Karen Leary Case

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The most significant problem between Karen Leary and Ted Chung, who is Taiwanese, is the fact that Karen Leary failed to educate herself about Taiwanese culture while trying to develop the Taiwanese market. By hiring Ted Chung to gain Taiwanese clients, Karen had trouble understanding and communicating with Ted and his Taiwanese client due to cultural differences. Karen deemed it inappropriate the way that Ted developed Taiwanese clients, as well as, Ted’s rejection of corporate culture, sharing information, and his lack of cooperation. Even though Karen did not agree with how Ted handled himself, Karen did not put a stop to the way that Ted operated at work compared to other financial consultants at Merrill Lynch. Furthermore, Karen became an overbearing manager and watched Ted’s every move. Additionally, Ted made a request for his own office, and if granted, could create havoc among Karen’s financial consultants.

Since the main problem here is culture differences, Karen and Ted need to become more aware of each other’s culture. This can be accomplished by having diversity training seminars at Merrill Lynch. By learning about other cultures, their behaviors and the ways to communicate with people from other cultures, Karen and Ted would be able to understand each other and communicate better. Not only would this help managers like Karen Leary understand their own employees, it would also help managers understand perspective markets. Next, all employees should be treated the same no matter what culture they come from. Karen let Ted get away with inappropriate behavior at work. Ted did not follow corporate culture and was non-cooperative at times. This is where an employee handbook describing job descriptions, procedures, and violations would come in handy. All employees should know when hired what their job requirements are. The employee handbook would benefit both Karen and Ted. Karen would not have become an overbearing manager and Ted...