Case Analysis
Contrasting U.S. and Another Culture
Case 1: Was Somebody Saying No?
Dr. X, who worked at an important economic planning institute in Country X, was on a study tour of the
United States when he contacted Dr. US, who was affiliated with a similar organization in New York City.
Dr. US, the author of several well-received books, was a high-status economist and considered a leading
authority in the field of economic forecasting based on microeconomic predictors. Dr. X invited Dr. US
to come to Country X for 2 months to give seminars on microeconomic variables in forecasting, with
special attention to using data sets available in Country X. Dr. US responded, “I’m interested, but I have
to check the invitation with the administrators in my university. The university just received a grant that
frees me from any teaching responsibilities for 3 years, and that’s great because I can devote full time to
research and writing. But I don’t know the details of what that grant allows, for instance, time away
from New York to go to Country X as well as a more teaching-oriented than research-oriented 2 months
in Country X. So I’ll check with the administrators to get their approval.” Dr. US then ended his meeting
with Dr. X, thinking that it had gone well. However, Dr. US never heard again from Dr. X.
Case 2: Request for a Price Concession
Patricia began negotiations with manufacturing companies in Country L. Her goal was to manufacture
and market plumbing and electrical fixtures that would be especially suitable to customers buying and
fixing up old homes. Her main contact person in Country L was Mr. L, an employee of one of the
companies with which she was considering doing business. Mr. L was often asked by his company to be
the liaison person when Americans, Australians, Canadians, and the British began correspondence
related to business matters. Shortly after Patricia’s arrival, Mr. L helped her find an apartment. Later,
he also introduced her to various government officials whose approval would eventually be necessary if
business agreements were to be finalized. Mr. L also made arrangements for a dinner to which 12
people were invited, all of whom would be involved in the negotiations within his company. During the
first meeting at which actual business negotiations began, Patricia simply outlined the basics of her
proposal. At the second meeting, when Patricia presented her opinions about reasonable unit prices for
various plumbing fixtures, Mr. L again and again chose to deal with generalities. At times, the
negotiations seemed to go nowhere. There seemed to be an unwillingness to discuss any details. Then,
unexpectedly, Mr. L began acting as the spokesperson for his company. He presented a counteroffer
requesting a number of price concessions, some which Patricia thought were unreasonable. Patricia
was aware that Mr. L is a good businessman and a hard bargainer, but she suspected that there was
something going on in these negotiations that were unfamiliar to her.
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Case 3: The Quiet Participant
Ms. W had recently been promoted to a position of authority and was asked to represent her company
and Country W’s needs at the head office in Montana, U.S. Her relationships with fellow workers
seemed cordial but rather formal from her perspective. She was invited to attend many policy and
planning sessions with other company officials, where she often sat rather quietly as others generated
ideas and engaged in conversation. The time finally came when the direction of the company was to
take in Country W was to be discussed. A meeting was called to which Ms. W was invited. As the
meeting was drawing to a close after almost 2 hours of discussion, Ms. W, almost apologetically, offered
a suggestion-her first contribution to any meeting. Almost immediately, a local vice president said,
“Why did you wait so long to contribute? We needed your comments all along.” Ms. W felt that was a
harsh comment.
Case 4: In The Matter of Mr. K
Mary is an expatriate staff member in an international organization in Country K. Mary is being asked to
take sides in an office dispute. A few weeks ago a vacancy occurred in the department where Mary
works. The two candidates for the position, both college graduates, were an older man (Mr. K) who has
been working in the field for 15 years and a younger man with more up-to-date technical credentials, a
superior educational background, and two years of experience in the organization. From a technical
standpoint, the younger man was a much stronger candidate and also a more creative person, and he
was in fact selected for the position by the chair of the department who is an expatriate. Mr. K and
many of his and Mary’s colleagues were stunned by the decision, seeing it as a denial of his years of
experience and dedication to the organization. Mr. K is extremely embarrassed at being passed over
and has not appeared in the office since the announcement was made. Now his colleagues are
circulating a petition to the chairperson to reconsider his decision and put Mr. K into the job he
deserves. They have asked Mary to sign the petition, already signed by all of them, and to participate
actively in this campaign. Mary in fact feels the right choice was made and is reluctant to get involved,
but she is under increasing pressure to “do the right thing.” She is asking for your advice.
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Case 5: Considering the Source
Susan is the technical expert at a provincial agricultural extension office in Country Y. A delegation from
the Minister’s office is coming next week to discuss an important change in policy. Susan is the person
who can make the most substantive contribution to this discussion, but she is not being invited to the
meeting. Instead, her boss, Mr. Y, has been picking her brain for days and has asked her to write a
report for him containing all the important points he should make. Finally, Susan asks Mr. Y why he
doesn’t just bring her along to the meeting and let her speak directly to the delegation. He says she is
too young to be taken seriously, and besides, she is a woman. Her arguments are too important, he
says, and he doesn’t want them to be discounted because of their source.
Case 6: The Sick Secretary
Tom works for a U.S. company in Country K. Sometimes he wonders why he ever accepted a position
overseas—there seems to be so much that he just doesn’t understand. One incident in particular
occurred the previous Friday when his secretary, Ms. K, made a mistake and forgot to type a letter. Tom
considered this a small error, but made sure to mention it when he saw her during lunch in the company
cafeteria. Ever since then, Ms. K has been acting a bit strange and distant. When she walks out of his
office, she closes the door more loudly than usual. She will not even look him in the eye, and she has
been acting very moody. She even took a few days of sick leave, which she has not done in many years.
Tom has no idea how to understand her behavior. Perhaps she really ill or feels a bit overworked.
When Ms. K returns to work the following Wednesday, Tom calls her into his office. “Is there a
problem?” he asks. “Because if there is, we need to talk about it.” It’s affecting your performance. Is
something wrong? Why don’t you tell me, it’s okay.” At this point, Ms. K looks quite distressed. She
admits the problem has something to do with her mistake the previous Friday, and Tom explains that
was no big deal. “Forget it,” he says, feeling satisfied with himself for working this out. “In the future,
just make sure to tell me if something is wrong.” But over the next few weeks, Ms. K takes 6 more sick
days and does not speak to Tom once.
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Case 7: Business or Pleasure?
Tim, the top salesperson in a Midwestern U.S. area, was asked to head up a presentation of his office
equipment firm to a company in Country H. He had set up an appointment for the day he arrived, and
even began explaining some of his objectives to the marketing representative who was sent to meet his
plane. However, it seemed that the representative, Mr. H, was always changing the subject; Mr. H
persisted in asking a lot of personal questions about Tim, his family, and his interests. Tim was later
informed that the meeting had been arranged for several days later, and his hosts hoped that he would
be able to relax a little first and recover from his journey, perhaps see some sights and enjoy the
country’s hospitality. Tim responded by saying that he was quite fit and prepared to give a presentation
that day, if possible. Mr. H. seemed a little taken aback at this, but said he would discuss it with his
superiors. Eventually they agreed to meet with Tim, but at the subsequent meeting, after a bit of chat
and some preliminaries, they suggested that he might be tired they could continue the next day after he
had some time to recover. During the next few days, Tim noticed that though they had said they
wanted to discuss details of his presentation, they seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on
inconsequential activities. This began to annoy Tim, as he thought that the deal could have been closed
several days ago. He just did not know what they were driving at.
Case 8: The Tea Party
John, manager of a supermarket chain based in Milwaukee, U.S., was eager to establish trade ties with
Country K. Through a middleman, Mr. K, John reached an agreement to import 2,400 packages of tea
from Country K. The shipment came in just in time for the Thanksgiving Day sales peak. John, a tea
lover himself, was impressed by the quality of the tea, and the packaging was better than he had
expected. He anticipated good sales of the tea in his stores. However, because of the small size of the
transaction, the transportation cost per unit was quite high. In order to profit from this transaction,
John decided to price the tea imported from Country K a little higher than the domestic brands they
have been selling. Mr. K disagreed, suggesting that John cut the price to match other brands first. Mr. K
argued that once the imported brand was established and recognized by the consumers, both sides
could profit from selling a larger amount at a lower cost per unit. John, however, was unwilling to start
out selling at a loss. Three weeks later Mr. K called John and learned that the tea had not sold well and
again suggested that John try to lowering the price, but John seemed to have lost interest in the deal.
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