Living and Working in Korea

Essay by desakiUniversity, Master'sB-, February 2008

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

Downloaded 46 times

Ellen Moore Living and Working in KoreaHow do you think Ellen and Andrew can get the consulting project back on track?Ellen Moore, a systems consultant, was sent to Korea to manage a project involving a team of North American and Korean consultants representing a joint venture between a major Korean conglomerate and a significant North American information technology company. The Americans were to be involved for the first seven months in order to transfer expertise and knowledge to the South Koreans who had little experience in this area. Andrew Kilpatrick, Ellen's superior had played an integral part in securing the contract in Korea due to his depth of knowledge on the subject. He chose Ellen to be the key North American project manager because she had significant project management skills and impressive international experience. Upon Ellen's arrival, she discovered that the Korean consultants were far less skilled than she had expected.

In addition, Ellen had understood that she and the Korean manager, Jack, were to be co-managers but immediately tensions arose regarding who was giving direction to the team and the scope of the project. Tensions escalated until it was clear that the project was behind schedule and the Koreans were not taking direction from Ellen. The Koreans insisted that Ellen was the problem. Ellen's superior disagreed; he and Ellen must decide how to proceed.

When people come from different backgrounds it is difficult to adjust and the impact shown affects the success of the company. Normally gender shouldn't be a problem, communication should exist and proper actions should be made so that the company won't pay the cost. The challenge is to balance strategic goals with individual action made from both sides.

It is obvious that the main problem was caused by gender issues. In Korea it is risky...