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The assignment must be submitted electronically via T-square, and is due no later than 1:30 pm on Monday, September 9. If you are absent on September 9, the day that class discussion of the assignment is scheduled, and your absence is not a documented excused absence as defined above, you will receive zero points for this assignment, in addition to any penalty you might earn under the class attendance policy. You may use any print or internet resource to research your answers; however, virtually all of the answers in Part C can be found at the Internet site www. Excitableness. Com.
Japan. In your first meeting, you explain that your company expects to control the design of the wheels as well as the materials that are used to make them. The manufacturer’s representative looks down and says softly, “Perhaps that will be difficult. ” You press for agreement and to emphasize your willingness to buy, you show the prepared contract you’ve brought with you. However, the manufacturer seems increasingly vague and uninterested. What cultural differences may be interfering with effective communication in this situation? Explain. (25 points) B.
Intercultural Communication – You’ve been assigned to host a group of Swedish business students who are visiting Georgia Tech for the next two weeks. They’ve all studied English, but this is their first trip to Atlanta. Make a list of five slang terms and idioms they are likely to hear on campus. How will you explain each phrase? When speaking with the Swedish students, what word or words might you substitute for each slang term or idiom? (25 points) C. Intercultural Business Practices: Check out www. Excitableness. Com for help on business practices in a number of countries, from setting up appointments to giving gifts to negotiating deals.
Browse the country reports to answer the following questions. (You may use any Internet site). Except as otherwise indicated, your answer should be a sentence or two; not just one word. (5 points each) 1 . What sort of clothes should you pack for a business trip to Mexico that would include both meetings and social events? 2. You’ve been trying to sell your products to a Saudi Arabian company whose executives treat you to an extravagant evening of dining and entertainment. Can you take this as a positive sign that they’re likely to buy from you? Explain. 3.
You collect antique clocks as a hobby, and you plan to give one of your favorites to the president of a Chinese company you plan to visit. Would such a gift likely help or hurt your relationship with this person? Explain. 4. You want to schedule a conference in Oslo, Norway, to introduce a new product line. What would be the better day to schedule this conference June 12 or July 4? Explain. 5. You are traveling to Lima, Peru, to meet with a potential client for your consulting practice. You introduce yourself as Joe Brenna. Your client introduces himself as Richard Square. How should you address your client? 6.
You arrive at the Tokyo office of your new distributor in Japan. In greeting the company’s CEO, how should you hand him your business card? What should you do when the CEO hands you his business card? 7. You arrive on-time for your 11 am appointment with your fabric supplier in Milan, Italy. The supplier keeps you waiting for 45 minutes before seeing you. You are fuming. Should you say anything to the supplier? Do you have good reason to be upset? Explain. 8. You travel to Moscow to close a deal with a Russian company that will be applying your company with important raw materials for your manufacturing process.
Your Russian counterpart invites you to dinner at a restaurant on the second day of your meetings. There are four of you in the dinner party, including yourself, your Russian counterpart and two of his colleagues. Before dinner, vodka is poured for each person and your Russian counterpart proposes a toast to the success of your relationship. You do not drink. Should you reach for your water glass, or fake that you are drinking the vodka? Explain. 9. You travel to Prague and meet for the first time the general manager of he construction company who is to build a warehouse for your company in the Czech Republic.
How should you dress? (Answer the question based on whether you are male or female. ) 10. What Other country should you avoid discussing in casual conversation with your company’s lawyer in Iambi, India, who you just met? (You may provide a one word answer to this question. ) 1 1. How should you react to pointed questions from your German consulting client as to your ethnicity? (e. G. , “I know you live in Atlanta, but where is your family ‘really from’? “) 12. You are sent to Hong Kong for a year to serve as the chief financial officer of your company’s Asian subsidiary.
As a benefit for foreign-based executives, your company provides you with chauffeur. What would be an appropriate gift to your chauffeur for the Chinese New Year which occurs during the tenth month of your stay in Hong Kong? Explain. 13. You are negotiating an important contract in Seoul, South Korea, when you and your Korean counterpart reach an impasse on an important contract provision. Your counterpart, throws up his hands and in a loud voice says, “You’re impossible! ” How should you interpret this outburst? What should be your reaction? 14.
You are negotiating a contract for the sale of your company’s services in Istanbul, Turkey. What are two important considerations in your negotiating strategy? 15. You have been assigned for two years as the president of your company’s South African subsidiary. Your chief information officer suggests that you hold a “observed” for the senior executive staff. What does she mean? Do you think it is a good idea? Explain. 16. You arrive in Jakarta to negotiate a new contract with the Indonesian supplier of hardwoods for your furniture company. During the meeting, the Indonesian participants say very little.
What might explain their reluctance to talk? 17. You are invited to the home of the CEO of the Greek company for which you are serving as the vice president – logistics, as part of a two-year assignment with your U. S. Based consulting company. You are intent on making a very good impression on your host. After finishing a sumptuous meal, you are offered another serving of fish. You have had more than enough to eat already. Should you politely decline the second portion, or accept and eat it? Explain. 18. You are invited to an informal social event at the home of a colleague in Warsaw, Poland.