Roaring Dragon

Increase Cultural Sensitivity

The HI management team could have been more culturally sensitive while dealing with its new business in China. Instead of assuming Western solutions were the most suitable, the team could have analyzed the situation for a longer period of time to gain insight on the specific culture. The changes that were implemented went further than construction of a new wing, but all the way to an incompatible restaurant design and workday structure (Grainger, 2008). By examining other successful businesses in the region, HI would have been able to see what norms shaped Chinese business culture.

A major pitfall of the company was their sense of Western superiority. The redundancies that took place ignored Chinese customs and practices. The packages given out neglected the concept of saving face; a concept that is extremely important in the Chinese culture and that resulted in a wide array of consequences for the firm (Graham & Lam, 2003). The fact that HI, as a foreign company, needed to establish connections, they ended up prohibiting the possibility at ever forming them in the future. Rather, the company should have taken advantage of the collectivist nature to form relationships with the families working at the Roaring Dragon Hotel (Guirdham, 2011).

Prepare for Takeover

The need for an intermediary is highly important for foreigners to conduct business in China. Such social leverage allows a company to be respected and enter a market smoothly (Graham & Lam, 2003). HI brought in English management who did not speak mandarin and made quick decisions that were not appropriate for the Chinese environment. These decisions could have been improved had they incorporated a local business partner to help manage the team. An intermediary would have been absolutely necessary, since this hotel could not be treated like all the Western ones, to understand the sensitive business environment (Graham & Lam, 2003). However, the Roaring Dragon lost much of its...