Tan and the “Audit Day”

This case is about a story told from the perspective of Tan, a worker in a factory on an audit day. The factory belonged to a joint venture between a Chinese firm and a European supplier of electronic components to global auto manufacturers. Tan noticed that, on this important day, things were quite different from her usual workday experience. After performing as rehearsed, the local managers of the factory completed the audit and had dinner with the factory auditor, Jim Maxwell. Meanwhile, all factory workers were required to work six hours after dinner to make up for time lost during that day. The case later moves to the perspective of Maxell. Looking back over the day, he wondered whether it had been a successful audit or was something artificial? An experienced factory auditor, Maxwell was mulling over a number of questions…