Conduct some research on Swedish

4 Computex Corporation

Martin Hilb

Mr Peter Jones Vice President-Europe Computex Corporation San Francisco I USA

Goteborg, May 30, 1985

The writers of this letter are the headcount of the sales depart- ment of Computex Sweden, AS, except for the sales manager.

We have decided to bring to your attention a problem which, if 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, and we are ap- proaching you purely as an attempt to save the team for the benefit of ourselves as well as Computex Corporation.

We consider ourselves an experienced, professional, and sales-oriented group of people. Computex Corporation is a com- pany which we are proud to work for. The majority among us have been employed for several years. Consequently, a great number of key customers in different areas of Sweden see us as representatives of Computex Corporation. It is correct to say that the many excellent contacts we have made have been estab- lished over years; many of them are friends of ours. These traits give a very short background because we have

never met you. What kind of problem forces us to such a serious step as to contact you?

Reprinted by permission of the author.

56 Martin Hilb

Problems arise as a result of character traits and behavior of our general manager, Afr Miller. Firstly, 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 communica- tion, 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 conse- quently 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. Secondly, we have experienced clearly that he has various

means of suppressing and discouraging people within the or- ganization. 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 diffi-

cult 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 I, 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 circum- stances. 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 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

Computex Corporation

before talking to Mr Miller. After serious discussions and considerations, we have reached

the conclusion that a problem of this nature unfortunately can- not 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

57

Peter Jones let out a long sigh as he gazed over the letter from Swe- den. "What do I do now?" he thought, and began to reflect on the problem. He wondered who was right and who was wrong in this squabble, and he questioned whether he would ever get all the infor- mation necessary to make a wise decision. He didn't know much about the Swedes, and was unsure whether this was strictly a work problem or a "cross-cultural" problem. "How can I tease those two issues apart?" he asked himself, as he locked his office and made his way down the hallway to the elevator. As Peter pulled out of the parking garage and on to the street, he

began to devise a plan to deal with the problem. "This will be a test of my conflict management skills," he thought, "no doubt about it!" As he merged into the freeway traffic from the on-ramp and began his commute home, he began to wish that he had never sent Miller to Sweden in the first place. "But would Gonzalez or Harris have done any better? Would I have done any better?" Few answers seemed to come to him as he plodded along in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.