Alexander Gavin’s Dilemma: Cultural Relativism and Business as Usual Essay

I. Viewpoint The viewpoint I am taking will be the writer of the letter himself, Alexander Gavin, since the matter at hand is a delicate one and Mr. Gavin is just asking the professor for his thoughts on the matter at hand. II. Statement of the Problem The central problem of the case is if Mr. Gavin should accept the deal which includes his cut or to find another way for the project to push through without involving himself. III. Objectives To be able to push through with the project and close the deal no matter what since this opportunity is highly profitable to the company. IV. Areas of Consideration a. Alexander Gavin and his direct boss, the Senior VP for urban projects, are both Americans. b. The construction company they are working for deals with major projects in the Middle East. c. The project with Ajax, Ltd. is highly profitable to their company. d. Pay-offs are common in the Middle East. V. Alternative Courses of Action From Alexander Gavin’s point of view, there are four courses of action he could take: a. He can forward this dilemma to his superiors and wait for their decision. b. He can stick with his ethics and reject the proposal then wait for the consequences. c. He can contact the other managers of Ajax, Ltd. and inform them of the corruption and also to take legal action against  the manager who offered the deal to him. d. He can disregard his ethics and accept the offer given by the manager of Ajax, Ltd. VI. Conclusion and Recommendation The best solution for this ethical dilemma would be the fourth course of action for Alexander Gavin. As a Senior Product Manager of a prestigious construction company based on Kuwait, he must put the company’s interests first before his personal reasons. Also, considering that pay-offs are quite common in the Middle East, a 3 million increase from their initial bid is only a small fraction to the company’s expense considering the high profitability of the project. Additionally, taking into account the cultural norm of pay-offs, which the company would be aware of, and Alexander Gavin’s ethical beliefs. He could offer up his $1 million to the company as an extra or other income. That way, the project pushes through, the company highly profits and Alexander Gavin’s ethical beliefs would not be broken. Lucky Goldstar – Management, Korean Style I. Viewpoint The viewpoint I am taking would be that of Mr. P.W. Suh, the president of Goldstar of America plant. II. Statement of the Problem The key issue of the case is on how the Lucky-Goldstar Group, with its Korean style management, has affected the domestic electronics industry. Be it in a negative or positive way. III. Objectives a. To be able to identify if the effect on the domestic industry is positive or negative. IV. Areas of Consideration a. Korean management’s core value is harmony. b. Lucky-Goldstar took a gamble in manufacturing overseas. c. Integration of Korean management principles onto Dixie or Southern U.S. principles. d. Indicators of better growth than its U.S. counterparts. e. Speed of technological change. V. Case Questions a. The LG group has integrated its management style which influences its workers with harmony. Its methods which are borrowed from the U.S. would be the democratic approach to decision making and management. b. The LG group has started manufacturing in the U.S. to be able to avoid the protectionist rule which bars foreign products from entering from outside the country and also to gamble that they would be able to profit from this venture. c. It would have a positive impact on the domestic electronics industry because competition is always good for big companies. Competition is what motivates companies to be better than other companies. d. Their recent success can be best explained by economic and cultural factors. VI. Conclusion The Korean management style has positively affected the domestic electronics industry of the U.S. because of its strong competitive power in the market. Competition motivates companies. Its recent success can be explained because of economic and cultural factors. They allocated a huge budget on innovation which resulted in an edge in the  technological market. Korea’s economy has boomed ever since they started this economic move. Also, this venture generated a lot of job opportunities for the sector.