Galaxy Television: Melding Worlds or Cultural Big Bang?

Abstract

Suitable for MBA, EMBA, GEMBA, and executive education programs, this case explores the early days of a potential global leader's career. Emily Goh joined Galaxy Television, an Arab television start-up, as the head of corporate planning and worked in Rome for 10 months. She was heading back to Los Angeles to produce a television special on the Academy Awards. Her team included Arab on-air talent and producers, British production technicians, an Italian accountant, and American production support staff. Given the mix of cultures represented on her team, Goh wondered how she could generate the trust and cohesion the members would need for fruitful collaboration. Would there be a difference in the team dynamic now that they were in Los Angeles rather than in Rome? Would she herself behave differently? More broadly, Goh wondered whether she could continue to tackle the challenges inherent in living abroad and working for a multinational company. Was the melange of cultures in the pressure cooker of a multinational start-up company too much change? Was Galaxy's array of cultures too disparate to blend and lead? Could she find a way to meld her worlds and those at Galaxy? Or would Galaxy Television be her “big bang”? Excerpt UVA-OB-1022 Aug. 10, 2011 GALAXY TELEVISION: MELDING WORLDS OR CULTURAL BIG BANG? The Alitalia flight from Rome to Los Angeles had leveled off, and Emily Goh settled into her first-class seat, glass of wine in hand. She thought back 10 months to when she had been on the same flight in the opposite direction. Goh had moved to Rome to join an Arab television start-up as the head of corporate planning. Her excitement and anticipation of the impending adventure kept her up for that 14-hour flight. This time, however, she had the long flight home to decompress and reassume her American identity—to return to comfortable, more familiar surroundings than she had experienced in the cauldron that was Galaxy Television. Although the trip back home was for business, Goh was looking forward to spending time with her family and close friends in Los Angeles before producing a television special on the Academy Awards with the Galaxy team that would arrive in a week. Her team included Arab on-air talent and producers, British production technicians, an Italian accountant, and American production support staff. The Academy Awards' high visibility with customers, potential studio partners, and competitors meant the production was a priority for Galaxy. As such, her boss, the CEO, designated Goh as the project's team leader. A successful show would position the company as the leading Arab television network and a proven producer of quality, original entertainment programming. . . .