BE Role-play - Culture Clash In The Boardroom

Characters:
Liu Penjin, President, Almond China (Almond Chemical)
Wang Zhibao, VP, Sales (Chongqing)
George Ho, Finance Director, Almond China (Almond Chemical)
Chen Dong, Chairman, JV (Chongqing)
Dolf Schulman, Vice Chairman, JV & Senior VP, Business
Development, Almond Chemical (Almond Chemical)
Scene 1 Liu Penjins soliloquy
First, the delayed flight, and now, this traffic. I hope Im not late
for this HR training. It is absolutely essential that I show my
colleagues how important the discussion about ethical business
practices are.
Scene 2 Wang Zhibaos soliloquy
Ethical business practices! Like it wasnt difficult enough to
operate according to European standards here, in China. This is
China, not Europe. Here, people expect gifts and commissions.
Scene 3 Lius speech at the HR training
Since we are listed on both the New York SE as well as the
Frankfurt SE, there are certain rules which we must adhere to.
Though it makes sales difficult, business bribery of any kind is an
ethical violation, and against Almonds policies. We have had to
take a similar stand for our safety and environmental practices,
which were in adherence to the German standards. Same goes
with our waste management system. We need to remember these
laws as we go about our business. We are not just a Chinese
company, we are a global one.
Scene 4 Pre board meeting
Liu: You alright?
George: Just worried about this meeting. I had a disturbing
conversation with Wang last week. Hes close on making a huge

sale of 30 million Yuan. But the customers purchasing manager is

insisting on a 1% commission, as is the norm in other companies
as well.
Liu: Thats impossible.
George: Thats what I said. But hes insisting on offering the
manager a trip to Europe, a visit to Almonds headquarters.
Liu: What did you say to that?
George: No, of course. But he accused me of jeopardizing the
venture. He said that we foreigners dont care about the
performance of the business at all.
Scene 5 Board meeting
Chen: So first things first, what are we going to do about this
commission issue?
Dolf: You know that we cannot concede on these issues. We must
be a law-abiding corporate citizen, as should each of our
employees.
Chen: Correct me if I am wrong, but dont other foreign-owned
companies reward Chinese customers for their business? Some
organize overseas visits, some provide management trainings,
and some even arrange golf outings. In China, these are
considered good business practices. We need to show some
flexibility. If not a commission, lets organize a trip to the Munich
headquarters.
Liu: Commission or trips; its all the same. Business bribery. We
can get orders without these tactics.
Chen: Orders? What orders? We made only 60% of our target for
this quarter. When we set up this joint venture, we assigned our
very best people to itour best technicians, best salespeople,
best managers. Why? Because we believed we could manufacture
some of the best chemical products in the world and, in turn, get
more orders. But look at this. (throws the financial statement down on
the table) Our performance is sinking fast. This joint venture has
done nothing but hurt us. We have yet to see any return at all. All
you do is make us spend, spend, spendon German goggles,
unnecessary waste processing, and ridiculously high salaries. And
now I hear rumors that you are planning to launch SAPs ERP
software to synchronize with headquarters. When will the
spending stop? We need a tighter control on costs. We cant

possibly meet our profitability target when our expenses are so

high. We want to choose the finance director going forward, so we
can give this venture a real chance at succeeding. We see no
other option.
Dolf: Chen, thank you for being so honest about your concerns.
At this point, I think all these issues are still open for discussion.
Lets continue after a 15 minute break.
Scene 6 Interval talk
Dolf: Liu, what should we do? Do you think we should concede to
these demands? This venture is critical for us - you know that.
Liu: Dolf, I realize that the stakes are high. China accounts for
only 3% of our current business, but were depending on the
country for future growth. This operation was supposed to prove
that we could expand further in China. In spite of all this, we need
to stand strong. Not give in.
Dolf: But we shouldnt annoy them. We need Chen. And hes
right about the numbers. We could be in trouble without Wangs
sale. Besides, where do we draw the line? Is a golf game bribery?
We do that in Germany all the time.