Richard Evans, Managing Director of Siam Chemicals Company (SCC) in Thailand, a division of Chimique Helvtique Ltd

Richard Evans, Managing Director of Siam Chemicals Company (SCC) in Thailand, a division of Chimique Helvétique Ltd (CHL), a Swiss chemicals group headquartered in Basle, had only been in his position for 18 months. But dealing with the evaluation of Mr. Somsak, one of his local mainstays, was about ready to drive him back to Switzerland or to England, from where he had originally come. This was Richard’s first assignment outside Europe, and he had not found it an easy adjustment. Between the long commutes from home to the plant, due to the terrible traffic, the lack of sidewalks for taking his young son out in his pram, and the incredibly strong attitude of deference the Thai employees exhibited toward him, most of his first 18 months had been spent trying to get used to the locale and the culture. It was his first time in Asia and the culture shock for himself and his family (wife and three young children) had been harsh. 

To move from international schools and skiing in clean, dry air in Switzerland, to hot, humid, dirty, and polluted Thailand, where they spoke not a word of the local language and had no idea of the local customs, was indeed quite a shock. 

It was shortly after arrival that he had had his first encounter with Mr. Somsak, considered one of the senior and longer-established employees after only three years on the job. Somsak worked both for Mr. Evans and for James Brown, the regional marketing manager, in the firm’s regional offices in Singapore. Somsak had resigned right after a meeting that Richard had conducted with him to try to counsel him on how to function better within the matrix organizational structure of CHL. Somsak had explained to Mr. Evans that Thai people found the concept of two bosses impossible to reconcile with their strong sense of hierarchy. They preferred to know exactly who their senior boss was so they would know whose approval to seek. Richard had seized on the opportunity to counsel Somsak in a style that had always worked with his European managers. He had been stunned when Somsak had reacted with these words: “I realize from what you have said that I am not doing a good job. I am not suitable for my post and so the only thing I can do is to resign.” Only through the strenuous efforts of Somsak’s other boss, James Brown, to whom Somsak owed a strong sense of allegiance, had he been persuaded to stay.....

Case study questions

1. If you were Richard Evans, how would you proceed? Explain your approach. 

2. Are there – or can there ever be – universal approaches to performance appraisal? 

3. If you were the local HR manager, how would you counsel Richard (or Mr. Somsak)?