Cisco Switches in China: The Year of Assurance

25 Pages Posted: 7 Apr 2010

See all articles by Lynn A. Isabella

Lynn A. Isabella

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Gerry Yemen

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Abstract

This case describes the establishment of a new Cisco Systems R&D facility in Shanghai, China, and the great concern that arises when a collaborating R&D site in the United States is closed down. What will that closure do to relationships between the Shanghai and San Jose business units? Will they be blamed and accused of replacing the U.S. engineers? How will it affect other projects? The case also covers aspects of the site's establishment, such as securing an appropriate building, assembling a workforce, seeking appropriate projects, developing managers, building teams, evaluating performance, protecting intellectual property, and managing growth. Suitable for use in organizational behavior, human resource management, and strategy classes at the MBA and executive education levels, the material dramatizes the challenges of changing a U.S.-based company into a global competitor.

Excerpt

UVA-OB-0977

January 26, 2010

CISCO SWITCHES IN CHINA: THE YEAR OF ASSURANCE

Ivo Raznjevic, engineering director, and Jan Gronski, managing director of the Cisco China Research and Development Center (CRDC), had to get to San Jose to attend a CRDC Strategy Board meeting. From their seats in Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, they discussed their travel and business situations.

“Did our flight just disappear from the screen?” asked Raznjevic.

Scanning for a gate agent, Gronski replied, “There's no one around to let us know what's going on. Why does that seem prophetic?”

. . .

Keywords: new organization, talent pipeline, expats, negotiations, highly motivated professionals, managing corporate, entrepreneurship, difference, intellectual property, outsourcing

Suggested Citation

Isabella, Lynn A. and Yemen, Gerry, Cisco Switches in China: The Year of Assurance. Darden Case No. UVA-OB-0977, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1585649 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1585649

Lynn A. Isabella (Contact Author)

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States
434-924-4818 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty/isabella.htm

Gerry Yemen

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

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