Technical Issues at Zenith Tech Bahrain

Oscar Harris made his morning coffee and walked about his small apartment located in downtown
Manama, Bahrain, preparing for his day and not looking forward to what he would encounter. Things
had gotten progressively worse at Zenith Tech, and he had to figure out what to do because the parent
company, Helix Technologies, was sending senior people to Bahrain to assess how the company was
being run after the transition.

Background

Zenith Tech was a premier IT solutions company in Manama, Bahrain. It was known for its high-quality
software services and solutions for clients across the Middle East. The former CEO, Nasser Al-Hashemi,
had recently retired. He was an authoritarian, straightforward, and traditional director and appreciated
the power distance in the company. He would walk the office floor regularly, ensuring things were being
done the proper way. There was a structured chain of command from top management to the front-line
staff. Front-line staff were expected to bring issues to their supervisors, who would then escalate them
to middle managers for decisions. Innovation or "outside-the-box" thinking was not encouraged by staff
members, and it was upper management who would do the conceptual planning. Zenith had been
performing well, so there was no perceived need to change. Nasser had been instrumental in getting the
company into a top-tier status, known for attracting regional and global clients in the petroleum
industry.

Zenith Tech, established in 1990, had grown steadily over the years and had undergone various
upgrades, particularly in the last decade, to remain competitive in the tech industry. There were 250
employees at Zenith Tech, from software engineers and developers who ran day-to-day operations to
senior managers who ensured policies and client projects were delivered on time. Nasser’s management
style ensured that employees followed a hierarchical decision-making process. For example, if a junior
developer encountered an issue, they couldn’t solve it independently. They had to inform their team
lead, who would decide whether the problem required further escalation.

Zenith had been running like this for years, and the process was well-accepted. All new hires were given
a half-day orientation on company policies, procedures, and the history of Zenith Tech. It was
emphasized that clients were the top priority, and any questions or issues raised by clients were to be
forwarded to supervisors or project managers. As a result, customer satisfaction scores were high, and
Zenith Tech had positive reviews across business rating sites (Exhibit 1 – a look at client reviews and
ratings in the Middle East).

1|Page
Helix Technologies

In 2018, Zenith Tech's strong market position caught the attention of Helix Technologies, a major tech
conglomerate based in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley. Helix was known for acquiring smaller tech firms
globally to integrate into its expanding portfolio. Helix was particularly interested in companies
specializing in AI, cloud computing, and software solutions for emerging markets.

Helix Technologies was founded in the 1980s and had expanded aggressively throughout the United
States and, eventually, globally. Helix had a vision to establish tech hubs in places like Bahrain, Vietnam,
Estonia, and South Africa. (Exhibit 2 – Helix’s global expansion strategy). Zenith Tech, being a well-
established company in the region, was the perfect acquisition target for Helix.

In 2018, after negotiations, Helix Technologies acquired Zenith Tech. The conditions of the acquisition
stipulated that no current employees were to be let go, but the CEO position would be taken over by a
new leader from Helix after consulting with Nasser. The company would retain the Zenith Tech name,
but now it would be Zenith Tech Bahrain, a Helix Technologies company.

Nasser, who was now 65, saw this as the perfect opportunity to retire. He had started at Zenith Tech in
1998 as a systems administrator and had worked his way up to become CEO in 2005. His leadership had
brought the company regional recognition, and he was proud of his legacy. After discussions with Helix,
it was decided that Oscar Harris would take over as CEO. Nasser agreed to stay on for a few months to
help with the transition.

Oscar Harris

Oscar Harris, a 42-year-old tech executive, had an impressive background in the IT sector. He had
completed his undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of Texas and later earned
an MBA from Stanford, specializing in operations and technology management. Oscar’s entry into the
tech industry came through an internship at the San Francisco office of Helix Technologies. During his
internship, he was responsible for streamlining operations and improving project delivery times. Upon
completing his MBA, Helix offered him a full-time management role. Over the next few years, he
climbed the corporate ladder at Helix, moving from junior management roles to senior executive
positions.

Oscar's management style was more inclusive and democratic. He valued employees' input and gave
them the freedom to solve problems as they arose. Oscar felt that some of the best people to innovate
and modify products were those who interacted with the customers because customers would share
their issues and things they liked. His focus was that tech sector needed free thinking and innovation, so
ideas needed to be fostered and considered. In San Francisco, he introduced an employee suggestion
program that rewarded staff who contributed ideas to improve operational efficiency. For example, one
of the junior engineers suggested automating certain manual processes in the cloud services division,
saving the company over $200,000 annually. The engineer received a 10% bonus on the savings
generated. This initiative led to increased innovation and a culture of ownership among employees at
Helix.

When Helix acquired Zenith Tech, Oscar was the perfect candidate to take over as CEO, with the goal of
integrating Helix’s innovation culture into Zenith’s operations. Oscar arrived in Bahrain in early 2019 and
began working with Nasser on the transition. Nasser emphasized the importance of maintaining the

2|Page
family-like atmosphere at Zenith Tech, where employees had close personal relationships and often
referred family members for job openings. Oscar listened intently and took detailed notes, eager to
understand the company's dynamics.

From a Good Start, Problems Emerge

In June 2019, Oscar officially took over as CEO. He moved into a nearby apartment and began his first
day by meeting as many upper management and staff members as possible, expressing his enthusiasm
for working together. One of the first things he wanted to do was meet with the team leads and
department heads. With 250 employees, he wanted to ensure that everyone was aligned with the new
vision he intended to bring in.

Oscar decided that he would do a two-hour introduction to the entire staff at Zenith Tech Bahrain and
talk about the direction Zenith Tech was taking under Helix Technologies. He emphasized that no one
would lose their job and reassured the staff that he wanted to maintain the family-like atmosphere.
However, he also outlined a couple of changes that needed to happen.

First, Oscar wanted future hires to go through a formal hiring process involving an independent process
instead of continuing with internal referrals based on family relationships. He believed that this would
prevent the formation of family associations that could distract employees or lead to issues if several
family members needed to take time off for personal matters such as a wedding.

Second, Oscar introduced a policy giving front-line staff the authority to make their own decisions
without constantly needing supervisor approval. He assured the staff that if they made a mistake, they
would not be punished but would learn from the experience. On the surface, the staff seemed to accept
these changes, nodding in agreement.

Oscar was happy that changes were starting to be instituted. He reflected on his previous success in San
Francisco and hoped to see similar autonomy and responsibility emerge at Zenith Tech Bahrain. Oscar
reviewed the organizational chart and began consulting with managers to identify positions that could
be combined or restructured for efficiency. He met with Grace, the HR Director, to establish a formal
hiring process and improve staff training and orientation. She was given a month to implement the
changes and provide updates.

Oscar also met with Ali, the Director of Operations, who was responsible for managing a large portion of
the staff. Oscar asked Ali to ensure that front-line employees had the autonomy to make decisions, and
together, they drafted a list of situations that employees could handle without supervisor intervention.
Ali was given a month to communicate and initiate the new policy. Other critical areas received similar
directives to streamline decision-making and encourage efficiency.

Oscar felt optimistic about the changes and aimed to achieve higher customer satisfaction scores,
targeting a 4.7 out of 5 rating on platforms like Tell IT – an IT customer service review site. Things were
looking bright in Oscar’s mind.

On the surface, the staff seemed to accept these changes. However, as the months went by, Oscar
started to notice that old habits were hard to break. Employees still sought approval from their
supervisors for decisions they should have been able to handle themselves. Even small issues, like a

3|Page
server requiring additional storage space, were still being escalated unnecessarily. When Oscar would
walk around and talk to employees, he also noticed that they were not really innovating on new ideas
that might improve production. When he asked employees if they had ideas, they replied that they did
but that they were not sure if they would work or if they should just concentrate on the work they were
assigned.

Oscar thought of an idea that worked in the San Francisco office that got people interested in innovation
and that was to hold a hackathon. A hackathon is where people get to innovate on problems using
creative solutions over a period of time and it is a fun and engaging environment. Employees got to
work with people from other departments and come up with new innovative ideas for the company.
Oscar liked this idea because it allowed people to mingle and build relationships with each other. They
would be given 48 hours to take a problem and come up with a solution that they would then present to
senior people in the organization. The day of the hackathon, people showed up, they worked diligently
over 48 hours and seemed to have a good ideas and enjoyed working with others, which Oscar
appreciated. Unfortunately, when it came to possible implementation, senior managers would shoot
down the ideas and found flaws instead of trying to support the work and this was demotivating for
some of the employees.

Oscar also called meetings with department heads, including the HR Director Grace and Operations
Director Ali, to understand what was happening. They explained that employees were reluctant to
change their ways because they felt more comfortable following the hierarchical system, were worried
that they would be punished if they did their own thing, and that the old process had been in place for
so long and senior managers did not want some junior person telling them what to do. Additionally,
some senior managers had resigned, feeling that their authority was being undermined. The transition
wasn’t going as smoothly as Oscar had hoped. He began to see cracks in the new process.

First Quarter After Taking Charge

Oscar regularly met with Grace, Ali, and other key directors for updates. He was somewhat pleased with
the progress in staff training and procedure implementation, although he expected some disruption as
employees adapted to the new system.

Oscar frequently walked around the office to observe how things were running. Employees smiled and
said everything was fine, reassuring him that the changes were being embraced. However, in October,
during one of his visits to the customer service area, Oscar observed a customer complain about
technical issues with their newly installed server. Instead of handling the situation, the front desk
employee sought a supervisor’s approval to resolve the issue. Surprised, Oscar thought, "Wait, she is
supposed to deal with this on her own."

A similar situation occurred later that day when another employee sought supervisor approval to
provide a customer with complimentary anti-virus software, even though this was something they
should have been able to authorize independently. Oscar made a mental note to follow up with Grace
and Ali.

As he continued to observe, Oscar noticed that employees were still defaulting to old habits, seeking
supervisor approval even for simple decisions. When Oscar raised the issue with Grace and Ali, they

4|Page
explained that employees were struggling to break away from the old system, as they felt more
comfortable seeking support to avoid mistakes.

Losing some long-time managers who had left for other companies, resulted in a shortage of experience
where Oscar would have appreciated these managers to be trouble shooters who could support the
employees decisions by asking questions so the employee could come to solutions. Tensions had risen
between some line staff and supervisors over procedural issues, with supervisors insisting that
employees follow the old processes while employees cited the new guidelines. Verbal disagreements
were becoming more common.

By December, Oscar reviewed the results of the first quarter and was disappointed to see a spike in
customer complaints on Tell IT. Despite the changes he had introduced, customer service scores had
started to slip.

Moving Forward

As time went on, Oscar noticed that things were reverting to the old ways. Employees continued to
escalate issues to supervisors, and supervisors were passing matters up to managers, sometimes even
involving directors for simple decisions. The more autonomy Oscar tried to introduce; the more
employees seemed to rely on supervisors.

Oscar asked Grace to conduct an anonymous staff survey, hoping to identify the root cause of the
problem. The results came back mostly positive, leaving Oscar puzzled, as the survey did not reflect the
issues he had observed. On paper, everything seemed fine, but he knew that this was not the case.

Oscar found himself at a crossroads. The senior management team from Helix in San Francisco was due
to visit soon, and he needed to explain the situation. He felt frustrated and wondered if he had taken on
more of a challenge than he had anticipated. What should he do next?

Exhibits on following pages

5|Page
Exhibit 1 –
Customer service reviews out of 5 – Jan to June 2018
Jan Feb Mar April May June
4.1 4.2 4.1 4 4.2 4.1

Product reviews out of 5 – Jan to June 2018

Jan Feb Mar April May June
4.3 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.2 4.3

Exhibit 2 – Global Expansion

Target Regions & Timeline:

1. Middle East (2018-2021)

Helix began its expansion in the Middle East with the acquisition of Zenith Tech Bahrain in 2018.
The Middle East is seen as a key region due to its growing demand for cloud computing and IT
infrastructure, particularly in countries like Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The company
plans to expand into other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations by 2021.

2. Southeast Asia (2020-2024)

Southeast Asia, with countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, is a fast-growing
tech region. Helix is looking at acquisitions of medium-sized tech firms, focusing on AI and
software services. By 2024, Helix aims to have regional centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.

3. Eastern Europe (2022-2025)

Eastern European countries, particularly Estonia, Latvia, and Poland, are known for their strong
tech talent and innovative digital solutions. Helix plans to establish a major research hub in
Tallinn, Estonia, which will cater to both European and global markets.

4. Africa (2023-2026)
Africa represents the final phase of Helix’s expansion, focusing on South Africa, Nigeria, and
Kenya. With rapidly growing economies and an increasing demand for digital services, Helix
plans to introduce cloud and AI solutions for businesses in these regions. The strategy also
includes building partnerships with local universities to foster innovation and talent
development.

6|Page