Page 105 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

104 Part 1 • Introduction
• Appoint an ethics “advisor.” A senior executive should be Practicing the Skill
available for employees to meet and confer with to confi- We’re taking a little different approach with this chapter’s
dentially discuss ethical concerns.
skill practice. Form into teams of four or five people. Using a
• Protect employees who report unethical practices. Mecha- copy of your college’s code of conduct, answer the following
nisms need to be put in place that protect employees from questions: How many of the team members were aware of the
retributions or other negative consequences should they re- code? How many had read it? Evaluate the code’s provisions
veal unethical practices that are a threat to others. and policies. Are you uncomfortable with any of the code’s
provisions? Why? How effective do you think they have been
Based on L. Nash, “Ethics without the Sermon,” Harvard Business Review (November– in shaping student and faculty behavior? If they haven’t been
December 1981): 78–92; W. D. Hall, Making the Right Decision: Ethics for Managers
(New York: John Wiley, 1993); and L. K. Trevino and K. A. Nelson, Managing Business effective, what could be done to improve them?
Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right (New York: John Wiley, 1995). Be prepared to present your team’s findings to the class.

Delaney Environmental Services Experiential Exercise
To: Sandy Burk, Director of Operations
From: J. Delaney, Managing Director
Subject: Global Expansion

Sandy, we need to start looking at expanding our global mar- differences; (2) the current currency rate of exchange and how
ket opportunities. We’ve had a successful track record here it’s changed over the last three years; and (3) any legal or po-
in San Antonio providing environmental consulting and design litical situations we need to be aware of. Because this is just
services, and I believe that with our experience we have a lot to an initial analysis, please keep your report to one page or less.
offer the Latin American market, particularly in Mexico. This fictionalized company and message were created for educational
Please research the potential problems we might face purposes only, and are not meant to reflect positively or negatively on
in moving into the Mexican market. Focus on: (1) cultural management practices by any company that may share this name.

#
CAse ApplICATION 1

Global Stumble

t’s not always easy to do business globally, as executives treated. For instance, during Nomura’s initial training ses-
at Japanese brokerage firm Nomura Holdings Inc. have sion for new hires, the men and women were separated. The
64
Idiscovered. Nomura acquired Lehman’s international women—many of whom had earned prestigious degrees from
operations after Lehman’s parent company sought Chapter 11 the likes of Harvard—were taught how to wear their hair,
bankruptcy protection—an action that added about 8,000 non- serve tea, and choose their clothing according to the sea-
Japanese workers. For Nomura, the time seemed right to son. The company’s dress code for women was also strictly
strengthen its global expansion interpreted. Women from
strategy. However, since the ac- The challenges of BLENDING Lehman were told to remove
quisition, cultural and business TWO CULTURES highlights from their hair,
differences between the two or- to wear sleeves no shorter
ganizations have been a major than mid-bicep, and to avoid
stumbling block. Although blending two diverse cultures re- brightly colored clothing. Several women were sent home
quires intentional efforts when different organizations merge or from the trading floor for dressing “inappropriately.” One
are acquired, it’s particularly challenging when the key assets said, “I was sent home for wearing a short-sleeve dress, even
in the cross-border acquisition are the people employed by the though I was wearing a jacket.” A Nomura spokesperson said,
organization being acquired. “The dress code is displayed on the company’s intranet and
Workplace tensions arose over executive compensation, is intended to ensure that clients and colleagues don’t feel
how quickly decisions were made, and how women were uncomfortable.”