1- What are the major challenges of working in a country with a different culture (give examples from the case)?

There are four main challenges for Sealed Air when they expanded their business into Taiwan. i. The first challenge is culture differences. At the beginning of the case. When Paul Huang was in the training course he was too quiet. He didn’t even want to participate the group presentation. Furthermore, he didn’t like the meal provided, he would rather than eating just candy bars.

ii. The second challenge is different government styles. By the time when Sealed Air enters Taiwan, the government sought to maintain its “Chineseness.” One of the most important things for this “Chineseness” is Confucianism, and to be modest is very important for Confucianism. Therefore, Taiwanese government might be too modest for a US company by the time.

iii. The third challenge would be the distance of the two countries. The time difference of the two countries is 12 hours. It is difficult for the two locations to communicate without considering the others time.

iv. The fourth challenge is the unstable economy in Taiwan. At time of 1984, Taiwan was one of Asia’s booming new economies. Beside the great opportunities were created, there are also a lot of uncertainties the country has to face, because Taiwan is experiencing a lot of new things that it has never experienced.

2- How can a company successfully manage these challenges and even possibly turn them into opportunities? Did Kayser do a good job?

i. There is no short cut to overcome a culture challenge. For both parties, they have to communicate frequently. Point out all the misunderstandings immediately before it goes too deep. However, it could also be beneficial for the both parties. For every culture there are some advantages. People with different cultures working together are able to learn more new thing from each other.