Cassidy Nurnberger

14286733

Charles Foster Sends an Email

February 22, 2019

A. Introduction and Summary
Charles Foster is a United States national sales manager for a multinational
technology company, Techco headquartered in France. Techco is a large company due to
an enormous number of products they offer, which they recently added an important disk
drive to their product line that is selling fast with customers. Foster noticed that his
company had a hard time keeping the disk drives in stock as well as noticed
manufacturing and firmware issues once Techco was assigned to a new Franco-Japanese
joint venture (JV). JV, which is located in France, struggled with adapting to the new
manufacturing and organizational system, logistics, and problems with different
firmware. These issues were attempted to be solved at lower level management in
Techco, but no success was warranted. Foster realizes this issue is prominent because if
they don’t figure out a solution, the company can lose business.

Foster decides to send an email to his supervisor, Richard Howe, Vice President
of Sales High Technology Products at Techco U.S. Foster and Howe have a strong,
informal relationship with one another, which is why Foster explained the situation
through an email. The email included Foster’s concerns with the ongoing situation with
the availability of disk drives, manufacturing, and firmware issues of the new XD19 disk
drive. Howe interprets the email as there is a problem with inventory in France, so he
forwards Foster’s email to Maurice LeBlanc, head of Strategic Business Unit (SBU).
LeBlanc also forwards the email to Ahmed Hassan, president of the JV asking him if he
his following proper protocol within the company. Days later, Foster gets an angry call
from Hassan criticizing him for his email he sent to Howe which was forwarded to
multiple people including Hassan. After the phone call, Foster receives a detailed email
response from JV regarding the problems that Foster wrote about in his email.

B. Statement of the Problem

a. Foster’s email intended only for his U.S. supervisor, Howe was forwarded to
people from different cultural backgrounds who misinterpreted the information in
a negative manner regarding the availability of disk drives and firmware issues.
i. Symptoms:
1. Hassan was angry with Foster’s email criticizing Hassan’s job
performance.
2. Foster needs more XD19 disk drives to sell to his customers.
3. Firmware issues with the XD19 makes selling them difficult for
Foster.
4. LeBlanc interprets the email that Hassan isn’t doing his job right.
5. The company is at risk for losing business with its customers.
ii. Root Causes:
1. Effects of multicultural business relationships through email.
2. The new joint-venture JV slow to adapting the new business
structure and organization systems.
3. Techco selling the XD19 dis drive faster than anticipated.
iii. Foster must resolve his business relationship with Hassan, as well as work
with each other to solve the low stock and firmware issues.
C. Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions
a. An effective solution is for Foster to formally communicate with Hassan
regarding the issues with the XD19 disk drive so the company doesn’t lose
business with its customers.
b. Alternative solutions:
i. Foster can express his concerns with Hassan over a phone call to discuss
the inventory and firmware problems that Techco and Foster are
experiencing with the new disk drives that way they can solve the problem
right away and cut out the middlemen.
ii. Foster could reach out to his supervisor first, but make sure he uses a
formal business tone when discussing the problems with the disk drive, in
case the email does get forwarded to other people in the company.
D. Recommended Solution
a. Foster can express his concerns directly with Hassan over phone call to discuss
the inventory and firmware problems that Techno and Foster are experiencing
with the new disk drives that way they both can solve the problem right away and
cut out the middlemen. By going directly to Hassan through phone call rather than
including other people through a chain of forwarded emails, allows for the
communication between Foster and Hassan not to get misinterpreted. Also, this
solution doesn’t involve Hassan’s boss which could make him more open in
discussing matters with Foster because of the level of respect by reaching out to
Hassan directly. By directly calling Hassan, eliminates the issue regarding the
different cultural backgrounds that arise when communicating over email where
words and tone can get misinterpreted. Communicating over phone allows for
people to hear tone of voice, inflection, and receive a response immediately. This
is the best solution for Foster to resolve the low inventory and firmware issues,
and make sure that he keeps his business with Techco’s customers.
b. However, this solution arises areas of concern that Foster should be aware of.
Foster and Hassan might have a hard time organizing a time to call each other
because they are both busy people. Also, phone calls warrant a response right
away where emails you have a longer time to respond, therefore I think Foster
should send a brief email to Hassan first voicing his concerns, then call him at a
later time so Hasan can have the answers prepared for Foster. This way it
minimizes multiple phone calls, is the most efficient way of fixing the issue with
the XD19 disk drives.