Ellen Moore Working in Korea

Ellen Moore has been assigned to a project in South Korea. The project is a joint venture (JVI) between Western Systems Inc. (WSI), a North American company and Korean Conglomerate Inc. (KCI), a Korean company. Ellen was chosen to run the project on behalf of Andrew Kilpatrick, who is part of the System Consulting group at WSI. Andrew was to manage the project on a part time basis from North America. He chose Ellen to lead project on site as a result of her strengths in project management. Andrew also felt that Ellen’s previous success working in Bahrain showed that she would be able to handle the cultural differences. Andrew was aware of the culture difference in Korea and before he sent Ellen he was assured by American consultants that as long as Ellen was qualified for the position she would be accepted. Andrew wanted to consult the Korean consultants on this matter but was assured by the American consultants that is would be ok. In addition to Ellen, Scott Adams would also join Ellen a few months after her arrival in Korea. What Ellen experiences throughout her time in Korea does not suggest that the Korean consultants are ok with her being a woman.
Why is Ellen a successful manager? The following characteristics seen in the case make Ellen a great manager/leader: * Competitive & Highly Motivated – Without these she wouldn’t have gotten so far so fast. Both of these characteristics are why she graduated high school at 16. Ellen loves to learn; a great example of this is her learning the Korean language as she sits in traffic traveling home from work even though she is exhausted, by reading the signs. * Teacher – She enjoys teaching and does so whenever the opportunity presents itself. Her natural leadership qualities show when after her short period of working with the group in Jack’s absence you see members of the team sticking by Ellen when this wasn’t the case prior to Jack’s absence. They are naturally following her. *