Case

Hannah Schmitt, grown up and educated in Germany, was on her first day of work on 1st January in Tokyo. She was formally named Branch Manager for the new Tokyo Hands store in Tokyo. Her boss, Tanaka added, "Hannah, I'm putting you in charge of this store. Your job will be to run it so that it becomes one of the best stores in the system. I have a lot of confidence in you, so don't let me down." Hannah was thrilled and excited. This is her first overseas assignment in her career and she is determined to give her best. Prior to working in Tokyo, Hannah has worked as a store manager in Spain for 3 years in a regionally acclaimed department store brand. She wanted to further her career and won this job defeating strong candidates locally and internationally. Hannah was determined to show performance in this new position. Three weeks after the New Year, Hannah appeared on a local noontime talk show to discuss new trends in lifestyle. She had worked hard to make contact with the local hosts of the show, and she felt that public exposure like this would increase the visibility of her store. Although the TV spot lasted only 10 minutes, she was pleased with her performance and the chance to get public exposure. Later that night at home, she received a phone call from Tanaka: "Don't you know the policy of Tokyo Hands? Any TV appearances made on behalf of the store are to be cleared through the main office. Normally, we like to have representatives from the main store appear on these kinds of shows because they can do better job of plugging our merchandise. It's too bad that you didn't notify someone of your intentions. This could be very embarrassing for me." Just before Easter, Hannah was approached in the store by one of the sales ladies. A customer came with the piece of jewelry he bought last week. He bought it for approximately US$3,000 as a gift for his wife but he said his wife did not like it. Hannah asked the customer what he wanted the store to do for him and the customer did not give a clear response. This customer had been a customer of the store for several years, but store rules indicated that no change or refund could be made for more than US$1,000 for any reason. She told the customer that she was not authorized to approve a change or a refund of that amount, but that if he would visit the main store, maybe other arrangements could be made. Later in the day, an irate Tanaka called again: "What in the world are you thinking about, Hannah? Today we had a customer come into the main store and your shop wouldn't offer an exchange to him because the amount was too high. Do you know how long he has been a customer of ours? Do you know how much he spends in the store every year? I certainly hope we have not lost him as a customer because of your blunder. This makes me very upset." Hannah felt stressed and powerless. She thought about the conversation and what happened on her long-wanted new position for several days and finally decided that she needed to have a meeting with Tanaka. She called his secretary to schedule an appointment for the following day.

Questions

1. What decision-making model was Hannah holding when she engaged herself in the TV show? Does her boss Tanaka agree with this decision? Why or why not?

2. Discuss the communication between the Japanese customer and Hannah and that between Tanaka and Hannah. What advice would you provide to Hannah in handling Japanese customers and her boss?

3. How can Tokyo Hands train and develop Hannah to perform better in this job? What are Hannah's strengths and weaknesses in managing a Japanese department store? Support your answers using the recommended reference articles or from your own library search. Cite the articles in your answers and include a Reference list.