Case Eurochem

Description of the situation
Eurochem is a major international agrochemical company and has many companies all over the world. In the Eurochem office in China, Shanghai a new position was available and Paul Paus took this opportunity with both hand and he was assigned as the new person in charge of the marketing operations. Upon his arrival, Paus managed to come late to work and this is very disrespectfull in the Chinese culture. From that point onwards Mr Li, was not a huge fan of Paus. Paus came to China with a mission, set out by the head office in Belgium, he was supposed to come up with a plan to see how he could introduce a more stricter adherence within the company, since this was not the case right now. However instead of coming up with a plan and discussing this with Mr Li, Mr Wu and Mr Olson, he changed the whole marketing sustem after 2 months, which cause the company a lot of problems.

List of main actors and problems encountered
Main actors
Problems encountered
Paul Paus
Worked in Eurochem for 4 years
30 years old Marketing system in China is not the same as in Europe and US and therefore he needs to change it
Mr Olson
General manager of China Subsidiary
Patiently build up a good client based when he started in Eurochem and now sees them disappearing because of the new marketing plan form Paus
Mr Wu
Assistant form Mr. Olson in marketing department
Works in the marketing department
34 years old
He thinks that the practices in China are still based on the old Guanxi and that this is a bit old-fashioned, but he does not agree on the fact how Paus handled his new marketing plan.
Mr Li
Deputy manager
Age – Early 50’s
Mr Li works in the company already for many years and he has a close connection with Mr Olson, Mr Wu and all the clients of Eurochem. He thinks that the new marketing policy will have a negative impact on the company and networks that Olson, Wu and himself created are beginning to break down
Mr van de Bergh
Director of marketing head office in Belgium
He gave Paus the mission to see how to introduce a stricter adherence and did not say he had to implement it as soon as possible. After talking to Olson he said that there might be special circumstances in China which could not be ignored.
Mr Leung
Head of Shanghai Batteries
Mr Deng
Head of Wuzhou Plastics
After hearing about the new marketing policy they agree upon buying their products not at Eurochem anymore but at Nippo, the biggest competitor

Part 2 (Analysis, using concepts seen in class)

Causal relations for the problems encountered
Stakes and interests for the main actors
Leadership. (Expected, needed….)
Expatriation process. (Experience, expertise…..)
Training, preparation
Performance, effective and perceived
Change within the organisation
Diversity, cultural issues.
Appreciation of responsibilities

Part 3 (Recommendations)

Decisions to be made short term / long term
Pros / Cons (advantages, side effects….)