Computex

Computex Corporation Case Report

Case Information

The Computex Corporation case is about sales representatives in Sweden who are unhappy with their current manager, Mr. Miller, so they write a letter to Peter who is the Vice President of the company. In this letter they explain how Mr. Miller’s behavior is unacceptable regarding human relationships and how he loses his temper almost daily. Since Mr. Miller’s mood and views change almost hour to hour stated by the representatives, this makes them uncomfortable to face him and they are often unclear on what their responsibilities are. Furthermore, Mr. Miller emphasizes his own visions for the future and how he wants to delegate the corporation. At the end of the letter, the Sweden employees simply ask Peter to take some kind of action regarding Mr. Millers behavior. They do not want to get rid of Mr. Miller, but want him to control his mood, show them respect, and stick to the corporation’s plans.

Issues/Problems

The problem with this case is mainly a cross-cultural one; Peter and Mr. Miller clearly did not know much about the Swedes. If they would have examined the Sweden culture more carefully they would have found out that Sweden is a very feminine country. With that being said, in Sweden an effective manager is supportive of their employees, and decision making is achieved through involvement. Also, managers strive for agreement and people value equality. This is clearly not the case in the situation with Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller is not supportive of the Swedes and does not involve them in the decision making. His mood outbursts and reactions intimidate the Swedes, so they are nervous to directly face him. Thus, this all creates one big problem: Mr. Miller does not know how to be an effective manager in Sweden due to the cultural differences.

What the U.S. should of done differently prior to expatriation

Prior to sending Mr. Miller over to Sweden, the corporation should have had him do some...