Scandinavian management : A minor field study in Bangkok, Thailand

Sammanfattning: Bachelor thesis by the school of business and economics at the Linnaeus University in Växjö, Enterprising and business development 2EB00E, spring 2010. Authors: Ida Göransson and Samantha Winter-Hall Tutor: Magnus Forslund Title: Scandinavian management – a minor field study in Bangkok, Thailand. Background: Asia is a region that is developing rapidly. More and more companies are moving there or build a subsidiary. To be able to do this successfully the companies need to accept and comprehend the different cultures. This thesis focuses on Scandinavian companies in Bangkok Thailand and how the Scandinavian management has influenced Thailand. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how the Scandinavian management influences Thailand. Delimitations: We will conduct this study thoroughly in Bangkok at SAS Southeast Asia office. We have focused only on SAS Southeast Asia head office in Bangkok because it gives us the opportunity to “dig deeper” and explore the different management styles. Method: This is a research with qualitative interviews and formal- and informal observations. Our study has an abductive approach and the interviewees were chosen through convenience- and snowball sampling. The theoretical framework is about; management, culture, Thai culture and Scandinavian management. Result: The thesis will result in this conclusion; ”The Thai managers have been influenced in a way that has made them more independent and questioning. They are not afraid of speaking their mind and have learnt to adapt their way of managing according to the surroundings. They accept the new inputs from the Scandinavian management style that they believe works and improve their own management styles. When the Thai employees are amongst Scandinavians they know how to act and adapt and when they are together with Thai employees that are very Thai and can not change who they are, they can just accept the other management styles and use what they can to improve their own styles because by understanding your own culture makes it easier to understand others, Abramson and Keating (2009)” Enjoy your reading!