chongqing, China. Almond Chemical aimed to
extend its presence in the Chinese market and establish a strong position. However, the primary obstacle
encountered during this expansion was the adamant cultural differences.

II. Alternatives

1. Liu could reject Chen’s demand and obey the gifts and commissions rules

Advantages Disadvantages

● The company remains ethical as they ● The possibility of Almond’s revenue

are abiding by the rules. continuing to decline is high due to high
expenses.

● Almond continues to uphold their ● The conflict between Liu and Chen will
standards - investing in necessary remain unresolved as the demand was
safety equipment and securing not met and tension may form between
facilities, which the Chinese partners the two.
view as bad investments. This will
prevent workplace accidents from
occurring, which could tarnish their
reputation as an establishment.

2. Liu could give in to Chen’s demand after seeing that the company’s numbers are slowly sinking.

Advantages Disadvantages

● There is a high chance that their ● They would be violating the rules about
numbers might go up again. gifts and commissions, which would be
unethical since it would be business
bribery.

● Liu and Chen’s disagreement would be ● Liu would operate the company against
resolved. his wishes because he doesn’t like the
idea of compromising.
 3. Liu could implementing sensitive cultural training in the organization

Advantages Disadvantages

● It may reduce cultural conflict. This could
help the employees to further
understand each other’s cultural
differences that may lead to preventing
major cultural clashes.
● It could also promote enhanced team
cohesion since training could encourage
employees to work as a team and accept
their similarities and differences. This
could result in increased productivity
and improve a positive work
environment for everyone.
● Training may be time consuming since it
requires a lot of time and effort to fully
prepare and train these employees.
Moreover, these employees may not be
satisfied since they need to train and
work at the same time.
● Creating this training may be costly for
the company that’s why it may be
difficult to convince other shareholders
to accept it. Moreover, it is still unsure if
it will be effective for the employees
since the company has not tried it
before.

III. Recommendation

While it is possible that the three alternative courses of action could be beneficial in addressing
the specific scenario and case, it is only feasible and efficient to choose 1 among those three. With this,
the group strongly advocates on selecting alternative course of action 3, which entails the
implementation of sensitive cultural training by Liu Peijin throughout the organization. It goes without
saying that the aforementioned method may also present certain drawbacks, including potential
opposition from employees and the company's financial staff towards the executed course of action. The
personnel would be required to undertake additional responsibilities beyond their primary job duties, as
previously discussed, in order to familiarize themselves with the culture and tradition of the other
society. In addition, the organization would incur additional expenditures associated with the provision
of training and related activities. Nevertheless, the advantages accruable to the company outweigh the
corresponding downsides. It should be noted that the drawbacks associated with this approach are
primarily limited to the short term, but the advantages accruing to the organization becomes
permanent. Implementing this approach may potentially mitigate cultural conflicts by fostering a deeper
comprehension among employees regarding their respective cultural disparities. Consequently, this
enhanced understanding would serve as a proactive measure in averting significant cultural
confrontations. Additionally, it is plausible that training initiatives may foster improved team cohesion by
encouraging individuals to collaborate and embrace both their shared attributes and individual
distinctions. The implementation of this alternative has the potential to yield enhanced productivity and
foster a more favorable work environment for all individuals involved.
IV. Implementation/Action Plan

Activities Department Responsible Duration (in weeks/months/years)

Assessment of Cultural Human Resources Department 2 Weeks

Training Needs

Research and Development Human Resources Department 1 Month

of Training Curriculum

Budget Allocation and Fiscal Department 1 Month

Review

Alignment Meeting Human Resources Department 1 Week

Implementation of Training Human Resources Department 3 Weeks

Program

Post-Evaluation of Training Human Resources Department 2 Weeks

Program

Revision of Training Program Human Resources Department 3 Months

for competency gaps and
Replication of Training
Program for future worker
development.