Sealed Air Taiwan Case Analysis
Case Summary:
The central issue Sealed Air Taiwan is currently facing is how to determine if the newly hired, Paul Huang, can produce the necessary sales results and whether he fits the mold for his position as sales manager. Historically, Sealed Air Taiwan was struggling with both stagnant sales and high operating costs. The branch was not adapting well to the Sealed Air’s established business model and there were even talks of shutting the branch down. Bob Kayser was brought in to turn things around and quickly realized that the problem this branch was facing was a cultural divide between Taiwanese beliefs and the current United States business model. After training and extensive work improving the sales team, Kayser was eventually able to start turning the branch around and making incremental improvements to sales and profit.
The issue that the branch now faces is that its leader, Bob Kayser, has been given a larger role at the firm and cannot devote as much attention to the Taiwan branch as he has in the past. The branch needs to find a suitable successor that can continue the growth process Kayser set in place. The question now is whether Huang is an appropriate replacement or whether the company should keep looking for the position and possibly promote from within. After a brief visit to the United States for an orientation session, there are already concerns that Huang is not a proper fit for the sales manager role and will not be the saving grace this branch needs.
Problems:
Corporate culture: Sealed Air has operated under a unique corporate culture. They are not a company that operates under a strict set of rules and guidelines. They want to empower employees rather than suffocate them with quotas and metrics. Some of these characteristics, such as their lack of defined legalistic rules and the attention to family, worked well with the Asian culture. Others, however, such as their hands-off management style and
The central issue Sealed Air Taiwan is currently facing is how to determine if the newly hired, Paul Huang, can produce the necessary sales results and whether he fits the mold for his position as sales manager. Historically, Sealed Air Taiwan was struggling with both stagnant sales and high operating costs. The branch was not adapting well to the Sealed Air’s established business model and there were even talks of shutting the branch down. Bob Kayser was brought in to turn things around and quickly realized that the problem this branch was facing was a cultural divide between Taiwanese beliefs and the current United States business model. After training and extensive work improving the sales team, Kayser was eventually able to start turning the branch around and making incremental improvements to sales and profit.
The issue that the branch now faces is that its leader, Bob Kayser, has been given a larger role at the firm and cannot devote as much attention to the Taiwan branch as he has in the past. The branch needs to find a suitable successor that can continue the growth process Kayser set in place. The question now is whether Huang is an appropriate replacement or whether the company should keep looking for the position and possibly promote from within. After a brief visit to the United States for an orientation session, there are already concerns that Huang is not a proper fit for the sales manager role and will not be the saving grace this branch needs.
Problems:
Corporate culture: Sealed Air has operated under a unique corporate culture. They are not a company that operates under a strict set of rules and guidelines. They want to empower employees rather than suffocate them with quotas and metrics. Some of these characteristics, such as their lack of defined legalistic rules and the attention to family, worked well with the Asian culture. Others, however, such as their hands-off management style and