Ellen Moore Case Thoughts

Ellen Moore Case Thoughts

The Ellen Moore Case paints a great picture of an individual, who has performed well & has demonstrated outstanding leadership characteristics in one cultural domain. However, with respect to Korean Culture, Ellen, and her colleagues, had very little understanding of the Korean Culture, and therefore were not able to thrive effectively in a leadership capacity in Korea.

Her Selection

I believe Ellen's Boss made a sound decision choosing Ellen to serve in the role, but I also think he also have a very limited understanding of the challenges a female would face in that environment. He should have listened to the Americans, who were on the ground in Korea (WSI) who'd explicitly stated that a woman consultant in Korea would never work. Despite the Koreans, attempts to be Western-minded, their Confucianism-Based Values in Beliefs dominated their thinking at their core. They wanted to accommodate the western needs by saying a woman would be accepted if *qualified*, but that was simply their attempt to accommodate the contract because they needed help.

Ellen's Approach

I do think Ellen went in with the right mindset - to try and master some of the language, and to understand proper business and personal etiquette. But, she had limited time, had received only a 20 page, vague document on Korea, and didn't understand how important the interaction with her business colleagues outside of work was for success. There was more to know than just how to act in the office. What was important to understand was how the individuals she managed would *think*, what are their engrained drivers, and so on.

Challenges & Difficulties

The Koreans were initially not receptive to the way Americans did business through interviewing areas to get to know more about the business. This created barricades in gleaning the information they needed to be successful early-on. As a result, they realized that the "Korean Way of Doing Business" was not receptive to the Western Way of "Managing Client Expectations".

Even though Ellen had arrived earlier and had learned many of the Korean Nuances of Business, her colleague Scott had surprises in the team-building exercises. Large consumption of alcohol - despite not being a drinker, and the expectation that you were just supposed to go out after-work with everyone - unless you had a medical reason. Women were commonly excluded as a part of the hierarchical norm, but Ellen was allowed to go because she was a senior leader. Women were typically restrained to the Confucian Value System of managing the home. There were very few women who had been successful professional in Korea.

There was already a Korean Manager in place, who was lead over the Korean Consultants. Although it was agreed the he & Ellen would be co-leads, he was not receptive due to his engrained values, especially so after having earned his PhD.

Korean