Introduction
There are many fields in which the study process relies heavily on local and regional specifics. However, in studying Business nowadays, in the era of globalization, it is crucial to understand how general rules and tendencies within the sphere can be applied internationally. As an example of structural changes implemented in a foreign company, this case study will observe and analyze an international language school English Language Center Almaty (ELCA), that functions in several CIS countries.
Description of the Situation
The school was founded in 2014 by P. Tsay in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and started as a small company providing English courses, occupying the space of one rented office in a business center (P. Tsay, personal communication, September 5, 2022). The business attracted many clients due to high demand. One of the reasons for the school’s popularity was the profound understanding of the inner workings of a language course its founder had, having worked as an English teacher himself.
What started as one school eventually became a franchise, opening more schools on its home turf and in other countries: Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan. ELCA’s growth required implementing new approaches to running a language school, which caused additional levels to appear in the company’s hierarchy and created narrow specializations amongst the employees. The general organization became more “tall”, especially in the primary office, which also started functioning as the company’s headquarters and leading school. There is an unavoidable necessity for a stricter structure in a growing business, and establishing performance targets is essential to make the profit required to keep the business afloat.
Conclusion
However, the employees claimed to be dissatisfied with the new regulations that restricted their ability to work instead of creating an order to make the working process smoother (T. Seitmukhambetova, personal communication, September 5, 2022). That dissatisfaction resulted in a significant loss for ELCA, caused by thirty out of fifty workers of their primary office quitting their jobs simultaneously in protest in February 2020. According to the school’s Executive Director, to resolve this issue, ELCA had to hire and train a new team of specialists, which took two months (M. Tsay, personal communication, September 5, 2022).
References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons.
Gallos, J. V. (Ed.). (2008). Business leadership: a Jossey-Bass reader (Vol. 5). John Wiley & Sons.