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Case Study

Gold Star Properties: Financial crisis

By Joseph J. DiStefano

6 pages

December 2001

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Reference: IMD-3-1066

The managing director and financial director and technical director of a large construction and property firm in Hong Kong are in disagreement. The firm is being squeezed and needs to free cash to pay maturing loans that the banks are calling in in response to the Asian financial crisis. The two senior officers, both from mainland China, agree on deferring payments to their major suppliers, while the technical officer, an expatriate from the UK, insists that the contracts with the suppliers must be honored. Differing ideas regarding relationships and control are rooted in their different cultural traditions. The managing director and his financial director have to decide what to do.

Keywords

Multicultural Team, Executive Team, Cross-cultural Management

Settings

November 2000

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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