Karen Leary

1. The most significant problem lies between Karen and Ted is cultural difference.
Karen and Ted have come from different backgrounds and even though Ted is more American than Taiwanese, it is still rooted in him somewhere. This brings a a huge difference in the way they handle things.

Hence, even though Karen has given Ted the sole responsibilty of handling the Taiwanese accounts, she cannot get through to him either as she doesn’t understand his style of working. This creates a major communication gap between them too.Therefore, the problem is caused by both of them. But the solution should be approached from Karen first because she is the manager over Ted chung. She is responsible to take care of her employees. 2. Failed to Understand the Target market.

The thing Karen had to do first is not hiring people for Taiwanese market development but studying Taiwanese culture to know more about her target customers’ characteristics but she has not studied about her new potential customers but let Ted do everything instead of her.More problems continued to occur because of her ignorance towards Taiwanese culture.

3. Isolating Chung.
Leary herself is also responsible for isolation of Chung from his co-workers. Leary first began islolating Chung from his co-workers by assigning him to only acquire new Taiwanese investors. This led to him being separated from others and didn’t give him any reason to want to interact with his
colleagues and reinforced his status as an individual worker than team player.

OPTIONS & ANALYSIS

Option 1
The first option is to acquiesce and give him the office.
The advantage of this option is that it will serve to satisfy chung and also act as an acknowledgement of his status which is clearly very important to him. However, This might not be a sound decision because this is not the company culture. There are many Financial consultants who have been for longer periods of time and still don’t own an office. It will send a mixed signal to the the other employees in the company and they might not take it well. It also opposes the underlying values of the company which is team work and long term commitment. It is also highly likely that overlooking senior, more established, and higher producing FCs will cause a morale problem in the office.

Option 2
The second option present is to decline i.e. not give in to chung’s demand for a private office. This is more appropriate as it falls in line with the work culture that Karen Leary has established at her office. However, the office also stands the risk to lose Chung in this scenario. This is because it might seem insulting to Chung as he is a man who seems to value prestige. This will create losses for the company too as the account that has been set is of a huge one and the only person the client trusts in the organization is Chung. The client may not want his account to be handled by anybody else.

Option 3
Negotiate with Ted Chung.
Clearly, Chung has proven to be an asset to the company. Losing him would only prove to be a disadvantage to the company. Hence, Karen should offer to negotiate with Ted on this. She should tell him that she can consider giving him an office only after after completion of certain years of terms of service and also bringing in more accounts. One big account is a good thing, but she needs to see more than just in talks with clients. When he has completed his terms of service with the conditions specified then the firm will give him a private office. This will also serve to motivate Chung as it would encourage him to get things done at a faster pace and be more considerate. Also, a contract could be made for the same which would specify the terms of service which would clearly mention what is expected of Chung and only after proving himself in these departments will he be given a private office.

Option 4
Setting up a business unit for Taiwanese accounts.
Karen Leary has the option of retracing her steps. Undo the mistake she did in the beginning. Understanding your target market is utmost important. Hence, Karen Leary should educate not just herself but her employees about the Taiwanese culture. Hiring just one person is not necessarily effective. She needs a dedicated team for handling the same. Hence, hire a separate team or from her present employees, create a team that could handle the Taiwanese accounts. Obviously, they would need as much training as possible. Ted Chung who is familiar with the ways of Taiwanese people should be given the responsibility of training and being their leader. This will also put Chung in a position where he has to be more interactive with his colleagues and it would give him power which would give him power and prestige of being the leader.

MOST APPROPRIATE SOLUTION

The first and the second options will prove to do more harm than good. Keeping in mind the work culture at the company, option number 3 and 4 are more appropriate. A midway comibining both the options should be brought into effect. It would help in bringing in more Taiwanese accounts through a proper dedicated team and also help Chung grow in the company if he aims for proper career growth. It would give him a chance for over all development as an individual and as a leader.

CONCLUSION

Leary must educate herself and her staff about the Taiwanese culture if she wants to expand into that market in Elmville.
Not only does she risk repeating her and Chung’s communication breakdown with other Taiwanese FCs, she and the other FCs will need this knowledge to effectively manage their Taiwanese clients in the future
We would recommend that Leary schedule diversity training courses for her staff much like the innovative sales workshops she currently holds.