Case Scenario: Jane is an experienced organization development (OD) consultant with a PhD in OD and 20 years of experience in OD consulting. She has just taken on a consulting contract for a large manufacturing company which has been rapidly expanding over the 5 years.
The president of the company has built the company over a 25-year period with a strong, decisive, almost authoritarian, style. He has a reputation for being bright, welleducated, hard-driving, and decisive with little tolerance for error on the part of his employees. Consequently, the organization has taken on a number of his characteristics and is characterized in general as a power-oriented, authoritarian-style organization.
The company has moved from a U.S.-only company to a growth-oriented international company that now includes sales, marketing and manufacturing in Europe, the Middle East, and China. But as the company attempts to incorporate employees from different parts of the world, they are increasingly experiencing interpersonal problems, ethical issues, and as a result, increasing conflict across executives and employees at the various geographical sites.
The president is anxious to resolve the growing incidents of interpersonal difficulties and increased conflicts. Jane has been trained in, and has used, laboratory training and T-group interventions, and is considering this type of intervention as a way of dealing with the organizational problems. She has had numerous conversations with the president, and he quickly agreed that these would be appropriate interventions, and he is ready to move ahead on these techniques.
Jane is surprised when he commands that he also intends to make this an all-inclusive activity and that all employees in every country will be required to participate in these t-group sessions. In his usual decisive manner, the president calls together his executive team, which is comprised of representatives from the major functions and members from each country, and makes the announcement of the training and that "all members will be required to participate." However, Jane senses reluctance on the part of some of the organizational members-reluctance which they are afraid to voice to the president. Although Jane is a highly experienced consultant, she has had little experience with such highly power-oriented individuals and groups, let alone an organization which is international and growing rapidly. Jane is beginning to second guess her t-group interventions, but the hard-driving president won't change his mind. Suddenly Jane feels coerced into doing something that might not be appropriate at all levels in all countries.
Q1. Are there ethical dilemmas when she attempts to practice certain techniques in other regions?
Q2. What are the implications of going international without an appreciation of a global perspective?
Q3. Are there alternative interventions that might be more appropriate?