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Cross-cultural Management

Final Project

On

Submitted to: Dr. Kashif Mehmood

By:

Shafaq Fatima Jafri

M. Zain ul Abedin

M. Saad Khan

Syeda Anusha

Date: 15thDec2011


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Acknowledgement:

This report on the organization Merck was assigned to us by Dr. Kashif Mehmood, our

teacher for the course of Cross-cultural Management.

First of all, thanks and gratitude to Allah the Almighty who gave us strength and courage

to complete this report.

Then we would like to thank Dr.Kashif Mehmood for his support, guidance and

encouragement and for the knowledge that he gave us through which we were able to work

on this report.

Then we would like to extend our thankfulness towards our parents who are our constant

supporters, steering us towards achieving our goals.

Lastly special thanks to Mr. Noman Haider, the marketing Manager of Merck, who helped

us and guided us to complete this report.


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Letter of Transmittal

Dr. Kashif Mehmood 15th Dec 2011

Iqra University,

Karachi.

Subject: Letter of Transmittal

Respected Sir,

With due respect we state that we are the students of Section (Thursday 3:00-6:00).

As per your instructions we have prepared the report. Its a complete group effort in

which we learned the cross-cultural manager difficulties and issues faced by him as

a cross-cultural manager. Or combine effort enabled us to complete this report.

Kindly accept the report and we hope you would like it.

Thank you,

.

Shafaq Fatima Jafri M. Zain ul Abedin M. Saad Khan

............................................................

Syeda Anusha


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Table of ContentsS-NO Topics Page#

1. Introduction 6

2. Culture of Merck 8

3. Stake Holders 10

4. Issues and Their Proposed Solutions 11

4.1 Management of Cultural Diversity 11

4.2 Language Differences 13

4.3 Promotions 14

4.4 Communication 14

4.5 Currency Difference 15

4.6 Religion Difference 16

4.7 Motivational and Expectation Factor Difference 16

4.8 Human Resource Development 17

4.9 Recruitment and Selection 18

4.10 Training and Development 19

4.11 Reluctance to change and adaptation 20


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4.12 Benefits and Compensation 20

4.13 Dedication of Employees 21

4.14 Repatriation of Funds 22

4.15 Different Regulations and Privacy 22

4.16 Accounting Standards 23

5 Conclusion 24

6 References. 26


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Introduction

Merck Around The Globe

A Germany based company, Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical enterprise

with around 40,000 employees in 67 countries. The operational business is managed under

the umbrella of Merck KGaA headquartered in Darmstadt (Germany). Around 30% of the

companys total capital is publicly traded, while the Merck family owns an interest of

about 70% via the general partner E. Merck KG.

Merck is the worlds oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company its roots date back to

1668.

With the acquisition of Millipore in July 2010, a global leader in the life science tools

market, revenues totaled around EUR 9.3 billion in 2010.

They are internationally recognized as a biotechnology leader, with innovative and

successful products along with a well-stocked and promising development pipeline.

Specialized know-how in research and production means that they are able to ensure

absolutely high-quality manufacturing, a key success factor especially in the

biopharmaceutical industry.

In 2009, sales of Merck Serono products generated total revenues of 5.3 billion. They

devote around 22% of these earnings to the pursuit of innovative new therapies through

their own research and development, strategic alliances and agreements.

Merck in Pakistan

Merck has been present in Pakistan for more than 40 years. In Pakistan the Merck group

comprises of 3 companies namely; Merck (Pvt) Ltd, Merck Pharmaceuticals and Merck

Specialties. The current MD of Merck is Mr. Abdul Baqy Khan who got this position in

2008.

Merck has its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Quetta and Head Office based in

Karachi. The Distribution Center of the company is in Lahore.


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Merck Pharmaceuticals is also involved in the manufacturing of soft-gelatin products in

Karachi. The production facility in Quetta is involved in the manufacturing and packaging

of solids, liquids, injectibles and ointments.

The major pharmaceutical therapeutical areas of this company are structured into 3 SBUs

namely CardioMetabolic Care & Oncology, Nutrition, Infection & Fertility and

NeuroCare. Besides these business units, there is another business unit, which is dealing

with chemicals & diagnostics products & services known as Performance & Life Science

Chemicals.

Their mission is to provide quality products and services, thus they have an independent

Quality Assurance/ Quality Control department that carries out in-process testing,

validation, and stability study programs of products. At Merck they follow strict

international standards to ensure quality standards from initial to final stages of production

processes. The company is ISO 9001: 2000 certified.

With approximately 800 employees in Pakistan, Merck generated sales of over Rs. 5.4

billion in the year 2010. Merck Serono Pakistan also says that like Merck International

they are actively committed to transforming lives through medical science.

They specialize in the treatment of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, infertility,

endocrine and metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases and other serious, life-altering

diseases.

Merck peruses the strategy of Sustain. Change. Grow to continue its success story.

Location :

F-126, S.I.T.E Karachi.

D-7, Shaheed e Millat Road,Karachi

Managing Director: Mr. Abdul Baqy Khan.

Companies:

Merck (Pvt) Ltd. , Merck Pharmaceuticals, Merck Specialties.


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Mission Statement

We at Merck do what we say Our goal is to operate a worldwide business that

produces meaningful benefits for the consumers, our market partners and our community.

..and thenmeasure ourselves on this basis.

Culture of Merck:

Global organizations are transferring people increasingly to other countries which create

cultural diversity within work teams. Cultural diversity is always an integral part when it

comes to multinational organizations because every individual represent their cultural

values and therefore behave within their cultural restrain. MNC should ensure a balance

working environment so that every individual easily adjust in and work collectively for

organization benefit because its the organization that will benefit at the end.

Merck follow a very organized culture where there are open channels of communication,

all internal and external departments are linked together working collectively. They focus

upon collective effort and guide everybody to understand the directions. Values in the

organization determines its culture. At Merck it is believed that values tie today with

tomorrow and in order to achieve this they value their values which are:

Integrity:

According to Merck, it ensures credibility of the company and acts as a cornerstone. It

helps them to do what they say, to keep their promises, to say no to wrong things and

conformance of values.

Respect:

They believe that respect is the relation of every partnership and it is based on the concept

of humanity and human dignity which generates environment of esteem, fairness and

recognition. They believe that it requires open and honest communication and enables


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them to work successfully within diverse cultures. To them it means achievement of values

everyday and in every phase.

Transparency:At Merck it is believed that transparency is the core of mutual trust which is achieved

through involvement of stakeholders through information. Actions can be better

understood by transparency and it supports a goal oriented behavior in the company and it

also creates reliability. It also promotes participation of everyone and help them to take and

understand their responsibilities.

Courage:

To Merck courage means challenging their own self. The organization takes courage as a

door opener to opportunities and they believe it requires trust in ones own abilities and

creates healthy self perception. It supports change by supporting competence to accept and

implement change.

Achievement:

Merck takes achievement as a motivating and challenging factor for its people and a must

for entrepreneurial success. They consider it a factor of personal development and

independence which can be obtained by results obtained.

Responsibility:

They treat responsibility as a determinant of entrepreneurial actions and business decisions

that could be jointly endorsed. They believe it characterizes their behavior towards their

stakeholders and it is the means of protecting natural environment and resources.


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Strategy

Merck uses strategy of Sustain.Change.Grow. where they seek to grow profitably al ong

with diversifying their risks within an integrated company.

Core Competencies

Their core competencies include innovative strengths, fast and efficient market penetration,

high quality product and processes, customer focus, excellent command of logistics

processes and superior service.

Code of Conduct

At Merck they take the subject of responsibility seriously. To them it is primarily taking

responsibility of their day to day actions, under which they not only consider legal

responsibility but also moral responsibility.

In order to live the above mentioned up, each individual at Merck analyzes whether their

daily actions are in line with obligations and then align their conduct accordingly.

Stake Holders

At Merck there are several people who they include in their stake holders and who directly

or indirectly impact the organization. Following are the major stake holders of Merck:

Health Care Professionals:Merck has health care professionals who guide and make people aware with certain

diseases in collaboration with Ministry of Health and other NGOs. Also they provide

feedback on product quality, safety and efficacy; and conduct vital research.


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Government and Regulators:

Ministry of Health and other international regulations help Merck to inform about the

needs and requirements of various communities and they work with them both directly and

through trade groups to advocate for advances in global health care.

They need to register their patents by Ministry of Health which issues a NOC after perfect

analyzing pros and cons of product. Even for a small change in the product they have to

report of MOH for their approval. All these regulations are followed by Merck in order to

ensure a healthy environment that best interest the target audience.

Employees of Merck:

Merck employees provide important insights on the full range of company policies and

procedures. They offer both formal and informal mechanisms to encourage employee

feedback so that they can utilize their feedback in best possible way as they are their

internal customer. They are one of the major stake holders of the company and works to

give company a competitive edge.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs):

Although Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is not active when it comes to

awareness of disease in Pakistan but still it plays a valuable role in alerting Merck Pakistan

to emerging health care issues and problems so that they can act upon and work for the

betterment of the society.

They work with different NGOs to create awareness about diseases like cancer as Merck is

also known for its drugs related to cancer, internationally.


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Issues and Their Proposed Solutions:

Management of Cultural Diversity

1. Merck have a diverse workforce as mentioned above under the heading of cultureat Merck. It not only hires people from host country, but it also has expatriates who

head different crucial departments of the organization. For example; the Chief

Financial Officer at Merck Pakistan is a German. Also, all the Managing Directors

of the Pakistani subsidry of the organization were Germans before 2008 and current

MD, Mr. Abdul Baqy is the first Pakistani MD in Merck Pakistan. In such a

situation, problems in communication and understanding are must. The problem of

communication barriers appears over here and that makes management of cultural

diversity difficult in the organization. The orientation of expatriates and nationals

of the host country is quite different as there is a vast difference in the culture of

Germany and Pakistan.

Solution:

Solution of this problem would be training of the expatriate regarding the culture

and orientation of the people of host country. Also, he should be made to observe

the culture, participate in different events and mutual adjustments so that he can

have a better idea of the orientation of the people Pakistan.

2. Merck sends its employees in Pakistan for training in Germany. These people alsoface several problems such as:

i. Difficulty in understanding behaviors, habits and culture of German people.Solution:

The employees sent on training should initially be introduced and made to

study the culture of Germany, so that they can better understand and be in

accordance to that culture when there. They should also be made to learn

the language so that they can communicate and interact well.


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ii. Alienation from the home country organization (of the expatriate sent fortraining)

Solution:

The organization should work to keep the employee in its circle by prompt

and continuous communication with the HR department so that whenever

the employee comes back, he does not feel alienated or weird.

iii. Problem in communication and understanding of language.Solution:

The employee who are been sent on training should be given ( at least )

lessons of basic language of that culture

Language differences

Multinational Organization faces language diversity as they interact with people who speak

different languages and same is the case with Merck. Its a barrier but as international

language (i.e. English) is progressing so Merck tries to overcome it using terminologies

that fall in mutual understanding resulting them to minimize ambiguousness.

Still language is one of the major barriers in the organization as people from different

places talk differently specially during sessions of video conferencing with employees of

the home country. Their way of talking, their accent is totally different from others. As

Merck expands to different areas or region they have to adopt accordingly and have to train

their employees accordingly because problems are particularly significant in cross cultural

virtual teams which are widely used in this organization. Following represents two

ways in which Merck work as cross cultural teams:

1. The international teams that typically interacts across continents and countriesvirtually, to collaborate on a common task. These are almost always a cross cultural

team. For example the MDs of both countries choose members and make teams to

work on a task that is common to both countries.


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2. Virtual teams within the same country or city when a part of the team opts fortelecommuting they use email, Teleports and such other forms of

telecommunication technologies to coordinate and communicate in their work.

Solution:

Care has to be taken with wordings especially when there is disagreement on an issue.

Even mildly sarcastic comments meant as a joke can be misinterpreted by a team member

in another country and cause a conflict. In this regard employees who are to be part of

major communication or interaction should be thought language and culture of the other

country so that chances of misunderstanding could be minimized.

Promotions

Mercks Promotional advertisements are designed that best suits cultural norms, rituals and

values. So, they focus a lot when it comes to designing any promotional strategy. Major

issues they encounter are use of picture, logos, color, graphics and content as they are

bounded not only locally by Ministry of Health but being a MNC there are certain norms

they have to follow internationally as well. Likewise, they cannot use similar packaging or

use similar terminologies (name of product) as of competitor to capture market. Due to

such restriction their can be confusion about the product or brand in overall market because

at times there are same product of the company which look dissimilar in two different

countries due to change in packaging etc.

Solution:

While designing the product they should try to keep in mind other markets and try to come

up with something that can be used in all markets. They can also take advantage by using

an approach of universalism in this case. They can bring situations in their hand by using

favorable rules of both places. As in they can use some major rules from their home

country which can benefit them and using some rules from the host country to maximize

their operations.


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Communication

There are times when employees have issues with management or regarding their personal

matters. In such situations they might feel alienated or cut off from the system if they

cannot approach right people. Although, Merck follows a very effective communication

pattern with people of different cultures by having open channels of communication so that

each individual should feel free to communicate and discuss problem faced by him.

People at Merck are convinced of working with the situation so if any problem arise they

work as a unit and resolve that core issue because they believe that small issues give rise to

bigger problems so it better to nip in the bud. Still there are times when employees feel gap

in the communication with management.

Solution:

Employees should have direct access to someone who can act as his mentor rather than

senior, so that they dont feel cut off or alienated and can openly share their issues and

problem. Problems of communication can also be resolved through having different mutual

adjustments or monthly meeting with the HR department so that employees can discuss

problems they face and can also come up with ideas or ways to further reducecommunication gap between management and employees.

Currency Differences

Being a Multinational Organization Merck has to deal with different currencies. As a

matter of fact our local currency is devaluing so they face problems. There are number of

currency differences because the value differs according to the economy. Ups and downs

in the value of Euros is also evident in records. So there are wider differences in the

financial return from different countries.

Rapidly changing economic conditions of world is also impacting Merck, but it is

inevitable to eliminate the effects as not only one company but entire industry and entire

world is facing these problems.


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So Merck being a multinational firm has to look forward to the price factor while

marketing and producing their product or while import or export of different materials.

These changes in currency values can directly impact the organizations financial returns

so this is also an issue faced by Merck.

Solution:

They are already using hedging approach to reduce the impact of this problem on their

returns. They can also look for local alternatives for things they import to or from different

countries as this will reduce the impact of changes in currency.

Religion Differences

Religion plays an important role when it comes to multinational organizations because

values and norms differ in religion. Merck as such do not fall under these differences

because of corporate environment where everybody care about each others norms and

values.

Likewise while having different meetings with different people you have to look after

small things that shall not be offensive for the individual or the group you are dealing with

especially with regard to their culture.

Solution:

If any, these issues could be solved by proper coaching of employees and incorporating

respect for all in the values and culture of the organization so that people learn to be

accepting and open hearted towards the issues of religious differences. Although Merck

already have incorporated respect as one of its value but specifying religious and sectarian

respect individually would make things clearer and employees will be more focused on

this.


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Merck already have a very professional culture which reduces chances of clash regarding

religion, still they should try and incorporate strong value of respecting each others

religious views.

Motivational and Expectation Factor Difference

Every culture and then within it every individual have different expectations and different

factors which can motivate them. For example Pakistanis can be easily motivated with

monetary benefits and they expect more of money in return of their performance. While in

more developed countries like Germany, people are motivated more by non monetary

rewards like holidays with family etc. The motivators for working professionals can range

from tangible rewards such as :

Monetary increments, Incentives and Career progression,

to intangible rewards which might include;

Job satisfaction, Praise and encouragement or Recognition from top management.

Merck emphasize a lot when it comes to motivation they keep on encouraging staff for

every effort they make. They feel people to own their job so that they make extra effort to

maintain their dignity. Likewise, if salesperson exceed its sales mark he would not only

receive monetary rewards and appraisals from senior but ownership of work will

constantly ensure that he keep on putting extra efforts to maintain that dignity level. But

due to diversity in work force it has been increasingly difficult to take care of motivations

and expectations of all individuals.

Solution:

It is vital to make the effort to measure motivators of each individual in order to encourage

and motivate them to excel at their positions. In the absence of the right incentive, the


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individuals may lack the enthusiasm and drive essential to perform their role within the

organization.

So in order to make them an excellent worker along with cultural diversity they have to

look after this factor individually as well as collectively because one motivational factorcould not be the motivator for the other individual in the same organization.

Human Resource Development

Merck is committed to assist their employees achieving their career motivated goals by

careful guidance towards meaningful career paths focusing upon various aspects.

Merck exposes its associates to a wide array of exciting experiences and challenges,

affording them remarkable opportunities not only to groom their career oriented objectives

but also to solve problems and address emerging healthcare needs

Merck focuses upon finding a diverse mix of talent for the right roles across global cultures

and areas of expertise because if you identify right resource for right job only then it will

benefit your organization. Moreover the key is not only to attain but also to retain that

resource throughout and ensure that you keep on training with relevant field of expertise

that ultimately benefits Merck.

Merck aligns growth of its workforce with their global strategies being a MNC they not

only have to compete locally but have global challenges as well. They have to find and

compete for resources internationally.

Solution:

They support their people with strong organizational values, a cooperative culture and

work environment along with ongoing career development opportunities.

Merck emphasize on retaining their people with rewards and opportunities for personal

growth and on learning and development. Trainings are mainly aimed at imparting

knowledge to employees to work on multi dimensional areas which were identified during

employee growth plan.


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Within these measures they can incorporate developing strong culture and values within

the employees and build relationships that are lasting so that they do not lose their

resources to competition.

Recruitment and Selection

Recruiting and selecting right resource is always a challenge. Merck follows the same

systematic pattern of specifying job by proper analyses and then hire people who best suit

that criterion.

Initially, Human Resource conduct the initial interview then the department head conduct

the intermediary interview and at last the senior management conduct the final interview.There is no gender and academics biasness in the organization which is extremely a plus

point, the key point is that you prove your worth to them. Although there procedures are

quite efficient still hiring a work force that is an asset had always been difficult for

organizations and it also increases cost.

Solution:

They can hire hiring experts or take help of hiring and recruiting organizations who can

pool or bring in finer people for working. That will not only cost effective but also help the

company to identify better talent in shorter time.

Training and Development

Merck emphasize a lot on training staff with relevant key skills throughout their career

period. People are sent for abroad for training. They plan and give training as per

requirement needs of employees or designation as it is also important to the long term

success of multinational corporations. Possible issues that arise while training employees

are language differences, communication styles with other nationals, lack in negotiation

styles and intercultural issues. Other issues might include alienation of the employee who

is being sent on training from the organization he had been working in.


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Solution:

As already proposed above, that to solve these problems the organization should focus on

linguistic training of the employees and expose them to different simulations from where

they can understand culture of the country where they are being sent for training. As far as

the alienation issue is related the HR department should keep the person in loop by proper

communication and coordination so that whenever he returns he does not feel cut out or

alienated.

Reluctance of Change and Adaptation

Resistance to change is a normal response. Our attitude towards resistance is the key to

successful change. Considering cultural norms for Pakistan its difficult to adapt radical

change if there is any change in strategy. There are certain behaviors that are quite normal

when it comes to change; its a drawback but Multinational Corporation like Merck deals

with it pretty efficiently by perfect level of communication standards

These gestures, emotions, behavior could lead to adverse reactions likewise.

Insensitive and disagreeable behavior Aggression and Annoyance Unusual flare-ups the emotion Employee encouraging and mobilizing resistance Not responding, not listening Active attempts to disrupt or undermine work and projects. Ignorance when someone addressing

Solution:

These problems could be solved by a good leader who can mentor, guide and coach his

people. If people are well aware of situations and well informed there are lesser chances of


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display of above mentioned behaviors by the employees as they feel responsible about the

situation that way.

Benefits and Compensation for Employees

Merck says that they believe in fair compensation of employees to keep their spirits high

and loyal. Bonuses are also given to employees on their performance. One of our group

members as an intern has attended the parties regarding sales force achievement and other

achievements in the area of Marketing and Sales. Bonuses are also paid to the employees

with their extra ordinary performance. The company also issues loan to their employees

(depends upon the nature of loan) with free of interest. These could be a problem when one

member feels demotivated due to compensation, bonus or benefits given to other member

of the same level.

Solution:

The best solution for such a condition would be to keep employees informed of

performance of each other so that they know that the rewards are being given on the basis

of fair performance evaluation. Also, they should clearly know the criteria of performance

evaluation so that they dont feel that they have been treated unfairly.

Dedication of Employees

Employees at Merck seem to be more dedicated and cooperative. In our case, Mr. Noman

Haider, Marketing Manager BU-Neurocare was very much cooperative in giving us

information which is allowed by the company and respecting all the legal boundaries and

policy guided by the company.

The most important and unique thing which we get to know about the company is the good

relationship among employees. No matter what position an employee is having in Merck,

he/she doesnt feel proud of his status and position and subordinates feel comfortable

discussing various matters related to work with their Boss.


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Unlike other companies, employees of Merck seems to be more satisfied with their jobs

and working conditions and most importantly employees are more committed and

motivated towards work compared with other companies. One issue for the company could

be loss of dedication or loyalty from their employees.

Solution:

The company should maintain its current way of relationing with employees as it appears

to be quite good. They can also hold monthly or quarterly mutual adjustments or informal

dinners so that employees feel connected to the organization and can build PR with other

peers and colleagues.

Repatriation of Funds

Merck Pakistan is a subsidiary of Merck KGaA Darmstadt-Germany. However, due to

strict privacy policy the percentage of funds which has to be given to the Parent company

in Germany is not known. However, based on our knowledge regarding the multinationals,

funds have to be transferred to the Parent company as well. This could rise issue of

retaliation from the host country nationals or government.

Solution:

In this regard the company can divide fair share of funds among both host and home

country and invest more in activities like infrastructure building or CSR to improve

relations and reduce or eliminate any form of hostility related to this issue.

Different Regulations and Privacy

Since Merck Pakistan is a subsidy to Merck Germany which means that it does not only

comply with rules of host country but also international standards and standards and

regulations of the home country. As Merck is a private limited company, therefore it

means that the company is not listed in the Karachi Stock Exchange and the company does

not offers its shares to the general public and the company does not disclose their financial

matters or disclose financial reports.


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The issue of data protection and confidentiality is taken seriously by the company and the

company follows the applicable national and European data protection regulations.

The German Corporate Governance Code presents essential statutory regulations for the

management or supervision. Their aim is to make each and everything transparent. When

following regulations and standards of so many bodies, it could be increasingly confusing

and really difficult for the organization to set high standards.

Solution:

The organization can use the approach of universalism and through it they can use best of

all approach which would not only be in organizations benefit but it will also reduce

confusions. Another benefit that they can draw from using this approach would be a more

open international culture at all subsidries of the organization and better level of

understanding within different branches of the organization.

Accounting standards

As Merck is a private limited company, therefore most of the information is kept secret but

the company follows International Accounting Standards (IAS) which is worldwide

recognized.

It is responsible for developing International Financial Reporting Standards (the new name

for International Accounting Standards issued after 2001), and promoting the use and

application of these standards. Difference in accounting procedure can create fuss and

confusion at times when subjected to local accounting of different countries. Although

IFRS in Pakistan is approved by IAS, so there is no problem at that level. Still the

standards for different countries differ, say for example USA use GAAP and that is a very

different way of accounting than IFRS, which will make it difficult to compareperformance of both countries.

Solution:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Financial_Reporting_Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Accounting_Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Accounting_Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Financial_Reporting_Standards


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The company should come up with ways that are standard not only to one nation, rather

they are common for the company in any part of the world so that a better compare and

contrast could be done of different subsidries of the company.


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Conclusion

Being the oldest multinational company which was founded in Darmstadt, Germany in

1668, Merck follows strict code of conduct and the company also complies with strictethical boundaries. It also takes care about the culture of Pakistan and the only

pharmaceutical company whose manufacturing plant is situated in Quetta.

Merck is one of the top Pharmaceutical and Chemical companies in Pakistan. It is presents

in Pakistan for more than 40 years. Merck group comprises of 3 companies:

Merck (Pvt.) Ltd.

Merck Pharmaceuticals (Pvt.) Ltd.

Merck Specialities (Pvt.) Ltd.

Hence they have created lots of jobs as well and prove themselves to among one of the

socially responsible companies .This also helps them to reduce the issues such as problems

in repatriation of fund which could at times be taken by hostility. Despite of their strong

reputation, they focus on integrity of the company which must remain a priority for

everyone at Merck.

The most important and unique thing which we get to know about the company is the good

relationship among employees. No matter what position an employee is having in Merck,

he/she doesnt feel proud of his status and position and subordinates feel comfortable

discussing various matters related to work with their Boss.

Unlike other companies, employees of Merck seems to be more satisfied with their jobs

and working conditions and most importantly employees are more committed and

motivated towards work compared with other companies.

Some of its major problems are managing cultural diversity, dealing with expatriates and

communication within different subsidries worldwide. Also language is one major problem

which have been somewhat resolved by use of English as an international language.


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We have suggested them to use more of universalism approaches, build strong

communication networks and relations with employees and when sending employees to

other countries, they should train them regarding the culture of that country and its

language.

All in all, Merck is quite efficiently managing its problem and issues and they are already

doing quite well in diverse culture management. We have offered suggestions on

improving their operations further.


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References

Mr. Noman Haider, Marketing Manager, BU-Neuro Care, Merck Serono www.merck.com.pk www.merck.com

shafaq zain saad anusha

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