Sealed Air Taiwan (A)

What is the corporate international business strategy for Sealed Air? Does the IHRM approach SAT adopt have a good fit with it?
Sealed Air throughout the years has chosen to expand itself to different countries and become more global. The international business strategy they have been following has made them available in almost 51 countries. However, by going global they have stuck to the same approach for human resource management, Sealed Air randomly appoints different employees to different countries based on their performances. However, the same human resource management approach does not fit with all the cultures. For instance, the human resource management of Sealed Air Taiwan does not have a good fit with it. There are some major cultural differences which propose that the human resource strategy needs to be changed accordingly. The people in Taiwan have their own ways of business and they do not fit with the corporate culture or American culture. 2.

Is posting Kayser to Taiwan a good decision? Why or why not?

Bob Kayser was posted to Sealed Air Taiwan; however, it was a good decision or a bad, it is predictable from his performance and initiatives. I would say that he proved himself as a good choice because he was quick to understand the cultural differences and took initiatives accordingly. However, overall, it was not a good decision. Sealed Air should have chosen a person who had previous experience of Asian as well as European culture. That kind of a person could have improved very much compared to Kayser. Keyser, not knowing the culture of Taiwan, took some wrong initiatives which revealed that a person knowing the culture of

Taiwan could have behaved and performed better. Examples of his mistakes include his bad presentation, initiation of a wrong compensation scheme, first hiring a local manager i.e. Chou and then sending him to America.

3.

What is Chinese culture in Taiwan? What is Sealed Airs corporate

culture? Can Chinese culture in Taiwan reconcile with Sealed Airs corporate culture? Why or why not?
Chinese culture in Taiwan is very different from the Sealed Airs corporate culture. The people in Taiwan tended to be influenced by the top management as there was a high power distance in China as compared to the corporate Sealed Air in United States of America. (Figure 1) Moreover, the people in China were overwhelmed by the Confucian ideology. According to this ideology the superior-inferior relationship between the employees was very prominent. Their statuses and positions in society were distinguished by their places in hierarchy. The Chinese culture showed that the people needed clear directions and roles to perform rather than to just suggest them things. Furthermore, the people felt shame if they were reviewed in front of someone else and damage of this was irreparable. On the other hand, the corporate Sealed Air culture was different. There was not higher power distance and they were always open to suggestions and recommendations. The people there had culture absorbed in them. These two different cultures cannot reconcile with each other as the Chinese cannot give up following their small beliefs and the Confucian ideology in particular.

4.

What are some possible HR practices Sealed Air headquarters

should have adopted to solve the problems that Kayser encountered?

As it is evident from the case that they Chinese people needed long term orientation, they needed to be guided throughout the process. Thus, the Sealed Air headquarters should have gone for long term orientation in the Sealed air Taiwan. For instance, if the headquarters show that the employees need to sustain 30% market share, they would perform well. Moreover, the headquarters should have chosen the right guys for that culture, as any European found it difficult to adjust in it. Also, the Chinese liked to work in groups, hence the human resource practices should be towards group performances and also, the rewards should be on the base of group performance.