Communication, Negotiation, and Decision-making
The problem between Wahaha and Danone joint venture arises from a question of how they will use the trademark in the joint venture as each of them was keeping their views raising the conflict. Additionally, they were not able to decide on who will have the actual control over the management. Another point also is that Wahaha created a series of companies that sold the same products as JV and used the Wahaha trademark. Danone did not realize this situation until 2005(Luthans & Doh, 2012). Danone may have lost control over the joint venture and left all the work Wahaha while giving out space to Wahaha to manipulate the joint venture
The difference of each company understanding their respective roles and responsibilities in the joint venture is that Wahaha thought that in this joint venture is that they have equal rights to the trademark of Wahaha and should be used in the market, but they forgot that they hold 49 percent share in the company. On the other hand, Danone thought that it was the one who has a maximum number of shares of 51 percent and that the company owns the trademark; hence it is in control of the company. After so many fights, which ended up in a lawsuit, the court gave their order in favor of Wahaha that the Danone misled them.
This perspective of the joint venture has an aspect of national culture perspective in the sense that a longstanding trademark dispute between the joint venture members was embedded with a broader clash of national and organizational cultures that came to a head(Luthans & Doh, 2012). Danone traces its routes in Europe, where it believes that rules or laws apply to everyone. On the other hand, Wahaha has its roots in China, where the application of regulations and laws to everyone depends on the situation. These national cultural differences point to the aspect of universalism versus particularism, which draws distinctions between the two nations’ cultural perspectives. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
As a leader, I will use some ways to handle conflict like this when it happens. One way to handle disputes like this is to use arbitration to mediate the issue instead of a direct legal option. This will ensure that the outcome will not hurt the business relations between the two companies. Mediation ensures compromise of interest of each interested party so that no one loses its investment in the joint venture.
References
Luthans, F., & Doh, J. P. (2012). International Management: Culture, strategy, and behavior.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
R, U. (2015). Danone v. Wahaha (a Clash of Giants) – 1390 Words | Case Study Example. Retrieved 4 March 2020, from https://ivypanda.com/essays/danone-v-wahaha-a-clash-of-giants-case-study/