Dilip Roy at Itsun Heavy Industries India Pvt. Ltd. (IHIIPL)

Dilip Roy is a country head at Itsun Heavy Industry (India) Pvt. Ltd. (IHIIPL) in Delhi, India. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Itsun China, a leading private sector construction equipment company. Dilip graduated as a mechanical engineer with reputed National Science Talent Search Scholarship, started his career as a Graduate Trainee Engineer and became a Vice President in another company before he joined IHIIPL as a country head. Hu, the representative of Itsun China in India was exploring the Indian market and he ended up offering a job to Dilip after a series of interactions concerning the Indian Construction Equipment Industry. This was the first opportunity for Dilip to head an entire company. He knew the industry thoroughly and felt excited that finally his ambition was at the verge of fulfillment. When Dilip joined, IHIPL had yet to be incorporated though some business activities had started. Dilip's time at IHIIPL is dotted with problem after problem. The key problems encountered were confusion about reporting relationships, unresponsive head office with its unilateral decisions, and unprofessional and incompetent colleagues. Dilip had taken steps to address most of the company's problems: developing local solutions, drawing on personal resources, and hiring new staff. The business was growing fast on the back of increasing demand. Subsequently, Dilip realized that he was not considered trustworthy by the head office and was not involved in major decisions. His initial perception about his job and IHIIPL changed. Even though he was later given the certificate of honor with an invitation to attend the award ceremony in China, he left the company. This case is useful for examining the issues of cross-cultural management and leadership.