Steve Parker and the GFS China Technologies Venture

This four-case series is intended to put students in the position of a joint venture general manager trying to build a viable business. The collaborative issues facing the manager involve strategy, finance, and human resources—in short, joint venture general management issues. Ethical dimensions in the (B) case complicate the decision-making. The (A) case ends with Steve Parker being asked to become GFS–China general manager. If he accepts the job, he will be largely on his own, because the only Standard manager with much knowledge about GFS–China has gone back to the United States and no Standard managers were assigned to the venture. Assuming Parker does take the job, the objective with the (A) case is to explore the challenge of a new managerial assignment. What should Parker do first? How should he allocate his time? What skills should he have in order to do an effective job? How will he be evaluated? The (B) case has Parker wrestling with how to deal with a situation involving questionable purchasing practices. Parker must decide how to deal with issues. Should he confront the purchasing manager? Should he be trained in competitive sourcing practices? Is this a case of American norms of ethical practice being imposed on a Chinese situation? In the (C) case, Parker is physically confronted by his purchasing manager. The purchasing manager was reluctant to change his behavior and reacted by confronting Parker. Parker has to decide how to deal with this escalated situation. The (D) case shows that the purchasing manager was not fired, Parker left the joint venture a few months later, and Standard sold its share of the equity to the Chinese partner.