Well, while the most of progressive companies are trying to move in to team leader style by placing people in the team as equals, but allowing someone (usually more experienced and mature person) to make a decision on rising concerns; some companies still try to incorporate hierarchial leadership, army-style slave-to-boss relationship, which eventually leads (to my opinion) to micromanagement issue. What is micromanagement? In simply words, it is when you try to keep an eye and manage every single mouse click and key press of every person in your team (your company, your country). I am sure, this is not always a question of company policy, but a decision made by some circumstances. What kind of circumstances?
Just a short example. For example, first time offshore experience is often painfull, especially for a competely local company that never worked to anyone else even out of the state. However, at some time point, company believes that they need to outsource and they hire offshore people. As the first aid step, the managers and heads are trying to put an extra security on the job to be sure that the process is running to the right way. Managers try to keep an eye on every step, being scared to give offshore peple an extra freedom. As far as this is impossible to do for a person, who is not on the same experience level as the offshore geeks (who are actually supposed to be very smart), company sends their best local geek to lead the offshore process. Local geek understands the process, but unlikely he is not good to make orders (he is a regular hi-tech geek and never taught to be a manager), and after numerous tries and falls, he finds himself writing the code, which he can't order. At this moment the time of micromanagement comes. The company made busy all local people with the same task as offshore people (remember, local geeks control the offshore geeks), as the result it pays double check for the same task, financials cry and the company rips off the whole idea of outsourcing development. Nice scenario?
So how often does it happen in offshore world and how do you fight with the companies when you see theirs micromanagement behaviours, or they build a boss hierarchy on you?