Question

Reflect on the Ellen Moore (A) case in light of what you've read this week on conflict and in the previous module and answer the following questions:

• Identify specific conflict points in the case. What kinds of communication strategies might have helped ease the conflict?
• Consider the case in light of the PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. In what ways does that code help you think about the case?
• How do you think the situation would have been different if all of this had been happening at a U.S. company in the U.S.? Would different communication and conflict management strategies have been more appropriate?

Answer 1

The conflict

There are a number of possible causes for the problems surrounding Ellen.

1. Confusion, miscommunication and misunderstanding. There is confusion between Ellen and Jack over their roles and relative positions that is contributing to the conflict between them. Jack’s and Ellen’s roles have not been clearly communicated to them. Ellen believes she is equal to Jack, but Jack and the other Korean consultants view him as superior. The roles of Ellen and Andrew are not clearly understood by the Koreans. The expectations of the North Americans and the Koreans differed. The capacity of the team (in terms of experience and expertise) was not well understood and the Korean consultants have far less experience than Andrew or Ellen had expected. Andrew agreed that he would send a “qualified” consultant to act on his behalf. He sent a qualified project manager but not an expert on the project subject matter. Perhaps the Koreans did not want to learn about project management (they believe Jack is capable of leading the Korean consultants), but they valued and wished to absorb Andrew’s expertise, an area in which they were weak.

2. Gender. From the onset, Andrew was warned that the Korean consultants might resist a female manager. The information on Korea suggests that women do not typically hold management positions in Korea. Do Korean men have the same expectations of American women expatriate managers as they do of Korean women? However, Andrew was told that a woman who was a qualified project manager would be acceptable.

3. Personality. Given the information on Ellen’s educational and work history and her behavior in this case, she appears to be a forthright and dominant person. Ellen’s assertive personal style may be appropriate in a Western business context, where entrepreneurship is rewarded, but it may be inappropriate in the Korean context. She may be offending Jack and the other Korean consultants. However, Ellen has made an effort to learn about the intricacies of the Korean business culture and has a track record of successful international work assignments.

4. Cultural. Jack believes he should hold more power than Ellen because of his education and position. Andrew has the position, expertise and experience to warrant respect from the Koreans as leader of the team assignment; Ellen does not, and thus may not be accepted as a “manager.” However, Ellen’s successful track record on international assignments suggests that she is effective at interpreting cultural differences and working within cultural boundaries. Hierarchy is a critical issue in Korea and in this case. When Jack is not around, the consultants accept Ellen’s authority apparently with no problem. This suggests to us that the problem is not primarily a gender issue.

Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct regarding the case

Ethics is about making the best possible decisions concerning people, resources and the environment.

Ethical choices diminish risk, advance positive results, increase trust, determine long term success and build reputations. Leadership is absolutely dependent on ethical choices.

PMI members have determined that honesty, responsibility, respect and fairness are the values that drive ethical conduct for the project management profession. PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct applies those values to the real-life practice of project management, where the best outcome is the most ethical one.

All PMI members, volunteers, certification holders and certification applicants must comply with the Code.

Face-to-face communication must be preferred

Organizing a face-to-face meeting with Jack, Ellen, Andrew and Mr. Song to discuss problems

related the conflicts in leadership between Jack and Ellen, communication in the team, how the

project can be completed in time and the scope of the project. The aim is to create an

environment that Ellen and Jack can resolve all misunderstandings. According to Trevino et al.

“People seem to prefer face-to-face communication to electronic media for complex, innovative,

subtle or ambiguous messages.” (1987) Since the project is in a critical stage right now, it’s

important that the meeting to be face-to-face because, as Kraut et al. (1990) stated:

“Electronically mediated tends to form more slowly.” The project is already behind its schedule,

therefore decision-making should be fast and effective as possible and face-to-face meeting is

the best way to do it. Additionally, increased on-site involvement from Andrew can also avoid

power struggle and miscommunication of goals. Possible obstacles to this solution can be

Jack’s and Mr. Song’s unwillingness to cooperate as indicated by their negative attitude toward

Ellen at the end. Furthermore, it can take time for Andrew to secure the subordinate’s loyalty

due to paternalism.

If happened in US

If both parties would belong to US company at US, then wouldn't be any cultural and language barrier.

The case also shows how the management of international human resources also depends to a great extent on national context and culture. Different cultural assumptions regarding, for instance, organizations as system of tasks versus relationships and the role of the individual and the collective make human resource management practices culture-bound. In U.S. society that values individualism, employees are selected based on their qualifications: whether they have the desired skills and personality that fit the job. However, in Korean society characterized by collectivism and relationship bonding, “what you know” is not necessarily the number one criterion for employee selection. Human resources are managed more from a sociological perspective, which pays more attention to the social system, the economic and political context and the nature of the relationship between key actors, such as government, unions and management. Although Jack did not have prior work experience delivering a system implementation project as Ellen found out, he was still selected to head the consulting project, probably because he, on the surface, had a good educational background with a PhD degree from a prestigious U.S. university, could speak English, and perhaps developed good relationship with management of the KSI. From KSI’s viewpoint, Jack would represent the firm well and could maintain a good relationship with the Korean government, the major client of the SI project. Had Ellen been aware of all of these sophisticated underlying culture bound differences in managerial philosophy and expected behaviors, she may have been able to navigate and execute the project in a more effective manner.