SCENARIOS - CASES AND ROLE PLAYS The following scenarios are suitable, with a little adaptation, for group

analysis and recommendations or for role plays. Previously I made suggestions about which parts of a course to attach the scenarios to, but my feedback reports show that teachers want to attach different scenarios to different topics. I have indicated the relevant cultural differences and/or learning points. The scenarios include twenty-seven that are set out either in boxes or questions in the text; of these four are specified more precisely here. Six of the scenarios are only provided to this website. Role plays Suggested timing for role plays: 10 minutes preparation, 20/30 minutes role play, 5 minutes feedback from observers, 25/15 minutes class debrief total 1 hour. For more guidance on role play, see Appendix 1 of my text Interpersonal Skills At Work 1st edn. Note: the first time the students enact a role-play, it may not work very well, but the debrief will begin the process of raising their awareness of cultural issues while the exercise could be repeated later with different briefings selected from those given below. Scenario set out in Box 2.12: subordinates request for time off to study: The confidential briefing for the subordinate can either be based on the role described in the Box, on one of the following (A or B) or on a combination of them: A. You are high in relationship values, which define quality of life issues. This means that you highly value modesty, compromise and co-operative success. In your society, material comfort and lifestyle are considered less an indication of a person's character and value than their religious devotion, their social conscience, their intellectual or artistic abilities, their stature as a wise elder, or their rights as a fellow member of a caring society. B. You are low in power distance, which is defined by the degree of separation between people of various social statuses. To put this another way, in your society most people believe that power should be distributed about equally. This means that you endorse egalitarianism. In your society, relations are open and informal, information flows are functional and unrestricted, and companies tend to have flat hierarchies and matrix organisations. The confidential briefing for the manager can be based on the following: You are high in achievement values, which define quality of life issues. This means that you endorse assertiveness, competition and aggressive success. In your society, people tend to believe that matters of material comfort, social privilege, access to power and influence, status and prestige, and ability to consume are related to ability and that with enough opportunity any individual who really wants these benefits of society can acquire them. The corollary is that those who do not have the ability, or the character, cannot and should not have them, since they are essentially a reward for hard work and success. Your culture rewards financial and material achievements with preferential social prestige and status, and attributes strong character and spiritual values to such high achievers. Or on the following (if B above is used for the other role): You are high in power distance, which is defined by the degree of separation between people of various social statuses. To put this another way, in your society the less powerful members expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. This means that you endorse hierarchies. In your culture, relations between unequals are formal, often patron-client in

format, information flow is formalised and restricted, and companies are organised in rigid vertical hierarchies. Reading: CAC3 331-4 for intercultural manager-subordinate relations Negotiation strategic versus synergistic cultural orientations to negotiation Two representatives of a package tour company are negotiating with the representatives of a European hotel chain. Most issues have been settled; still to settle are price i.e. average daily rate for half-board residence; and frequency of linen changes.** ** These issues could be increased but I find it works best to keep the issues simple. The package tour company representatives receive the following confidential briefing: In your culture, negotiations are strategic you aim to gain an advantage and are not greatly concerned with how the other party reacts. If there are problems later, you will rely on the contract wording and the written law to resolve them. You expect to get on with it and are impatient of time wasting and formality. You have been chosen to represent your company because of your technical expertise. You want to keep all the persuasive argumentation logical and are distrustful of emotional appeals. The hotel company representatives receive the following confidential briefing: In your culture negotiations are synergistic you aim to achieve the best outcome for both parties and build a relationship. You are willing to prolong the negotiations in order to achieve this. Mutual respect between the parties is the best basis for a productive contract, you consider. You have been chosen to represent your company because of your seniority. You believe that protocol helps overcome difficulties. When there are obstacles to an agreement, you believe that an emotional appeal often works. Debrief tip: Did the negotiators identify the different values of the other party? Lecturers or trainers may wish to include the following short note on How to negotiate in the briefing. Alternatively, these points may be made in the debriefing. The objective in most negotiations must be to obtain an agreement that will be sustainable, rather than to 'beat' or 'out-negotiate' the other party. This character of the objective very much affects the approach to the negotiation process that is needed. Preplanning for negotiating includes setting your targets and your resistance points. The negotiating process itself consists of making opening offers, making concessions, encouraging movement, getting closure, and finishing. Opening offers should be pitched well above targets to allow room for making concessions, which should be small in scale and welltimed. There are various possible methods for encouraging concessions from the other party and for getting closure on a position; a key skill is to use a low-response style. The way in which the final offer is made must convince the other party that no further concessions are possible. Reading: CAC3 314-7 for intercultural negotiating IBW 400-4 for negotiating principles Making and handling complaints active/passive cultural orientations Role A is a customer services agent at an airport, working for a ground services handling company. Late arrival of three planes has led to delays in unloading baggage; now the

luggage of about fifty passengers from a ten-hour flight is missing an hour after their plane landed. The rest of the luggage from that plane arrived in the baggage hall late, but over twenty minutes ago. The passengers are tired and angry and feel obscurely unfairly treated. They take their complaint to the customer services agent, eventually reaching the front of a long queue. Role A confidential briefing: You have a passive orientation that is, you come from a society in which change is generally seen as threatening and it is believed that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. There is a degree of fatalism in your make-up you believe that most of what happens to people results from forces outside their control and that their best course is to adapt and coexist with those forces. People should accept their fates. People should also try to coexist with nature, not to dominate it. You point to environmental degradation, global warming and the risk of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction as some of the negative consequences of so-called technological advance. Passengers confidential briefing: You have an active orientation that is you come from a society in which change is generally seen as progressive and beneficial. Also, people are expected to try actively to meet their desires. People are believed to make their own luck. You consider that when things go wrong, people should accept personal responsibility but you are an optimist you think that anyone can do almost anything if they try hard enough. You believe that it is right for people to attempt to control nature and that technology is capable of solving all major human problems eventually, including the ones created by technology itself. Note: You may wish to give the following short note on complaint handling as part of the role briefing. Alternatively, it could guide your class debrief. Making and handling complaints are direct applications of assertion skills. In the case of making complaints the approach is aimed towards getting what is wrong put right, or obtaining redress, not expressing anger or blame; in the case of handling complaints it is aimed at containment and the prevention of escalation while avoiding getting 'hooked in' by the complainer's anger or aggression. Reading: IBW 250-4 for complaint making and handling principles Compliance gaining active/passive cultural orientations This is based on the following scenario which was described in the first edition: In a Russian factory, where a U.K. manager with extended international experience was production manager in the late 1980s, he found that three-quarters of the width of an important supply road was blocked by rubbish, waste materials, etc.. These slowed everything down because vehicles could not pass. He asked to get it cleared. The local managers role briefing can include a sentence along the lines that the road had been used to store unwanted materials ever since s/he came to work there ten years before, that the so-called blockage did not directly affect the operation of the factory and that there would be resistance from the workforce at being asked to do this work. The nationalities of the participants can be changed as required, but I would suggest that they are chosen to be compatible with the culture of the international manager being an active orientation and that of the local manager being a passive orientation. Role briefing for the international manager: You have an active orientation that is you come from a society in which change is generally seen as progressive and beneficial. Also, people are expected to try actively to meet their desires. People are believed to make their own luck. You consider that when things go wrong,

people should accept personal responsibility but you are an optimist - you think that anyone can do almost anything if they try hard enough. You believe that it is right for people to attempt to control nature and that technology is capable of solving all major human problems eventually, including the ones created by technology itself. Role briefing for the local manager: You have a passive orientation that is, you come from a society in which change is generally seen as threatening and it is believed that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. There is a degree of fatalism in your make-up you believe that most of what happens to people results from forces outside their control and that their best course is to adapt and coexist with those forces. People should accept their fates. People should also try to coexist with nature, not to dominate it. You point to environmental degradation, global warming and the risk of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction as some of the negative consequences of so-called technological advance. Note: You may wish to include the following short note on compliance gaining in the international managers role briefing. Alternatively, it could help guide your class debrief. Compliance gaining is the use of persuasion, especially with key subordinates, to influence them to do what they are directed to do and to convince them that the task is worth doing. Such communication is common between superiors and key subordinates.

Reading: CAC 3 109-10 for intercultural compliance gaining

Giving feedback rule-oriented (manager)/results-oriented (salesman/woman) cultural orientations The scenario here is based on an appraisal interview in a sales organisation. Staff member confidential briefing: You are to have your appraisal interview with your manager. Your expectations in an appraisal interview are that it is a discussion between colleagues, who are fundamentally equal even though the other person is your boss. You expect to document and communicate your own achievements to your boss. You have achieved a lot big increases in sales. You intend to ask for a promotion. You also expect to ask questions about the companys policy and plans and to get answers that show you are regarded as a full participant in the company. Manager confidential briefing: You are to conduct an appraisal interview. This employee, though s/he has achieved good results, has not behaved in an appropriate manner. For instance, on more than one occasion s/he has refused requests you have made to him/her. S/he also persists in asking questions about company policies and plans, which are none of his/her business. Such behaviour amounts to insubordination. You expect to conduct the appraisal interview by giving the employee feedback on his/her performance. Note: You may wish to include the following short note on giving feedback in the role briefing for the manager. Alternatively, it could guide your class debrief. Giving feedback is perhaps the most important, as it is certainly the most neglected, of a manager's responsibilities. Thanks and praise positive feedback should be given whenever possible. Overall performance reviews should also be given regularly.

Feedback designed to help subordinates correct errors and failings should be given when needed, though not so frequently that the person feels they are always being criticized. A key aim in giving feedback of this type is to get the other person genuinely to accept that there is a problem and that they need to and intend to do something about it. The best method for achieving this while avoiding 'blaming' is a questioning technique that leads the subordinates to 'see' the problem for themselves, or, if they have already realized it, to be prepared to speak openly about it. This requires that they feel a high level of trust in their manager, which in turn means that the manager must be trustworthy, from the subordinate's point of view. The other leading principle for giving good and helpful feedback is that it should be two-way; the subordinate should be encouraged to express his or her views about the context and circumstances in which s/he is working. Formal performance reviews and disciplinary interviewing are both best treated as special cases of giving feedback. The first of these is distinguished mainly by being more comprehensive and using a systematic procedure. Disciplinary interviewers need to get agreement on values and on the existence of a fault, not allowing the issue to be diverted to a discussion of work conditions or other employees' behaviour; concentrate on the behaviour, not the offender's personality; clarify the consequences of continuing with the behaviour; and be constructive about helping the offender to put things right. Reading: CAC Chapter 8 3345 for guidance on giving intercultural feedback IBW 4436 for general principles on giving feedback Inter-organizational decision-making meeting cultural orientation towards consensus/brainstorming/debate and challenge in joint decision-making In this scenario, the representatives of three leading charities are holding an emergency meeting to decide a combined strategy for their response to an impending disaster in an African country - Country X. There has been prolonged drought as well as sporadic fighting leading to people fleeing their homes and farms and now many tens of thousands are congregating in a small number of towns whose water, food, sanitation and medical services are overwhelmed. Children and old people are beginning to die of starvation and disease. A series of recent natural disasters has depleted the resources of the charities - there will have to be a fund-raising campaign as well as an attempt to tackle the on-the-ground problems. The fourth person present is the Ambassador of Country X. Role A represents a famine-relief charity. Role B represents a medical aid charity. Role C represents a charity which is committed to sustainable development - Role C believes that the government of Country X is responsible for the problem - that it has squandered past aid and will do so again. Role D is the Ambassador for Country X. Confidential briefing for Role A You prefer to observe and reflect before speaking on important or controversial issues. You would be unlikely to speak openly in a group situation. You try to avoid open conflict and you seek consensus via a strategy of listening and observing before speaking. Confidential briefing for Role B In a group decision-making situation, you aim to brainstorm. You aim to get a variety of views on the table. Politeness in phrasing opinions is important but you do want to talk round the problem thoroughly.

Confidential briefing for Role C Your approach to solving problems in a group is one of debate and challenge. You expect everyone present to have views and to argue for them. Confidential briefing for Role D Your government believes that the only long-term solution to such problems is for the international community, and especially the developed world, to change its ways. It is the global warming resulting from the Wests selfish over-consumption and pollution that leads to these disasters for poor countries and it is Western bankers refusal to forgive poor countries debt that is robbing their governments of any ability to cope independently. Note: You may wish to include the following short note on groupwork in the role briefing. Alternatively, it could help guide your class debrief. There are distinct phases in a meeting, in each of which different tasks have to be accomplished for success and effectiveness. In the first phase a procedure is set up, and a relationship and atmosphere established; in the second, information is exchanged, progress made towards decisions and decisions agreed and recorded; in the third, the meeting is concluded and preparations made for the next meeting. Afterwards, to improve the effectiveness of future meetings, the one just completed should be analysed and evaluated; and there should be a reporting-back to those who may get involved at some future time in the business transacted at the meeting. Reading: CAC 3 317-25 for intercultural groupwork IBW 397400 for skills needed for business meetings (i.e meetings between representatives of different organisations) Selection interview self-presentation style The interviewers may be supplied with a proforma of the type given here. They should also be given the following role briefing: The purpose of this selection interview is to fill a post requiring organisational and administrative skills. The job description calls for a person with strong communication skills, who is excellent at meeting deadlines, has or is able to develop a detailed knowledge of procedures and is prepared to work in the evenings. The interviewee is a woman from an ethnic minority and is older than you, the interviewer. The interviewee appears uncomfortable with detailed questions. More than once s/he proffers CV and qualifications certificates, but you are unwilling to take them or look at them. What you do want to know is whether she would be able to fulfill the long hours and evening working sometimes required and how good her spoken and written English is. Note: You may wish to provide the following short note on selection interviewing as part of the role briefing. Alternatively, it could help guide your class debrief. Interviewing job applicants and choosing the right candidate for the job is probably the work activity that depends most directly on understanding people. The purpose of selection interviewing is to assess abilities, motives, attitudes and traits. This is also the main purpose in interpreting other peoples behaviour generally. The main interpersonal skills required for selection interviewing, as for all fact-finding interviewing, are active listening, interpreting messages and keeping the interviewee willing and able to disclose the needed information. Impression management and communicating are also important.

INTERVIEW PROFORMA APPLICANT NAME: WHY HAVE YOU APPLIED FOR THIS POSITION IN OUR COMPANY? WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD HELP YOU IN THIS POST? WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF WORK TO YOU? WHAT ARE YOUR LONGER-TERM* CAREER AMBITIONS? (*5 YEARS) WHAT DO YOU THINK MOST EMPLOYERS VALUE MOST IN THEIR EMPLOYEES? FROM AN EMPLOYMENT POINT OF VIEW, WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN STRENGTHS? AND YOUR MAIN WEAKNESSES? DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME? (note these) DECISION - GRADE THE APPLICANT 1 2 3 4 5 (circle one 1 IS HIGHEST, 5 LOWEST) The interviewee should be given the following role briefing: You have applied for a post requiring someone with strong organizational and communication skills, who is excellent at meeting deadlines, has or is able to develop a detailed knowledge of procedures and constitutions and is prepared to work in the evenings. During the interview you will sit still, with your hands folded. You will look down at the space in front of you and speak quietly and slowly, though clearly. You will appear uncomfortable with detailed questions. More than once you will proffer your CV and qualifications certificates to the interviewer. Note: The purpose of this scenario, which is an adaptation of Box 5.2, is to bring out manifestations of prejudice. It may work better as a demonstration than as an experiential exercise. The interviewee can still be a member of the class and in the debrief can be asked how she felt during the interview. Reading: CAC3 304-7 for intercultural selection interviewing IBW Chapter 5 for Understanding others and Chapter 6 for Self-presentation. These chapters contain sections on cultural differences in and intercultural skills for these activities. Self-introduction specific/diffuse and high/low emotional display The Mayor of a town in a formerly communist country is visiting the country where a charity undertaking an urban renewal project in the town is based. As part of his/her visit, he is introduced to the Director of the charity. It was his/her first visit outside his own country and first contact, other than by email, with anyone from the charity. Confidential role briefing for the Director of the charity: Your sense of how life should be lived is a specific one. In your society, people keep their public and private lives separate they do not, for instance, readily invite business acquaintances to their homes. They live their lives in a series of overlapping but separate compartments. To be expected to do business with members of your own or your business equivalents family present, for instance, would make you very uncomfortable. You believe it appropriate to limit the display of feeling in interaction, especially at work. However strongly emotions are felt, you consider, they should be controlled. You are embarrassed when others display strong emotions and consider displays of anger, delight or intensity in the workplace as 'unprofessional'.

Confidential role briefing for the Mayor: Your sense of how life should be lived is a diffuse one. In your society, peoples public and private lives intermingle for instance, they readily invite business acquaintances to their homes. To you it is natural to have members of your family present when you do business. In your society, the display of feeling is an accepted part of life, including working life. You believe that if people have strong emotions, they should show them, not bottle them up. You find people who do not show their feelings cold and heartless, they frighten you somewhat and you do not trust them. Note: You may wish to include the following note on self-introduction in the role briefings. Alternatively, it could help guide your class debrief. Introducing yourself to colleagues or others with whom you will be coming into contact at work requires you to construct a sustainable face that will serve you in your future performances. Non-verbal behaviour is especially important in creating this right first impression. Use expertise and references to your experience to create authority, references to shared interests or experiences for friendliness, modest disclosures for openness, questions and listening for participativeness. Reading: IBW 246-7 for self-introduction principles Council officer/ethnic minority householder dispute assertiveness, repetition, reward, avoiding blaming and creating defensive climates (this applies to the issue of bribery), anxiety management, communication accommodation, (but hoping it works in reverse that by staying calm the other person will calm down), identity negotiation as a response to his prejudice (the receptionist must establish her authority) Confidential role briefing for the receptionist: You are a young woman receptionist working in the offices of a local authority. An ethnic minority householder arrives; he is an older man. He seems to want a special collection of an item of furniture. You know what this is about as you have received a phone call that morning from his neighbours complaining that this large item (a double bed) had been left in the street outside the house in question. You try to explain to the householder that special arrangements have to be made for the removal of large items and that a standard charge is levied. As the conversation with him proceeds, you begin to wonder if he is sexist. You cannot understand the urgency of the matter he is asking about. You tend to think in universalistic terms that is, you prefer to draw general principles rather than to explain things through anecdotes or lists of examples. Confidential role briefing for the householder: You are an older, male ethnic minority householder. You have gone to the local authority offices to complain that a large item of furniture (a double bed) was left behind by the rubbish collectors. It is essential that it is picked up today you cannot have it outside your house when your guests arrive for a cultural celebration. You offered the refuse men money to take it, but they refused: this angered you. You have come to negotiate a price for the item to be picked up today. The receptionist to whom you start to explain your problem is young and female. You wonder if she has enough authority to make decisions. You demand to speak to the manager, whom you assume is male. You tend to think in particularistic terms - that is, you prefer to explain things through anecdotes or lists of examples rather than by drawing draw general principles.

Debrief tip: The concepts to be drawn on in analysing and resolving the role play issues include: assertiveness, repetition, reward, avoiding blaming and creating defensive climates (this applies to the issue of bribery), anxiety management, communication accommodation, (but hoping it works in reverse that by staying calm the other person will calm down), identity negotiation as a response to his prejudice (the receptionist must establish her authority). Reading: CAC 3 308-9 for effective intercultural service encounters IBW 3068 for general principles of service encounters Mediation uncertainty avoidance Two groups of workers, of different ethnicities, are engaged on an international construction project. A dispute has arisen between the groups: one group complains that the other is consistently noisy in the shared gym; they want regulations brought in, enforced by management, to stipulate times for different groups to use the room. Role A confidential briefing: You are one of a group of workers of your own ethnicity who are engaged on an international construction project. A dispute has arisen between your group and another of people of a different ethnic background: they complain that your group is consistently noisy in the shared gym; they want regulations brought in, enforced by management, to stipulate times for different groups to use the room. You have been nominated to represent your group in the dispute resolution process, involving a mediator, which is the managements response to this problem. You are low in uncertainty avoidance, which refers to the extent to which a culture prefers to avoid ambiguity and the way in which it resolves uncertainty. This means that you tolerate ambiguity and prefer flexibility in responses. You tend to find rules and procedures irksome or see them as obstacles to be circumvented. In your society people tend to accept outsiders at all levels, stress personal choice and decision-making, reward initiative, team-play, and risk-taking and stress development of analytical skills. Role B confidential briefing: You are one of a group of workers of your own ethnicity who are engaged on an international construction project. A dispute has arisen between your group and another of people of a different ethnic background: your group complains that they are consistently noisy in the shared gym; your group wants regulations brought in, enforced by management, to stipulate times for different groups to use the room. You have been nominated to represent your group in the dispute resolution process, involving a mediator, which is the managements response to this problem. You are high in uncertainty avoidance, which refers to the extent to which a culture prefers to avoid ambiguity and the way in which it resolves uncertainty. This means that you prefer rules and set procedures to contain the uncertainty. In your society, families, groups and organisations tend to be closed to outsiders, to stress compliance and obedience, to punish error and non-conformity, and to reward conformity, loyalty and attention to detail. Mediators role briefing: You have been brought in by management to mediate a dispute between two groups of workers of different ethnicities who are engaged on an international construction project. The

problem has arisen because one group complains that the other is consistently noisy in the shared gym; they want regulations brought in, enforced by management, to stipulate times for different groups to use the room. Note: You may wish to provide the following short note on mediating as part of the mediators role briefing. Alternatively, it could help guide your class debrief. To mediate disputes, it helps to distinguish fights, debates and games. Fights are driven by emotion, debates by disagreements, games by incompatible goals. Understanding this, and identifying which kind of dispute is involved, suggests ways for a mediator to act. Games are the most difficult to resolve, but various forms of challenge have been used successfully. Clarifying relative strengths and manipulating the symbols of victory and defeat can also help bring conflict to an end. Reading: CAC3 312-3 for cultural differences in mediation and skills for intercultural mediation IBW 44851 for general mediation principles Board meeting to increase female representation intercultural chairing skills As role plays, these scenarios require a minimum six-role meeting. Case A The following item is on the agenda of a committee meeting: A sub-committee has recommended that the organization (which might be a national NGO similar to the National Trust) adopt a strictly representational policy on membership of the Committee members of all significant minorities are to be represented in strict accordance with their proportionate membership of the organisation. This will require either a big expansion of the committee or a major shift in its composition with most existing members losing their seat probably both. Case B In an international oil company, the following item is on the agenda of a Board meeting: a proposal to set a target of increasing the proportion of senior managers who are female from 4% to 20% by 2008. Role A is the Chairperson; Roles B through F (or more) the other participants. Note: You may wish to include the following short note on chairing skills in the chairpersons role briefing. Alternatively, it could help guide your class debrief. Good chairing involves command of a range of basic chairing skills, such as calling speakers and ensuring an appropriate pace of movement through the agenda. Skilled chairpersons use their power, derived from legitimacy, authority or body language, to progress the purpose of the meeting. They do not abuse their power to get their own way. Ideally, also, chairpersons act to guarantee individuals rights, defuse emotions that may be producing behaviour counter-productive to the work of the meeting, encourage co-operative and control competitive behaviour. Chairpersons can act either as facilitators or as leaders, according to the situation. Their responsibilities include understanding and controlling group processes. Reading: IBW pp.5649 for general chairing principles

Team meeting various cultural values and orientations This scenario consists of a meeting of a four-person team from the Human Resources Department of a hotel company. The teams task is to make recommendations on the attributes required for both senior and junior posts in the following hotel units: Housekeeping (cleaning and care of bedrooms and common areas) Maintenance (electrical, plumbing, building) Reception and customer service Catering (restaurants, bars and room service) General administration There are no individual roles for this exercise experience shows that trainees can invent both suitable questions and reasonable answers. Cultural briefings can be almost any combination of opposing values and orientations; the same applies to societal role briefings. The main use of this scenario is to pinpoint use of non-inclusive language, of which the participants may be unaware. It therefore works best as a role play. Used for this purpose, there is no need to allocate roles, except that of the observer(s) it may be useful to have more than one. Reading: CAC 3 230-1 for inclusive language CAC 3 317-25 for intercultural team working IBW pp.48392 for general skills for decision-making groupwork The following is a list of scenario locations in the text, with indications of what they illustrate: Chapter 2 Box 2.6 internal auditor diffuseness/specificity; polychronic/monochronic time; etc.

Box 2.12 manager-subordinate, Sweden masculine/feminine values or power distance

Q.12 market research Western, individualist, low power-distance, low-context communication interviewer and an Asian, collectivist, high power-distance, high-context communication; selection interview a diffuse culture in which status is achieved, and an interviewee from a specific culture in which status is ascribed; negotiation a particularist culture in which emotional display is accepted versus a universalist culture in which emotional display is not tolerated. Chapter 3 Q.3 A student complaining to his/her professor about the grade for an assignment; a sales manager communicating a highly ambitious sales target to a commission-only salesman; both these relate to rhetorical sensitivity Q.12 Western/Japanese senior manager, Indian subordinate appraisal interview; to get a better understanding of how the cultural differences here are likely to play out, see my Culture and Business in Asia. Chapter 4 Box 4.4 an ethnic minority woman, housing benefit claim; cultural differences in what counts as relevant; power distance. Box 4.5 an office move in India to a relatively low-prestige location; how should the manager present the move to his/her staff? Q.9 sales targeting meeting between a sales manager from Australia and a sales representative from Japan; this relates to the cultural difference in whether the individual or the group is regarded as responsible for achieving sales; if wanted, the case can be made more pointed by there having been a shortfall against targets in the sales reps territory or his/her groups area in the recent past.

Q.13 a newly appointed sales managers complaints about staff; differences in measurement of performance by results against ticking the boxes. Chapter 5 Box 5.2 selection interview; prejudiced interviewer Box 5.11 staff (Fran) complaining about a colleague with mental health problems; how should her manager (Bob) handle the matter? (This box is poorly laid out but I think comprehensible.) Box 5.12 attendance at a French management/decision-making meeting; surface business culture issues, negotiation processes Chapter 6 Box 6.5 Hungarian Business Association meeting; conversation rules, surface business culture practices, attitudes. Box 6.12 grounding example; successful grounding Box 6.16 building control officer, ethnic minority householder; how should the building control officer deal with this? Q.11 same situation as Ch4, Q.13; further complicated by differences in power distance and deference. Q.20 an ethnic minority staff asks for leave for family wedding/cultural celebration: differences in the importance attached to family versus work. Chapter 7 Box 7.1 consultant in Germany; German surface business culture Box 7.2 and Q.5 Taiwanese and Americans and appointment of a nephew; different attitudes to nepotism and merit-based versus loyalty-based operations Box 7.9 delegation in India; dont be deceived by Indian subordinates deference into thinking they dont take responsibility or have self-confidence. Q.24 announcement of move to a new office by a British business in India; dealing with resistance cause by importance of status of place of work (See Box 4.5 above.) Chapter 8 Box 8.1 selection interviewing Czech applicants; dangers of misinterpreting low-key interviewee style. Q.5 mentoring; active/passive orientation Q.12 plot of land negotiation; relationship versus achievement values Q.13 lease negotiation; how cultural values affect power plays in negotiations Q.14. the same negotiations as 12 and 13, but with emphasis on differences in negotiating style Q.19 French/Indian call centre case; values differences; also prejudice Chapter 9 Box 9.7 presenting a new reward system to Indian employees; risks