個案總覽

Richard Evans, the newly appointed General Manager of the Siam Chemicals Company (SCC) returns to his Bangkok office after a two-week absence to find his in-box full of emails from his Thai team. Under time pressure he must first prioritise and then decide how best to respond to them. However, SCC is his first posting outside Europe and he has begun to realise that in this very different cultural environment, his previous managerial experience and assumptions are not applicable. If he is to gain the respect of his local managers and motivate them to increase SCC's productivity in a highly competitive regional market, then he must decipher what lies behind the requestions and problems in their messages and respond appropriately. Evans has one hour before he must leave to catch a flight to Basel to attend a Board meeting at SCC's parent HQ. There he is expected to report on his progress and future plans for improving the subsidiary's performance.

In December 1998, Ron Wilson, chief executive of Mobil Oil Indonesia (MOI), considered how he should respond to allegations made by a group of nongovernmental organizations that Mobil had been complicit in serious human rights abuses in Aceh, Indonesia. MOI, established in 1968, was a joint venture between Mobil and the Indonesian oil company Pertamina. Based in Lhokseumawe, MOI was responsible for setting and managing the terms of the various contracts with Pertamina and the Indonesian government and for establishing and managing the exploration and exploitation operations. As a location, Aceh was far from convenient. But could any of the team at Mobil have imagined just how challenging managing operations in Aceh would be?

In December 1998, Ron Wilson, chief executive of Mobil Oil Indonesia (MOI), considered how he should respond to allegations made by a group of nongovernmental organizations that Mobil had been complicit in serious human rights abuses in Aceh, Indonesia. MOI, established in 1968, was a joint venture between Mobil and the Indonesian oil company Pertamina. Based in Lhokseumawe, MOI was responsible for setting and managing the terms of the various contracts with Pertamina and the Indonesian government and for establishing and managing the exploration and exploitation operations. As a location, Aceh was far from convenient. But could any of the team at Mobil have imagined just how challenging managing operations in Aceh would be?

The case describes the creation and development of a joint venture (ATG) in China between a Japanese (Teikoku Piston Ring Co Ltd), a European (T&N plc) and a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise (SOE, APR) company. The JV is set up fast to benefit from central government tax breaks. However, moving into China and turning the SOE into a profitable concern presents some unforeseen challenges over and above the usual ones of a demotivated workforce and run-down machinery. The case follows the problems that emerge within ATG, notably those concerning quality, disappointing sales and lack of marketing expertise. There are also serious managerial differences that arise between the two MNC managers at the top who have different views on key investment issues. In addition the workers resent the new strict regime introduced by the Japanese General Manager and are suspicious of ATG's new profit agenda. Despite these problems ATG is profitable within a year

The case continues the story of the ATG joint venture described in case A. It charts the human resource and organisational changes that take place, and the resolution of various problems linked to the way the joint venture was set up, and the conflicting cultural differences between the partners. As a result, ATG emerges as a success, with expanding production and sales that make it number one in the Chinese piston ring market.

In April 2000, Yahoo! was sued by a French anti-racist group, on the grounds that Yahoo!'s online auctions of nazi items on its U.S. site violate French law. Yahoo! Inc. finally removed these items from its site in January 2001. The cases and its annexes present the economic, legal, technical, philosophical, cultural and managerial issues.

Case A: Presents three strategic options considered by a fictitious international oil and gas corporation to address the issue of climate change: fight against action, wait and see, and dynamic proactive.