Cases using the serial number from the magazine, select the appropriate case for yourself. Solve it, answer the questions. Link the answers together and form them into a summary

CASE 10
Leapfrog with management at Saxony Software
Saxony Software is a company specializing in software development. It has its own new development division, consisting of two departments: communications-related projects and security-related projects. Ralf Starke is Head of Communications at Saxony AO. He demands strict and precise execution of his orders. Attaches great importance to informal control. He was appointed head of the department two years ago. Then opinions about him differed.
Within the first six months of his appointment, eight of the department's fourteen employees transferred or resigned because they disagreed with Mr. Starke's management practices. Ulf Simon, head of the new development department, was already thinking about transferring Starke to another position, but by this time the situation in the department had improved, because both the old employees and the remaining new employees gradually became accustomed to Starke's management style.
He required his employees to actively participate in the preparation of projects and programs, but at the same time expected them to strictly implement the decisions made. Buettner was able to reduce costs on communications-related projects by 10% without violating the rules and regulations that apply to the entire new development division. Employees said Starke led the department with energy and achieved good results.
Thanks to his excellent results, he received an offer from a competing company. Starke decided that this was a good chance for him and should not be missed. Two weeks later he quit and moved to this company. This was six months ago. At first, Ulf Simon was going to appoint one of the ordinary employees as head of the department.
CASE 11
Not an easy collaboration
A certain large German enterprise has been successfully selling its products on the Russian market for a long time. The necessary production capacities have also been created. In the Urals, joint production has been established with one large Russian enterprise. The cooperation is going well. Therefore, the parties agreed to expand production. This will also reduce production costs. Therefore, the German side decided not to export the granulate necessary for expanded production from Germany to Russia, as was done before.
This problem must be solved by the local supplier, and in the future he will have to provide the old production with granulate. Therefore, the Germans asked their Russian colleagues to select candidates for possible suppliers. German specialists will get acquainted with production processes on site, evaluate the production capabilities of candidates and make a final decision.
Thus, the optimal supplier will be selected. The Russian side agreed with this proposal and began searching for candidates. During the next meeting in the Urals, the Germans asked their Russian colleagues whether the circle of possible suppliers had been identified. In response, they heard: “We have already found a suitable candidate. This is a well-functioning large enterprise that fully meets our requirements for granulate quality.”
The Germans asked their Russian colleagues to organize a meeting. During this meeting, they would also like to get acquainted in detail with the production technology and see the production capacity of the enterprise. It would be advisable to organize this meeting in two weeks, because at this time production specialists will be inspecting the plant in the Urals. At the same time, they could get acquainted with the technologies used at the enterprise - a candidate supplier.
The meeting took place as planned, and upon returning the German specialists said the following: “We were very surprised when we came to this enterprise. They actually got hold of brand new equipment somewhere. True, it looks a little strange in old workshops that require renovation, but, on the other hand, it meets all the requirements for the production of granulate.
So, at first we were shown the equipment, but at the same time we were accompanied by ten people, so we were not able to look at it properly. Then we visited other workshops and an hour later we were sitting in the director’s office. The director asked us to share our impressions, they were mostly positive. We were treated to coffee and cookies, and he asked us a question that took us by surprise: “Well, are you ready to cooperate with us?”
We replied that we had come to get an idea of ​​the production processes and capacities, but were not authorized to make the final decision, we would tell the authorities that the general impression was positive, and further negotiations would be carried out by the purchasing department. We saw that the director's expression changed dramatically. He was very unhappy, quickly ended the meeting and left without saying goodbye.”
Assignment: Why did the representatives of the German company behave this way? Why didn't they understand the reason for the director's dissatisfaction?

CASE 12
Difficult suppliers "ELECTRO" is a Russian trading company specializing in the sale of electronic components. She has been successfully working in this field for more than five years. Currently, the company purchases components mainly from German enterprises, not directly, but through their official distributors in Moscow. Since the demand for reliable electronics in Russia is constantly growing, the company has long been looking for new supply channels. Based on the wishes of customers, they especially carefully study the possibilities of purchasing from German manufacturers.
As a result of searching on the Internet and visiting specialized exhibitions, they saw that if they purchase electronic components directly from the manufacturer, it will be 40% cheaper than purchasing from distributors. All previous attempts to become official distributors themselves failed, since most manufacturing enterprises already had them in Russia, others worked on the Russian market through Ukraine, Kazakhstan or Belarus.
Therefore, the leaders of the company, Ivanov and Sidorov, were very happy when, in the end, they discovered one small enterprise in Bavaria, the product range of which contained all the necessary components at reasonable prices. In addition, they did not have their own representatives either in Russia, or in Ukraine, or in Kazakhstan, or in Belarus. All transactions with these countries were concluded through the company's representative office in Belgium, which was responsible for all of Eastern Europe.
Having made the appropriate inquiries, Ivanov and Sidorov learned that this Belgian representative office does not conduct active sales in any of these four countries. Advertising is not placed in specialized magazines, the representative office does not participate in fairs and exhibitions. Information materials are not sent out, and there is no Russian-language website on the Internet. Therefore, in Russia the manufacturer and its products are practically unknown.
Based on the foregoing, Ivanov and Sidorov decide to make an offer to the Bavarians to become official distributors of the company’s products in Russia. They will be engaged in advertising and information work and will try to ensure that the manufacturer and its products become famous in Russia. They are ready to guarantee a certain minimum sales volume in Russia.
In turn, they would like to buy the company's products on the terms provided for official distributors. They send their proposal to the company several times, but each time they are sent to the Belgian company responsible for the Eastern European markets. The only offer that the company from Bavaria made to them sounded like this: if over the next year you manage to ensure the sale of our products worth at least 200,000 € under normal conditions, then you will be able to obtain the status of an official distributor in Russia.
But for Ivanov and Sidorov this proposal seems very risky. It is likely that within a year they will be able to promote the Bavarian enterprise on the market, but this does not mean that the sales volume will reach the target value. In this case, all work done will be credited to the Belgian mission.
Assignment: Why does a Bavarian company behave this way? What can Ivanov and Sidorov do in this situation?

CASE 13
Tense atmosphere in the training center A group of Russian managers came to Germany for a month as part of the presidential program. Of course, they want to take this opportunity to get to know other European cities. But when they try to buy train or plane tickets, reserve a hotel room or rent a car, they realize that their knowledge of English will not get them far. They are not always understood correctly, and then there are a ton of different tariffs and additional conditions, it’s impossible to understand anything.
In addition, you can only go anywhere on weekends, because the training center made it clear from the very beginning that participation in seminars and company visits is mandatory. Since there is a Russian-German employee working at the training center, they want to ask her for help.
Firstly, she herself immediately offered her help in difficult situations, secondly, she knows Germany well and all its peculiarities, and thirdly, she speaks both Russian and German well - that is, she can explain her wishes, and she will convey them to the Germans. This is how it all happens: the participants express their wishes to her, and she, indeed, does what is needed, but since she cannot always fulfill all the requests herself, her German colleagues also help her. But after a few days, the open and cordial atmosphere begins to deteriorate, and increasing irritation is felt. And after another two weeks, in response to their requests, participants sometimes hear that there is no time for this now, there are more important things to do.
Assignment: Why has the attitude of the training center staff changed so much? What is the reason? How should the participants behave?