Case Study 1 (10 Marks)

Jacinta, a young English woman started her management consultancy career with a well-reputed consultancy firm in London four years ago. Four years later at the age of 33, she reached the level of senior consultant. She was then given an assignment with a company based in Saudi Arabia. Until then she had had no problems in communicating with the clients team members and had always produced successful results. However, with her Saudi client, she had enormous difficulties. Since she joined the company, she could feel that her opinions were not being taken seriously, and that senior managers of the client usually tried to avoid discussing issues with her. Moreover, she had difficulty in getting vital information from employees lower down in the hierarchy, so she was unable to come up with the analyses she wanted. Although she felt she could really help the company with her knowledge and experience, she found it difficult to persuade the client to put her ideas into practice. In fact, the better and more innovative her ideas were, the more difficult it was to get them over to the managers in Saudi Arabia.

1. Explain why Jacinta is facing difficulties in working with her Saudi Client? Provide suggestions about she could do to try and improve her situation? (10 marks)