個案總覽

Leaders who leverage difference are able to take a fresh stance! This note explores the proposition that the "diversity is good for business" premise is a function of individuals' and organizations' inability to fully capitalize on the impact diversity can have on broad organizational functioning. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the note proposes a new diversity model that focuses on what needs to be in place in order to leverage difference, not merely tolerate, appreciate, or celebrate it.

Vivek Paul was hired to run the IT division of a global company that originally sold cooking oil. Paul was brought on board to develop Wipro Technologies into a leading provider of software services to the world's largest corporations. He was a native of India, yet was educated and had worked in the United States for many years. Paul faced a number of challenges in achieving this goal. His most immediate challenge was attracting, developing, and retaining key talent. Paul needed someone at the helm who had established relationships and held credibility with the employees at Wipro Technologies' Indian operation centers. He wanted someone who knew the Indian corporate culture and who had the cross-cultural sophistication that comes from extended expatriate experience to be the director of Wipro Technologies Europe. Sudip Nandy was the perfect fit for such an assignment. This story illustrates the cultural challenges of transforming an Indian company to enhance its global effectiveness. The A case discusses some of the methods Wipro used to leverage diversity in the workforce to create competitive advantage for the firm. The B case further describes some of Nandy's ideas for business growth. In the C case, Nandy reviews more strategies and updates the business situation to late 2002. The Wipro series illustrates the importance of national culture and ethnicity issues to everything a large corporation does--including its own culture of origin, the cultures of its potential customers, and the cultures of its employees. The cases lend themselves well to the unfolding of the Hofstede cultural model during class.

Vivek Paul was hired to run the IT division of a global company that originally sold cooking oil. Paul was brought on board to develop Wipro Technologies into a leading provider of software services to the world's largest corporations. He was a native of India, yet was educated and had worked in the United States for many years. Paul faced a number of challenges in achieving this goal. His most immediate challenge was attracting, developing, and retaining key talent. Paul needed someone at the helm who had established relationships and held credibility with the employees at Wipro Technologies' Indian operation centers. He wanted someone who knew the Indian corporate culture and who had the cross-cultural sophistication that comes from extended expatriate experience to be the director of Wipro Technologies Europe. Sudip Nandy was the perfect fit for such an assignment. This story illustrates the cultural challenges of transforming an Indian company to enhance its global effectiveness. The A case discusses some of the methods Wipro used to leverage diversity in the workforce to create competitive advantage for the firm. The B case further describes some of Nandy's ideas for business growth. In the C case Nandy reviews more strategies and updates the business situation to late 2002. The Wipro series illustrates the importance of national culture and ethnicity issues to everything a large corporation does--including its own culture of origin, the cultures of its potential customers, and the cultures of its employees. The cases lend themselves well to the unfolding of the Hofstede cultural model during class.

Managing conflict and differences has always been an essential, but challenging, skill for effective managers to master. This case was designed to build expertise in conflict management and assertiveness. Grounded in the pedagogy of experiential learning, the case consists of three role-play scenarios that exemplify three challenging business situations. In each scenario, two individuals are faced with a possible difference in perspective or goals. The role-play requires students to assume the role of one of the individuals, and each scenario requires another student to initiate the discussion.

This technical note explains how group membership affects who a person thinks she or he is and how that person behaves in organizations. Hofstedes's levels of identity model are introduced and a simple description of Social Identity Theory is laid out. This note is a helpful tool for discussions about group differences because it argues that identification as a group member is not inconsistent with also being a unique individual. The note was written for use in Interpersonal Behavior and can be useful in a range of organizational behavior courses.

How does the new president of an IT division of a global company that originally sold cooking oil attract, develop, and retain key talent in the quick changing high tech business? The story illustrates the cultural challenges of transforming an Indian company to enhance its global effectiveness. The (A) case demonstrates some of the methods Wipro Technologies used to leverage difference in the workforce to create competitive advantage for the firm. The (B) case further describes some of Sudip Nandy's ideas for business growth. In the (C) case Nandy reviews more strategies and updates the business situation to late 2002. Wipro illustrates the importance of national culture and ethnicity issues to everything a large corporation does--including its own culture of origin, the cultures of its potential customers, and the cultures of its employees. The case lends itself well to unfold the Hofstede cultural model during the class.

This note outlines a set of behavioral techniques for expressing emotion effectively in interpersonal interactions. The skillful expression of emotion holds a number of benefits in interpersonal interactions. The note begins with the premise that emotions are always present in every interaction, no matter the topic or the participants. Expressing those emotions, instead of merely suppressing them, by using the techniques described in the note leads to greater effectiveness in interpersonal interactions.

Charles Grace and Jerome Hicks were seated beside each other at a meeting the president of Chase Manhattan Bank Delaware had called. Hicks and Grace were financial associates at Chase Manhattan and members of the Urban Bankers Coalition. As they listened to the president's speech they were staggered to hear him say, "...we need more people to become involved in our community enhancement programs-dedicated employees like Jerome Hicks and Charles Grace who helped Chase Manhattan be named bank of the year for two years straight." His sentence lay like an unexploded bomb between Hicks and Grace. They were aware that all eyes had turned towards them. They had already sensed that some of their colleagues and superiors were uncomfortable with the relationship they had developed with the president. Why did they feel like this would be the last step over the edge???This case opens the door to discuss relationship building and special challenges those in the minority face in building relationships.

This note can be used in conjunction with any class session where the learning objective is understanding how to manage conflict within organizations. It focuses on interpersonal-conflict styles and offers prescriptions for what styles are appropriate for various conflict situations.

This technical note outlines the core skills needed to give and receive feedback effectively. It is most appropriate for helping managers practice ways of dealing with feedback. These solutions minimize defensiveness and increase the probability that the feedback, whether positive or negative, will be acted upon.

This note describes the range of skills that can be used to listen skillfully. The skill set is conceptualized as a continuum to help students learn when and where to utilize the different skills. The note is designed for use in an interpersonal-behavior elective session on listening or in any course in which a primer on listening would be useful.

Although most major corporations in the United States claim they are attempting to create a workplace environment reflective of society's diversity (race, gender, etc.), there is a lack of available information describing the successes and failures of their efforts. This note provides a legal and statistical framework for evaluating (1) the federal government's involvement in antidiscrimination efforts, (2) a history of the prevalence and resolution of discrimination claims during the 1990s, and (3) a statistical analysis of U.S. workforce demographics and compensation levels.

This case and its B companion case explore the challenges facing an African American executive trying to manage organizational responses to diversity problems. Jeff Fairbanks, vice president for Strategic Human Resources at MOEX Corporation, had received a call the previous day from Jeri Caldwell, who related the details of what she called the "Friday blowout." She had been passed over for a promotion--the third time. During a meeting with her manager, she found herself yelling in frustration and then storming out of his office. She asked Fairbanks to meet with her to discuss what she should do next. Normally, Fairbanks would not meet informally with an employee at the center of such a volatile situation but instead would have one of his subordinates take care of it. However, Fairbanks didn't feel these were normal circumstances. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to handle the situation.

This note identifies a set of core competencies for managing a diverse workforce effectively. It can be used as a supplemental reading for any case discussion that explores ways managers handle diversity dilemmas, and it is useful for both individual and interpersonal levels of analysis.