11111 Case 2.

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Martin Hilb
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COMPUTEX CORPORATION
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8 Goteborg, May 30, 1985
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20111 Mr Peter Jones
1 Vice President – Europe
2 Computex Corporation
3 San Francisco
4 USA
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6 The writers of this letter are the headcount of the Sales Department of Computex
7 Sweden, AS, except for the Sales Manager.
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W E H A V E D E C I D E D to bring to your attention a problem, which, unsolved,
probably will lead to a situation where the majority among us will leave the
company within a rather short period of time. None of us want to be in this situation,
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and we are approaching you purely as an attempt to save the team for the benefit of
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Copyright © 2011. Taylor and Francis. All rights reserved.

ourselves as well as Computex Corporation.

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5 We consider ourselves an experienced, professional, and sales-oriented group of
6 people. Computex Corporation is a company that we are proud to work for. The
7 majority among us have been employed for several years. Consequently, a great
8 number of key customers in different areas of Sweden see us as representatives of
9 Computex Corporation. It is correct to say that the many excellent contacts we have
40111 made have been established over years; many of them are friends of ours.
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These traits give a very short background because we have never met you. What
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kind of problem forces us to such a serious step as to contact you?
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4 Problems arise as a result of character traits and behavior of our General
45222 Manager, Mr Miller.
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Reiche, BS, Stahl, GK, & Mendenhall, ME (eds) 2011, Readings and Cases in International Human Resource Management and Organizational
Behavior, Taylor and Francis, New York. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [11 October 2017].
Created from latrobe on 2017-10-11 18:16:18.
 186 MARTIN HILB

First, we are more and more convinced that we are tools that he is utilizing in
order to “climb the ladder.” In meetings with us individually, or as a group, he gives
visions about the future, how he values us, how he wants to delegate and involve us
in business, the importance of cooperation and communication, etc. When it comes
to the point, these phrases turn out to be only words.
Mr Miller loses his temper almost daily, and his outbursts and reactions are not
equivalent to the possible error. His mood and views can change almost from hour
to hour. This fact causes a situation where we feel uncertain when facing him, and
consequently are reluctant to do so. Regarding human relationships, his behavior is
not acceptable, especially for a manager.
The extent of the experience of this varies within the group due to our location.
Some of us are seldom in the office.
Second, we have experienced clearly that he has various means of suppressing
and discouraging people within the organization.
The new “victim” now is our Sales Manager, Mr Johansson. Because he is our
boss, it is obvious that we regret such a situation, which to a considerable extent
influences our working conditions.
There are also other victims among us. It is indeed very difficult to carry through
what is stated in our job descriptions.
We feel terribly sorry and wonder how it can be possible for one person almost
to ruin a whole organization.
If this group consisted of people less mature, many of us would have left
Computex Corporation already. So far, only one has left the company due to the above
reasons.
From September 1, two new Sales Representatives are joining the company. We
regret very much that new employees get their first contact with the company under
the present circumstances. An immediate action is therefore required.
It is not our objective to get rid of Mr Miller as General Manager. Without going
into details, we are thankful for what he has done to the company from a business
Copyright © 2011. Taylor and Francis. All rights reserved.

point of view. If he could control his mood, show some respect for his colleagues,
keep words, and stick to plans, we believe that we can succeed under his leadership.
We are fully aware of the seriousness of contacting you, and we have been in
doubt whether or not to contact you directly before talking to Mr Miller.
After serious discussions and considerations, we have reached the conclusion that
a problem of this nature unfortunately cannot be solved without some sort of action
from the superior. If possible, direct confrontation must be avoided. It can only make
things worse.
We are hoping for a positive solution.

Six of your Sales Representatives in Sweden

Reiche, BS, Stahl, GK, & Mendenhall, ME (eds) 2011, Readings and Cases in International Human Resource Management and Organizational
Behavior, Taylor and Francis, New York. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [11 October 2017].
Created from latrobe on 2017-10-11 18:16:18.
 COMPUTEX CORPORATION 187

11111 Peter Jones let out a long sigh as he gazed over the letter from Sweden. “What do
2 I do now?” he thought, and began to reflect on the problem. He wondered who was
3 right and who was wrong in this squabble, and he questioned whether he would ever
4 get all the information necessary to make a wise decision. He didn’t know much about
5 the Swedes, and was unsure whether this was strictly a work problem or a “cross-
6 cultural” problem. “How can I tease those two issues apart?” he asked himself, as
7 he locked his office and made his way down the hallway to the elevator.
8 As Peter pulled out of the parking garage and on to the street, he began to devise
9 a plan to deal with the problem. “This will be a test of my conflict management
10111 skills,” he thought, “no doubt about it!” As he merged into the freeway traffic from
1 the on-ramp and began his commute home, he began to wish that he had never sent
2 Miller to Sweden in the first place. “But would Gonzalez or Harris have done any
3 better? Would I have done any better?” Few answers seemed to come to him as he
4 plodded along in the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 440.
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Copyright © 2011. Taylor and Francis. All rights reserved.

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Reiche, BS, Stahl, GK, & Mendenhall, ME (eds) 2011, Readings and Cases in International Human Resource Management and Organizational
Behavior, Taylor and Francis, New York. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [11 October 2017].
Created from latrobe on 2017-10-11 18:16:18.