The Career Choice Of Ms Linlin Chen Case Solution

2. Career Anchor That Linlin Chen Describes Best

There are several career anchors that fit the description of Linlin Chen. She has observed her contacts make career decisions that, years later, determine their satisfaction with life. She has also observed herself and how her satisfaction has been affected during her career in MaxSilver and Allnation. She, therefore, knows what elements determine her satisfaction; upon which she is to base her career decision. In this case, she talks about technical and functional competence and how she achieved it through extensive work in her field. Further, she is confident about her managerial competence and she believes that if she establishes her own company, she will be able to utilise her entrepreneurial creativity to the fullest (Schein, 1996). 

If one focal career anchor is to be determined for Linlin Chen. It can be observed that she best describes the anchor of autonomy/independence. Since the beginning of her career, Chen's motivation was to take managerial matters into her own hands. In MaxSilver, she established three subsidiary companies and saw how they developed under her leadership. She was very inspired by her clients and how they were successfully creating their entrepreneurial ventures. She wanted to implement her own ideas in her work and create and run a company on the basis of her own strategic designs (Yarnall, 1998). 

At MaxSilver, she was also very upset with the owner; Jiang. She could very easily see the mistakes he was making and how she could have avoided them if she were in charge. She was against the organisational culture in that company in which the managers were only required to execute the orders of Jiang. They were not given the freedom to take decisions themselves. She was extremely frustrated with the fact that she could do nothing to amend the mistakes her boss was making. Chen did not want to simply implement other people's poor decisions in her work (Feldman & Bolino, 1996). In the end, she left her job at MaxSilver because she wanted some independence in her work. 

Chen felt a little better at Allnation because she was given a lot more autonomy in this job than her previous one. Chen also utilised this autonomy to take important business decisions that took the company to new heights. She was able to plan out her decision properly and in a systematic manner so that she can avoid the mistakes his previous employer was making (Feldman & Bolino,1996). Through this autonomy, she was also able to develop technical competence in the field that she believed would be most appropriate to her previously developed talents. Another important fact to note was that Chen was able to go against the popular opinion at Allnation and went through with her decisions; which also proved to be quite profitable. 

In Allnation, when Chen was given autonomy in her decisions, she utilised it to find the most suitable markets for her products. It can be observed from the description of her thoughts that Chen always wanted to challenge her own skills and capabilities. From the beginning, she wanted to be independent in her decisions; she wanted to test her capacity for judgment and managerial aptitude. She was also inspired by her friends who established their own companies: she could see how they are able to put their own ideas and strategies into action and were very enthusiastic to tell others about it. She wanted the same excitement in her life.