Human Resource Management

 

Assignment 1: LASA 2—Human Resource Management

Writing Assignment  and Presentation

Case Study—Culture Clashes at SAP

Read the Case:

Culture Clashes Make Change Difficult at SAP

. Use the Argosy University online library and the internet for additional research. Imagine you are an HR consultant called in to advise the leadership at SAP. Prepare a 10-15 slide PowerPoint presentation to present your responses to the information below. Use the notes section in PowerPoint to clarify your points. Include a title slide and a reference slide in addition to the main slides. Use at least one chart or graph and at least one other visual aid within your presentation. Utilize at least three outside resources to compose your response. Your presentation should be professional and correctly address your target audience. 

• Provide an executive summary of the main points of the case. Identify and describe the various cultures and differences in those cultures within SAP’s changing environment and employee workforce.
• In your opinion, what aspects of the changes at SAP would be most difficult for the German employees? Why? Which would be most difficult for the SAP employees in other countries? Why?
• What HRM activities or functions were affected by the changes described in this case?
• Recommend at least 3 ideas or concepts the company can implement to help them overcome cultural barriers that are affecting its efforts to become more creative and agile.
• Propose at least three concrete HR solutions that would improve relations at SAP, resulting in less conflict. Support your proposal with outside research.

Use at least three resources in addition to your textbook to justify your responses. Apply current APA standards for writing style to your work.

Assignment 2 Grading CriteriaMaximum Points

Executive summary clearly and concisely summarizes the case.24Cultures within SAP are described in detail and differences are identified (CO1, 3)(24 points)Aspects of changes at SAP most difficult for German employees and employees in other companies are identified and justified (CO1, 3)(28 points)HRM activities or functions affected by the changes at SAP are identified and described in detail (CO1, 3)(40 POints)Recommendations for overcoming cultural barriers are described and justified (CO1, 3)(60 points)HR solutions for improving relations at SAP are proposed and justified (CO1, 3)(60 points)

Presentation components

Style: Tone, audience, and word choice (8 points)
Organization: Introduction, transitions, and conclusion (16 points)
Usage and mechanics: Grammar, spelling, sentence structure, 10-15 slides (16 points)
APA elements: In text citations and the inclusion of at least three references, paraphrasing, and appropriate use of quotations and other elements of style (24 points)

64                 Total:300 

CASE:Culture Clashes Make Change Difficult at SAP

Software giant SAP is based in Germany and is seeking to develop more efficient global operations. At

the beginning of this decade, about two-thirds of its managers were German, and most key projects

were led from its headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. The company’s leaders hoped SAP could become

more agile and creative by bringing in a more diverse group of employees and sharing responsibility.

Unlike the more typical route to globalization by setting up sales offices and manufacturing facilities,

SAP introduced change from the top down. The company made English its official language, even for

meetings at headquarters. It hired foreign managers, making them half of the company’s top

management. It placed product development under the leadership of Shai Agassi, based in Palo Alto,

California. Agassi was charged with overseeing development groups in eight centers around the world.

One objective for the globalized SAP was to develop and implement software much faster. The process

of creating a new program at SAP had been taking at least a year, as programmers in Walldorf carefully

worked out each problem. The resulting programs were complex and difficult to install and didn’t work

well with other companies’ products. At the same time, the Internet was making customers’ software

more interconnected and increasing the pace of change. To keep up, SAP would have to change as well.

SAP hired programmers in India and China, as well as in Germany and the United States. German

programmers focused on the coding associated with the software’s main tasks, American employees

more often addressed programming that affects the user’s experience, and Indian programmers worked

on updating and fixing the code in older programs. Some human resource functions were outsourced to

Prague, in Eastern Europe.

The changes frightened many of the German employees, who worried they would lose their jobs and the

company would lose its reputation for quality. Agassi assigned a group of 10 software developers to

create 100 programs for analyzing data such as defects in parts. Their deadline: just 12 weeks. The

developers first insisted the task was impossible, but when Agassi wouldn’t back down, they found a

way to meet the deadline by writing a program that would write other programs. Still, they worried that

working so fast would ultimately lead to problems with quality.

Employees in Germany complained about the move away from “good, old German engineering” and the

requirement that they speak English in meetings. They criticized the “Americanization of SAP.”

Eventually, they rallied enough support to form a workers’ council, similar to a union, to help workers

find other jobs at SAP when positions were moved to other countries. So far, though, the company has

avoided layoffs at headquarters—in fact, it has hired programmers.

Personnel director Klaus Heinrich guided American executives in working with engineers in each

country. For example, he urged them to manage German workers by making a good impression with

hard work and quality. Managers learned to give German employees plenty of leeway and give Indian

employees plenty of attention. Still, Agassi, the U.S.-based head of product development, resigned out

of frustration with the level of conflict.

SOURCE: Based on Phred Dvorak and Leila Abboud, “SAP’s Plan to Globalize Hits Cultural Barriers,” Wall

Street Journal, May 11, 2007, http://online.wsj.com.

Questions

1. In your opinion, what aspects of the changes at SAP would be most difficult for the German

employees? Which would be most difficult for the SAP employees in other countries?

2. What HRM activities or functions were affected by the changes described in this case?

3. Imagine you are an HR consultant called in to advise the leadership at SAP. Suggest a few ways the

company can overcome cultural barriers that are affecting its efforts to become more creative and agile.