The Missed Deadline: Whose Problem Is It?

Authors
Gillian Stevens, Edwin Portugal
Region
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Human Resources & Organizational Behavior
Length
4 pages
Keywords
human behavior
leadership
management style
cross-culture
management
Copyright Holder
Journal of Critical Incidents
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students

This critical incident takes place in the Philippine office of an engineering design consultancy whose parent company is British. The office is managed by expat UK managers and staffed with Filipino engineers. The incident is about a missed deadline that one of the managers has to deal with in the short-term as well as with the longer-term issues that the incident raises. The incident raises issues about culture, management style and personal communication.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Analyze the impact of cultural differences between the manager and the workers and the effects on a manager-subordinate relationship.
  2. Evaluate leadership styles appropriate to different situations.
  3. Construct an immediate action plan and a long-term plan that will address the issues raised by the incident.