This case describes the establishment of a new Cisco Systems R&D facility in Shanghai, China, and the great concern that arises when a collaborating R&D site in the United States is closed down. What will that closure do to relationships between the Shanghai and San Jose business units? Will they be blamed and accused of replacing the U.S. engineers? How will it affect other projects? The case also covers aspects of the site's establishment, such as securing an appropriate building, assembling a workforce, seeking appropriate projects, developing managers, building teams, evaluating performance, protecting intellectual property, and managing growth. Suitable for use in organizational behavior, human resource management, and strategy classes at the MBA and executive education levels, the material dramatizes the challenges of changing a U.S.-based company into a global competitor.
