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net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

Volume-7, Issue-5, September-October 2017

International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
Page Number: 194-201

A Comprehensive Analysis on Cultural Diversity

Akkinapally Yugendhar1, PVS Lenin Kumar2
1
Director: Eilei Online Education and Faculty: EThames Degree College, Hyderabad, INDIA
2
Faculty: EThames Degree College, Hyderabad, INDIA

ABSTRACT having to decide on letting one of the company’s most

Diversity has become an integral part in any promising sales associates basically do whatever he
business desiring to obtain growth and success. As wanted, or letting him go and quite possibly hurting her
demographics in the labor force continue to change, and career. Poor decisions made early on steered Peterson to
worldwide markets develop, diversity in the workforce has this point, and now had forced her into a possible no win
become a necessity. This is displayed in the Harvard
situation.
Business School’s Wendy Peterson case study. The company
AccountBack, had recently promoted Wendy Peterson to
Vice President of Sales at the Plano Texas office. Peterson II. CASE ANALYSIS AND
had developed a strategy to breach an emerging Chinese ORGANIZATION
market in the area, but felt she lacked the right personnel. In
light of this, Peterson hired business professional, Fred
This case analysis paper is written for the purpose
(Xing) Wu, who had access to the Chinese market leaders in
the Plano area. After only a few months working for of analyzing the Wendy Peterson Brief Case, and then
AccountBack, Wu signed the office’s largest client. Peterson offering recommendations to the aforementioned situation.
was pleased since it showed her strategy was working, but she This paper offers analysis by utilizing given background
was not pleased with the way Wu neglected to follow information and assumptions, and answering the given
company policy and her guidance. Because of this, Peterson case related questions. The team accomplished this by use
had doubts about their working relationship and Wu’s future of applicable literature, theories, methods, and their
with the AccountBack. Wu appeared to not take Peterson’s leadership knowledge. This is by no means meant to
concerns seriously and even requested an assistant. Later he represent the only actions Peterson could have taken, but
stated he had been offered an opportunity with a competitor.
simply what the team felt where the most relevant.
Peterson felt she needed to either grant Wu’s request, or let
him go. Peterson knew her decision would no doubt affect This paper is organized as follows. First, in
the office personnel’s morale, her growth plan for the area, Section III Background, an account and overview of the
and possibly even her career. This decision may never have case will be discussed. Then, in Section IV Questions and
been necessary if Peterson would have taken the time to Analysis, the case related questions, Part One and Part
study the Chinese cultural customs and values, and then Two (seven questions), will be listed and then answered
focused on similarities instead of differences. Then perhaps, accordingly. After that, in Section V Recommendations,
she would have noticed that she was not integrating Wu into the case related question Part Three will be listed,
the company, she was alienating him. answered, and also serve as the recommendation given by
the team. Finally, in Section VI Conclusion, the case study
Keywords-- CEO, AccountBack, Products and the team’s recommendations will be discussed.

III. BACKGROUND
I. INTRODUCTION
AccountBack and New CEO
Decisions AccountBack was founded by Will Gleason, a
Important decisions should not be, and are not, former account, and Travis Hardiman, a software engineer,
easily made. Generally, a single important decision will who designed and built software which automated
have a considerable effect on all future endeavors. This accounting functions for small and medium-sized
was the case for Wendy Peterson, a newly promoted Vice businesses. The software had a modular design and was
President of Sales for AccountBack. Peterson was caught
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easily adapted to businesses changing needs. The software Fred (Xing) Wu

was well received and in time, contract renewals generated Fred (Xing) Wu was a 39 year old Chinese male
the greatest income. Businesses which initially licensed who immigrated to the United States in 2004. Once in the
the software, did so at a hefty price. With costs of U.S., his entrepreneurial spirit shone and he established
licensing the software and training of employees, it and sold a successful printing business within a few years.
generally made financial sense for most businesses to stay After this, he went to work for a U.S. based Chinese
with AccountBack for “at least four years.” This earned manufacturing company, as a sales executive. Because of
the firm a great deal of revenue, even though, with time his previous printing business and his participation in
the business started to backslide. Chinese social activities in the Dallas and Plano areas,
Because of this, the firm hired a new Chief Peterson felt Wu was the person she had been looking for.
Executive Officer (CEO), who “was determined to reignite Even though, he had “little hands-on experience in
the company’s growth.” One of the first things he did was software sales”, Peterson was “impressed with his access
to replace a number of vice presidents of sales, with “the to executives at” the target companies. Peterson did not
company’s most enterprising young sales directors.” initially “click” with Wu, but believed the relationship
Wendy Peterson was selected as one of these new leaders. would progress over time.
She was promoted to vice president of sales for Wu’s first month at the office was notable. He
AccountBack’s Plano, Texas, office. If her office met arrived early to work and often stayed late, and appeared
revenue goals set by the company, she and the team would very dedicated to learning the company’s products and
receive a “substantial bonus.” services. During this time Wu was very inquisitive and
Wendy Peterson Peterson was impressed with his attention to detail. After
Wendy Peterson joined AccountBack right out of a month, it was time to establish Wu’s sales revenue goals.
college. She had graduated, at the top of her class, with a Wu stated he might need additional time to land large
degree in economics from an Ivy League university. She Chinese accounts. Even though this was uncommon,
was a very hard worker and “excelled as a junior Peterson agreed since she felt a longer sales cycle would
manager”. She received praise from both “clients and give him more time to build relationships. After this
colleagues” no matter where she was. Peterson started out meeting is when Wu started to change.
“working on and managing client engagements.” She later The Chinese Market and Office Conduct
moved over to sales, and even though she had never been Wu vigorously set out to engage the local
involved with direct sales before, she excelled again. Chinese business leaders, and from that point on was
Because of this and more, she was selected to be a new rarely seen in the office. Peterson became concerned with
vice president and manage the Plano sales team. this, since she had specifically informed him she liked to
Peterson was the youngest vice president for maintain daily contact. When present, Wu would keep to
AccountBack when she took over the Plano office. The himself and rarely participated in office functions. Wu
office had 11 salespeople, 3 sales assistants, and an annual failed to perform simple tasks required by all the sales
revenue stream of $9 million. When she arrived at the associates. When confronted with this disregard for
office she immediately began to implement efforts to policy, Wu stated he was too busy or it conflicted with
energize the workers. She “brought in specialists from engagements he had committed to with business leaders.
inside and outside the company to educate” the team on After a few more months Peterson became even more
the industry and the company’s services. She was hard concerned, but Wu reassured her he was close to landing a
working and most felt encouraged by her, and appreciated very big deal and that it took time. Shortly after this, Wu
her efforts. Of course not everyone felt this way, and some signed his first account.
deemed her efforts as overzealous. One AccountBack Wu managed to land a deal which would be
veteran “resisted her” and her initiatives. Peterson worth over $400,000 in annual fees. This new client
terminated him, despite his longevity and successful track would be “the single-largest client of the downtown
record with the firm.” office.” Peterson was pleased, and felt relieved since it
While there, Peterson did research which revealed validated her strategy for the Chinese market. Later she
“a cluster of fast-growing service businesses founded by “noticed an increase in quarterly earnings from the client.”
Chinese entrepreneurs from mainland China” in the area. She was told Wu had invoiced the client for additional
Part of Peterson’s growth plan for the office was “breaking add-on services without informing her; company policy
into and dominating this market.” It was a “close-knit stated managers must approve such services. Peterson
Chinese business community,” and she felt she would need asked Wu why he would sale the client such services so
to hire someone who could win their business. Diversity early on. Wu was taken aback by the questions and walked
was lacking in the office so she put out to hire a Mandarin out of her office, only to return a few moments later with
speaking business professional. The person whose resume an email validating the customer’s request for the services.
rose to the top was Fred (Xing) Wu.

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Peterson “firmly reminded him” that her approval would alone and to just assure Peterson everything was fine and
be needed for any future changes to a client’s service plan. that, “he was making significant progress”, and “in the
A short time later, Peterson met with Wu to go coming months, he would close a deal.” This follows a
over his annual review. She reminded him of company study by Shehane, Huan, & Ali (2014), which found that
policy and how she liked to be “kept abreast” of his Chinese business management practices rarely encourage
endeavors. She wanted him to start summarizing his transparency, or employee involvement and participation.
“efforts every few days” on the company’s online sales Wu demonstrated his resistance to involvement and his
tool. Also she questioned some of the decisions he had introversion in that he “rarely chatted with the rest of us
made during the year. With this Wu stated since he had about anything outside of work”, and opted not to join in
the largest client for the office, he wanted an assistant. for office gatherings.
Peterson instinctively identified the request as Wu preferred to spend most of his time
unreasonable, but needed to take into account the developing business relationships in accordance with the
consequences of any decision she would make. Later in Chinese customs and culture, as stated by Xiao-Morris
the day, Wu told Peterson, “A competitor had approached (2010). Peterson stated Wu spent most of his time in the
him recently about an opportunity.” Even though, he office for the first month, but after that, he was rarely
appreciated Peterson’s dedication and AccountBack’s there. He neglected to perform simple tasks, simply
products, he felt he would not be able to continue as a stating, “he was just too busy.” He felt the regular office
sales executive without an assistant. Peterson asked for tasks were not as important as building relationships.
Wu to please reconsider his request and possible decision, Once developed, the business relationship was not
and for them to meet tomorrow to talk about it. Peterson something the Chinese pass on to others. When Peterson
knew any decision she would make would affect the office suggested that she or someone else in the office
and possibly her future. Peterson wondered how it had accompany him to his meetings, he quickly dismissed the
gotten to this point, and if she really only had “two choices idea. This business relationship is something the Chinese
– terminate or cave.” maintain and develop, in accordance with the guanxi
(reciprocal favor) and xinyong (personal trust) principles,
IV. QUESTIONS AND ANALYSIS according to Zhao, Flynn, and Roth (2006). This of course
led to most of Wu’s time being spent with prospective
Key Cultural Factors clients, not in business settings, but rather in social settings
Identify what the group sees as key cultural in order to build xinyong. When confronted by Peterson,
factors related to this case from the perspective of United Wu would not argue or question Peterson’s logic, he
States culture and from the perspective of Chinese culture. would simply avoid confrontation and just assure her all
Discuss each factor and show how they might impact how was well. This behavior is in line with research on how
the behaviors of both Wendy Peterson and Wu in the Chinese core cultural values influence business, by Roth,
Plano branch office. Tsay, Pullman, & Gray (2008).
The key cultural factors the group identified were In contrast to Chinese culture, according to Hall
the Chinese are a High Context culture favoring an (1989), Americans are a Low Context culture and prefer
implicit communication style, are more introverted, prefer an explicit communication style. Peterson demonstrated
business relations to be more relationship-based than this by expressing how she felt and identifying what she
transaction-based, value outside the office relations more, expected from her employees. When speaking with Wu
and prefer to avoid conflict. In contrast, Americans are a she stated, “I’d like to be kept abreast of your development
Low Context culture favoring an explicit communications efforts, so I know when and if you need help from me, or
style, are more extroverted, prefer business relations to be someone else in the company.” Peterson was more
more transaction-based than relationship-based, value in extroverted and “rarely spent time in her office. She had a
office relations more, and prefer to actively identify and “hands-on approach”, “liked real-time updates”, and was
resolve problems. known for “generating ideas for new business” in the
Since Wu was born and raised in China, he would office. Even though, some of the employees did not
have been more prone to act in accordance with Chinese appreciate these methods, and thought of her more as an
culture rather than American. This showed in his dealings overzealous micro-manager.
with Peterson, AccountBack personnel, and his business Since Peterson had developed management skills
clients. According to Hall (1989), the Chinese culture is established in Americanized business principles, she was
High Context and given more to implicit communication. more inclined to have daily office contact with her sales
Wu demonstrated this by not directly coming out and staff. She felt business should be done in the office, where
discussing how he felt or specifically how his current she could be keep abreast of daily activities and kept in the
business dealings were progressing. Wu preferred to work loop of any sales progress. Peterson looked at business
relationships as transaction-based, and once the initial

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relationship was established, it would be handed over to an superior and therefore the idea that he should be treated
account service manager. She, as well as the American differently.
businesses AccountBack dealt with, had no problem with Next let us take a look at Peterson. For social
this, as long as contracts were honored and customer diversity we are informed that Peterson was a female who
service upheld. If a problem or issue was to arise, was approximately 30 years old. For functional diversity,
Peterson would attempt to identify it and actively resolve Peterson had graduated top of her class from an Ivy
it. This is in line with findings in the research of Roth et League university, and had at least eight years of
al., (2008). Peterson attempted to do this with Wu, but it functional expertise in sales and management with
went against his understanding of how to deal with and AccountBack. She was no stranger to how the business
resolve conflict. Since neither clearly understood exactly operated and in fact had developed new programs utilized
how the others culture dealt with an issue, they found by the company, and generated “lots of new business.”
themselves not knowing how to move forward. She had recently been promoted and was serving as the
Diversity Characteristics youngest vice president in AccountBack, and was in
Identify characteristics related to diversity (other charge of an “annual revenue stream of $9 million and a
than U.S. and Chinese culture). Discuss each of these team of 11 salespeople, and three sales assistants.”
characteristics and show how they might impact the With these characteristics one might understand
behaviors of both Wendy Peterson and Wu in the Plano how the behavior of Peterson might have been one of
branch office. confidence in her ability, and in her newly instituted
For this question the group decided to focus on management techniques. She was assigned to a senior
two types of diversity, those being, Social diversity, and position and had the confidence of the new CEO behind
Functional diversity. According to Simons & Rowland her. With her Ivy League education and successes up to
(2011), Horwitz states, social diversity includes Age, this point, it would have been difficult to influence her
Gender, and Race/Ethnicity, and functional diversity initiatives or cause change to her way of management.
includes Functional expertise, Education, and Tenure (at This was displayed when she terminated a successful
organization). veteran sales executive for resisting her way of doing
First we will start with Wu. For social diversity things and questioning her management technique.
we are informed that Wu was a 39 year old male Chinese Plano Branch Office
immigrant. For functional diversity, Wu had functional How has Wendy Peterson taken charge of the
expertise as a businessman and had “launched and Plano branch office?
operated a successful printing business in Dallas.” He had Peterson managed the Plano office well. She
experienced entrepreneurship and sold his business for a developed a vision, set standards, planned, and executed
profit. Later he went on to work as a sales executive for a professional development exercises for her team to
U.S. based Chinese manufacturing company. Wu had participate in, both in and out of the office. Peterson
spent two years in the U.S. for college, where he studied displayed confidence, and in return hoped this would rub
business and economics. Wu was new to the off on her staff. She went into the position knowing it
AccountBack, and hired by Peterson because of his access would be a challenge, but she possessed the strong will to
to “close-knit Chinese business community” in the Plano succeed. She motivated those around her to work towards
area. one common goal: increase the company’s sales.
With these characteristics one might understand "Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality."
how the behavior of Wu would be different than an (Key-Roberts, 2014). Peterson does this by making her
average American sales associate. Wu was a more mature vision a reality for the office. Even though you cannot
male and had the knowledge of how to start and run a always make everyone happy, the proof was in the
successful business in a foreign country. He may never numbers. “Under my direction our performance improved,
have worked for a woman before, and was possibly and the team exceeded 2010 targets for new business by
accustom to doing things his way and by himself. Since 15%”. Peterson was building cohesion amongst her staff;
he had owned his own business he did not have to report to it showed in their work results. “Resistance is part of the
a manager or management. When he did work for a human condition. If it were easy to change, we would all
business, it was in China or in the U.S. for a Chinese be enlightened masters at this point, for we would be able
owned business. These businesses would have more than to follow through on practicing the actions we know are
likely followed Chinese practices and he would have had good for us” (Paul, 2014). Resistance is the action, and
more freedom to do his own thing as long as he was emotion displayed by Peterson’s colleagues. People do not
producing. Even though, Wu was new to AccountBack, like change; it gives them an uncomfortable feeling, while
after only a few months he was more successful than most already being forced to meet new expectations. This
other sales associates. This may have made him feel proved Wendy was taking full responsibility, for
everything the office did or failed to do. She was caring

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for her staff with compassion, through the lunch parties, things just like we do” (Psychology Dictionary, 2015).
and team building exercises. She took charge of the office Cultural diversity is something that Peterson needed to
by leading from the front, and inspired her staff to be the consider when dealing with Wu and she had not
best. experienced this set back before. Regardless, if she agreed
Evaluating Wu’s Performance to his request, she would be going against her rules for
What is your evaluation of Wu’s performance? other sales employees and that could create further tension
Wu’s performance was unclear. Although he had landed in the workplace. Typically only the most senior
one large client which would generated sizable revenue, he salespeople at AccountBack received their own assistant
sold software add-ons that the client didn’t necessarily who had more than 30 accounts each and other salespeople
need. This leads one to question Wu’s integrity. Why sell at the company shared assistants. Wendy Peterson should
a client items they don’t need if your employer is not not give in to Wu’s request. Managing cultural diversity
pushing for it? His work ethic was also questionable. He in the workplace requires communication, team building,
was not in the office very much because he said he was time, and timetables, which Peterson clearly developed.
supposedly meeting with clients. He never updated his She sat down with Wu when he first started and developed
sales reports and turned in the bare minimum that was a clear sales strategy, even being a little more lenient on
required. All these factors can lead one to believe that Wu him than the others by giving him a longer sales cycle at
was not passionate about his job. Wu appeared to be six months instead of the normal three month mark. Wu
selfish, and not a team player; this was demonstrated in his agreed to these established guidelines, yet continued to go
day to day actions. Wu printed his business card in against the grain.
Chinese (Mandarin) instead of keeping it how the Peterson never took the time to understand Wu’s
company published it. There is always somebody amongst cultural beliefs, schedules, and communication style which
the team who wants to be different, and creativity should was obviously different than what she was accustomed to.
be encouraged, but Wu’s actions appeared to scream: me, Although communication is the key for business to be
me, me. It seemed as if he was at this job for selfish effective, people from Asian cultures often are disinclined
reasons; to heighten his public persona amongst the to give their manager bad news. Another difference in
Chinese businesses. He did not attend meetings, and his cultures is how time is viewed. The meaning of a schedule
communication was poor with Peterson. Wu did a great or deadline and its perception could cause a great
job in the sales arena with the Chinese market, but was misunderstanding. Peterson had a welcome lunch for Wu
lacking in team cohesion and the following of instructions. and allowed him to spend his first few weeks reviewing
Effective communication is vital, and Wu was being AccountBack’s suite of products and services. This was a
perceived that he was better than everyone else. Due to great introduction to the company, however Peterson
his access to the Chinese market, he felt he was entitled to should have sat down with Wu and taken the time to get to
an assistant. Peterson could possibly improve the know him before she started giving him sales goals and so
relationship, by sitting down and speaking with Wu. forth. By understanding Wu’s culture and how he
Hearing him out, and in return him listening to her, and interacted with others, she would have developed a better
then maybe the two could come to an agreement. understanding of the cultural differences.
Response to Wu’s Performance Evaluating Peterson’s Performance
If you were Peterson, how would you respond to If you were Peterson’s regional director (her
Wu’s request for an assistant? What factors would you immediate supervisor), how would you evaluate her
consider? What specific actions would you take to improve performance? What factors would you use as the basis of
Wu’s performance, as well as your working relationship your evaluation?
with him? People in new leadership positions often feel
One of the reasons that Peterson brought Wu onto stressed to lead in a particular dominant way. Peterson
her sales team is because she wanted to go in a new showed very good leadership qualities with her sales team,
direction and her current sales team lacked the specialist however there were a couple of things which were lacking.
knowledge to make that happen. Wu impressed Peterson She was unable to build a personal relationship with some
with signing his first large client with annual fees of over of them, including Wu. Without this personal connection,
$400,000. Wu established relationships with the Chinese her subordinates could not follow her no matter how great
market; however he was going against protocol when of a leader she was. She had a strong vision of how
asking for an assistant, being a new employee. Wendy thing’s should be done, yet the way that Wu worked
Peterson had a tough dilemma when trying to decide conflicted with her leadership style. Peterson was not sure
whether or not Wu should have his own assistant. “People if the problems stemmed from her leadership style or if it
of different cultures see the world even more differently was due to cross cultural differences.
from us than we are used to, yet the false consensus effects Although her leadership style may have worked
leads us to behave as though people of other cultures see with most of her sales team, it was not effective across the

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board so she should have reconsidered her approach with Chinese market and having strong roots in Chinese culture.
some of them. Peterson should have focused on the Wu would surely be an asset by Peterson’s account.
development of her subordinates. “Leaders who are aware AccountBack and Peterson employed an
of subordinates strengths are more likely to place them in ethnocentric mindset in their business model. An
positions that play to their abilities, creating the conditions ethnocentric model is one where higher headquarters,
for individual and unit success” (Key-Roberts, 2014). although global, controls the business model, and the same
Peterson knew that Wu was familiar with the Chinese standards are applied throughout their environment.
market, but by not becoming familiar with the cross (Moran, 2014d) This was evident when Peterson did “her
cultural differences, what she perceived as a weakness, due-diligence” in assessing the Chinese market herself and
could have possibly been a strength when working with set out to hire the right person for the job.
the Chinese business community. Peterson’s approach was typical of American-
Peterson’s Diversity Challenges style management and in its current state is at risk of
What are the particular challenges and dilemmas failure of meeting her goals and the goals of the company.
in managing subordinates who have different cultural In order to more effectively manage the diversity, Peterson
backgrounds, working styles, and are diverse in other should have focused more on similarities and less on
ways from your own? differences.
The particular challenges that Wendy Peterson
faced in the Plano AccountBack office were multifaceted. V. RECOMMENDATIONS
She was young and energetic and the composition of her
team varied in depth and diversity. Her initial team Turning Back Time
consisted of a total of 11 salespersons and three sales Make the assumption that the time clock could be
assistants employing only one Hispanic person. Some of rewound and discuss how the group would have managed
them are veteran, “old school” salespersons and others are the Plano branch office and Wu’s performance in
fairly new to the sales world. The issues in this team were particular. Support your position.
made quickly apparent in Peterson’s initial foray with the Assuming Peterson could start from square one,
younger members of the team easily identifying with her her approach should have been multifaceted. There are
and the more seasoned members viewing her tactics as various approaches when it comes to management of
disruptive and counterproductive. multicultural teams and there is no one size fits all
Peterson’s troubles in managing the diversity in approach. As with any issue in management of human
her team were further highlighted when her chosen tactics capital, it is imperative that leaders understand what they
of employing team building exercises and bringing in are getting into in order to effectively communicate this to
outside specialists to make the office more effective, their subordinates. This allows the leader to effectively
collegial and team-oriented further highlighted their tie his or her goals to the company’s strategy. The
differences. This is acceptable when the problem the important factor is that Peterson must focus on integration
employees face is a lack of understanding their rather than alienation amongst her team.
differences, but in most cases, the real problem is that Peterson was a “doer” by her own account and
employees cannot adapt or adjust to those differences. relished new challenges. Why was she unable to focus on
(Molinsky, 2015) that and why was she unable to translate these desires to
This was also the case in the management team of her team? As previously stated, Peterson was fueled by
AccountBack. While most of the executives were well- personal wants and focused on “What?” rather than
seasoned veterans, there were four new VPs. The “Why?” In her defense, focusing on “What?” is
differences in management were shown when Peterson something easily translatable as this is associated with the
was assigned a “stretch goal” of increasing revenues 30% neocortex of the brain, the part that is responsible for
over previous years. analytical thought and language. The limbic part of the
Not one to turn down a challenge, Peterson brain is responsible for feelings and human behavior and
allowed herself to be fueled by her own aspirations and the controls “Why?” we do the things that we do. (Simonek,
motivation (Simonek, 2009a) of a lucrative bonus and 2009b) By telling her team what they were to do, rather
quickly began to ensure that her sales team worked their than why they were doing it, she created varying levels of
hardest to ensure the office’s goals were met. It was these consensus and countered the integration and inspiration
personal manipulations that paved the path for her strong she hoped to achieve.
interest in the untapped Chinese market. This would bring Upon her assumption of leadership, she should
an entirely new set of factors into play when she hired have called an informal meeting where she briefly learns
Fred (Xing) Wu. Wu was exceptionally qualified having the operations of the office and informs the team of her
established himself as a successful businessman in the values and the team’s path for the future and how it all ties

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to the strategy of the company. This would have given her map (Figure1). This easily displays the differences and
team the vision and inspiration they needed and a chance similarities in the two cultures, giving Peterson a more
to get to know their leader; paving the way to easily solid starting point in her management of Wu and the
defining expectations. This is a good example of Chinese Culture. The map, focuses on eight scales:
managing diversity through managerial intervention. communicating, evaluating, persuading, leading, deciding,
(Brett, 2006) trusting, disagreeing and scheduling. (Meyer, 2014) These
In managing Wu and the Chinese market, part of are variables that fall in line with the Continuum of
Peterson’s analysis should have been to include a culture Cultural Variables. (Moran, 2014a)

C= China U= U.S
Figure 1. Graph showing cultural variables for China and the U.S. Compiled information from De Cremer (2015), Doyle
(2009), Meyer (2014), Moran (2014c), and Wood (2014)

A quick glance at the map identifies that although expertise in the market. Peterson would then be able to
Chinese and American culture might be different, it does establish herself as the leader and create a hierarchical
share some approximate similarities that could prove environment; one Wu is more familiar with. The last area
useful in employing an adaptation strategy (Brett, 2006) to of similarity in Chinese and American culture is on matters
manage Wu and the Chinese market; similarities upon of persuading with principles first. As the opportunities
which Peterson could build in managing through arose, Peterson would coach Wu on company affairs as a
intercultural similarity. (Moran, 2014b) The map also matter of principle, and do so in a manner that focuses on
helps explain Wu’s behavior and will give Peterson a integration using hands on exercises as the staple method
better chance of establishing a more effective relationship in training. The end result is a more solid employee/leader
with Wu. relationship ensuring Wu’s effectiveness on the team,
Rather than employ an ethnocentric mindset Peterson and her team reaching their goals, and
(Moran, 2014d) in setting expectations for Wu, Peterson AccountBack cornering the Chinese market.
should have approached the initial setting with Wu like she
did with her team and started with “Why?” he was hired VI. CONCLUSION
versus “What?” he was expected to do. Her approach
would be one where she focuses on the three areas where The Wendy Peterson case centered on managing
American and Chinese culture are similar: trusting, cultural diversity, to include customs, values, and styles of
leading, and persuading. communication. Even though, there did not appear to be a
Focusing on the trust, Peterson’s actions would big difference between Peterson and Wu, there was. This
have laid the groundwork for the relationship as trust is was displayed in the way they both interacted with those
something not easily given by the Chinese. Her around them, and each other. Peterson was more
conversation would have positively affected the extroverted and favored an explicit communication style,
relationship by showing that she respects his culture and

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