Report on the Case

“Liu Bai: A Chinese Successor’s Dilemma”

In partial fulfilment of WAC course

PGP 2018-20
Term - II

Submitted By:
Siddhant Singh
2015IPM107
Section F

Submitted To:
Prof. Urjani Chakravarty

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT INDORE

Prabandh Shikhar, Rau-Pithampur Road, Indore – 453556 (MP), India
 Letter of Transmittal

To: Prof. Urjani Chakravarty

From: Siddhant Singh
Subject: Submission of case analysis report

Dear Ma’am,

I am making this submission in partial fulfilment of the WAC course.

This document contains my analysis of the case “Liu Bai: A Chinese Successor’s Dilemma”
as my submission towards the individual-assignment component. I have followed the standard
WAC structure as discussed in class and have attempted to critically evaluate various
alternative course of actions available to the protagonist.

Should a need arise, I would be happy to clarify any point or argument made by me in this
report.

Yours sincerely,
Siddhant Singh
2015IPM107
Section F

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 Executive Summary

This report addresses the dilemma faced by Liu Bai, an affluent, hard-working and talented
Chinese youth who had left his home to pursue an independent career in London. Bai had been
the heir to an extremely wealthy Chinese family who ran a sugar trading company in Southeast
Asia. Bai had decided to against tradition and leave his family’s business empire to evade his
father’s disquieting behavior towards him. Having been given an ultimatum by his father to
sell the struggling business should he not come back, Bai has to choose between continuing his
thriving career in London and going back to take-over his family business. The report
thoroughly analyses several options faced by Liu Bai at this juncture and recommends that he
should remain in London, given his current level of contentment.

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 Contents

1. Situation Analysis
2. Problem Statement
3. Options
4. Criteria for Evaluation
5. Evaluation of Options
6. Recommendation
7. Plan of Action

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 Situation Analysis

Liu Bai is a skilled 35-year-old Chinese youth working at Tate & Lyle. He belonged was an
heir to a wealthy business family who ran a sugar trading firm in Malaysia. As a son of an
affluent family, he had lived a privileged live and had easily risen up the ranks in his
professional career given his family's deep-rooted network.

However, he was not originally meant to live abroad. He had chosen to do so after he felt
suppressed by his authoritarian father during his training days. His father's irrational criticism
and exploitation lead him to leave his home, and upon completing his MBA in the US, he
moved to London to pursue an independent career in the same industry as his family business
was in.

His family had cut off all ties with him and he had not spoken to them for 5 years before one
fine day, when his father Hong called him. Hong expressed his inability to continue running
the company and save it from failing after recent floods and political unrest in the country. He
suggested that Bai should come to Malaysia and work for his family business. He adds that his
only other resort would be to sell, which would be a disgrace on all living members of the
family and the memory of the earlier generations.

Problem Statement

Given that all alternatives of the decision would have a personal impact on him and his family,
should Liu Bai forget the hardships faced by him at home and return to Malaysia to take over
his family business?

Options

 Liu Bai could choose to ignore his father’s call and continue living in status quo,
continuing his professional career in London.
 Bai could head-back to Malaysia and collaborate with his father and family to help them
run the business, to eventually inherit the business his great-grandfather had founded.
 Bai could come up with a middle-course solution, suggesting that he can go back to
help his family business out of the current situation, post which he would come back
and continue his life as is.

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 Criteria for Evaluation

1. Personal Happiness & Satisfaction: Bai can choose to stay back in London owing to his
current state of satisfaction and content with his living standards. He has grown to his ranks
independently and may like to continue living his live as is.
2. Aspirational Success in career: The amount of success can be subjective but is largely
measurable by the rank at which Bai would be working and the status he would have achieved
by the choice he makes.
3. Improving currently strained relations: The relations between Bai and his family have
long been strained and the decision may or may not lead to the relationships getting mended.
4. Family’s reputation at stake: The family business carries with it the pride and esteem of
the family in the society which is an added motivation to save the business apart from economic
profits.

Evaluation of Alternatives

Serial No. Options  Ignore Hong’s Go to Help bring

call and stay Malaysia and business
in london take over back on
Evaluation Criteria business track and
return

1. Personal Happiness & ✓✓ ×× ✓

Satisfaction

2. Professional Success ✓ ✓ May or

may not be

3. Improving currently strained × ✓ May or

relations may not be

4. Family reputation at stake × May or may ✓

not be

1. Ignore Hong’s call and stay in London: The option provides for Pai to continue owing
his independent space and not fall for potential tantrum that his father may have thrown
to get him back to his home. This is critical given the emotional trauma faced by Bai
from his father, and Bai would like to avoid any chance of him getting back into the
vicious loop of his family’s culture.

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 2. Go to Malaysia and take over business: This option would lead him to sacrifice all
the success he has achieved until now and move to an inherited success-base, something
he does not completely identify with.

3. Help bring business back on track and return: This option opens up the opportunity
to contribute to the family without committing to his father. However, this makes Bai
vulnerable to his father’s efforts to keep back his son.

Recommendation

On the basis of the aforementioned reasoning and critical analysis, it is recommended that Lui
Bai should stay back in London. Given he has kept himself distanced from his family for five
years without any issues, he can continue with the status-quo and focus on his own priorities.

Plan of Action

Bai should call his father to let him know that he has decide to not come back. He can let him
know that he does not fully associate or identify with his family business. Moreover, he should
express his feelings about his childhood which have played a crucial part in his decision. He
should additionally offer to extend all financial and operational support that he can provide
remotely from London.

Contingency Plan

It his highly likely that his father might try to sabotage his career as a retaliation. For such a
situation, Bai should keep his job security on priority and could possibly keep his company’s
senior leadership in the loop about his personal situation.