Nancheng Glass Works (A)

From the perspective of a senior Chinese manager, Case (A) traces the history of Nancheng Glass Works, a local state-owned enterprise in China that has gone through dramatic changes since economic reforms began in 1980, until the recent acquisition of a controlling stake by a Filipino conglomerate. Employees were at first hopeful as the new general manager from the Philippines announced a number of changes he wanted to introduce to change the corporate culture, strengthen the company and improve performance. The reality that followed was quite different from their initial hopes, and the Chinese manager must try to explain the local employees’ point of view to the Filipino manager.

Students analyse the challenges to transferring corporate culture across firm and national boundaries. In Case (A), they must consider alternatives for the local manager to explain to the expatriate manager why changes introduced are not taking hold as he had expected.