CASE: EMERSON ELECTRIC - SUZHOU

I.Abstract
This case discusses a number of management and cross-cultural problems that a newly opened
branch of Emerson Electric in Suzhou (China) had to face in its early stages. Since the management
team consisted of many American expatriates, different perspectives of team dynamics, leadership
and time between the Americans and the Chinese managers became the roots of these issues. The
main message conveyed to global managers from this example is that there is no universality in
leadership style. Furthermore, global managers should recognize the importance of understanding
local cultures to be a successful leader in the daily business environment.

By considering GLOBE leadership dimensions and the variations in leadership characteristics

between China and the West, this presentation will further investigate on Emerson’s resolution of
this conflict and suggest some possible alternative ones.

III. Answers to case questions

Question 7.
The contradictory viewpoints on time-oriented goals between the Chinese and the American mainly
arise from the distinction in the basis of leadership between Eastern and Western traditions. It is
demonstrated in Exhibit 6.9 in the textbook (p.196):
 Particularly, to the Westerners, the ideal end state (eidos and telos) can be achieved by
carefully defined goals and purposeful actions. However, the Chinese do not look for an
ultimate end, they focus on balancing the opposing and complementary forces, or yin and
yang, so as to create favourable conditions for the process to evolve naturally.
 In other words, the Western leaders work on minimising the gap between the target and the
achievement, the ideal state and reality; while the Chinese leaders prefer minimising action
and leaving the situation to flow within its potential, so that its benefits and opportunities
can come to them.
 Accordingly, the processes applied by the Chinese would take more time and require
patience. In contrast, via the American approach, the short-term results can be obtained
after a sequence of well-implemented activities.
As the facility is based in China and most of the employees are Chinese, the American expats should
have gained a better understanding of the Chinese culture and how it influences the people’s work
systems before they came to work in China. The Chinese managers should have also explained to
them more clearly about their approach and the rationale behind it, which could have avoided
misunderstandings in communications between them.

Furthermore, this issue could have been compromised if the management team had combined both
leadership methods.
o For instance, the American managers always set the objectives that must reach the
‘ideal state’ and not contain errors right in the beginning, while this was definitely
not agreed by the Chinese. As the Chinese approach suggests, they should have
looked into more details and taken into account the external factors that might
 affect the results before setting those goals. This can ensure the consistency in the
quality of products and prevent potential hazards. Therefore, the Americans could
learn from this prudent thinking and set the goals more realistic to attain.
o In addition to that, according to Judy Zhang, who was one of the Chinese managers
positioned for Material Buyer, the Chinese employees also had to adapt to the way
that the Americans set target date. “The Americans set very tight deadlines that
were beyond our usual capabilities and then pushed the deadline and made
everybody very stressed. But after some time, we gradually got used to it and our
standard improved”
It would be best if a company's culture can be built in a way that aligns with the business core
values and allows employees to develop their skills. Together the managers can give them the
right direction and win their trust.

Question 8
Emerson recognized that the leadership style applied in their organization in the US clashed with
that manifested by the Chinese. From the theoretical point of view, the resolution implied by
Emerson depicts that they had altered their universal approach in leadership to the contingency
approach, which is demonstrated in Exhibit 6.2 (p.176)

In this case, the American managers initially exercised a leadership model that they assumed it was
universally applicable regardless of location. Correspondingly, they have not fully developed their
global mindset behind the normative approach. In accordance with this approach, any foreigners
who work in China may not succeed if they are unable to adjust their attitudes to suit the local
Chinese working environment.

Emerson eventually realised that the Chinese traditions had a huge impact on their Chinese
employees’ work behaviours as well as their employer-employee relationship. This is evident from
the GLOBE study results. Overall showing systematic trends in leadership characteristics across
cultures as American managers often score high in characteristics such as assertiveness,
performance orientation and future orientation whereas the Chinese often score higher on power
distance, in-group collectivism and uncertainty avoidance.

The American managers might have acknowledged it, however, it would be difficult for them to
change their management style suddenly. On the other hand, Chinese employees who make up a
huge part of the organization would not be able to deal with sudden changes that counteracts with
their beliefs if the American style was implemented. Therefore, replacing people who were more
familiar with the their own cultures was a right decision.

It wasn’t appropriate to have all American managers who didn’t understand management in China
due to a company in China having very different cultural beliefs, values, and processes in society and
the workplace. However, this could have been resolved a lot earlier in the process.

What Emerson Should Have Done:

 Firstly, they should have realised the differences in management across cultures earlier.
Emerson needed to be more proactive in their selection of managers, as they waited too
long for the conflict to arise.
 Furthermore, they should have provided training for the American expatriates on the
Chinese customs that they may encounter in advance.
 They could also have integrated both Western & Eastern leadership styles into the business
instead of only opting to use one.
 Regular performance reviews are needed to assess overall how the business is going under
the new management

V. Conclusion
 Overall global managers need to understand themselves as leaders, clarify their
expectations and lead from the front. As a result the likeliness of organisational success can
be increased due to customer and employee satisfaction.