7/28/2019 cross cultural management case
1/1
Q1. What is the significance of the title of this case?
The agent in this case had his own goal when he went to the
meeting; he went toget a better deal for his client. However, the
person he was meeting was aLebanese man. The Lebanese code of
business is different to the agentstherefore, the agent was trying
to conduct business, as the meeting was set upin his belief that it
was professional, however, Mr Haider conducted the meetingas one of
getting to know each other.
Q2.I believe the stalemate was caused due to the different
cultural perspectiveswhen conducting business. The agent followed
the American/Australian way ofbusiness, but meeting up on time,
conducting the meeting and automaticallystarting the business
deals. Whereas, Mr Haider conducted the meeting bygetting to know
the agent, this was through inviting him over for lunch
andinteracting with the family.
This is different to the code of conduct the agent is used to
because he was not
culturally aware of the differences of conducting a meeting
while in Lebanon. Hewas not prepared that the meeting would not be
brought up when getting toknow one another, that the meeting was
not one for business, or that it iscustom to arrive late to a
meeting in Lebanon.Mr Haider on the other hand did not realise that
the American/Australian way ofconducting a meeting was to discuss
the meeting straight away, nor did herealise that he had to meet
his client on time.Both parties have different customs when
conducting meetings:
In America/Australia, meetings are conducted on time, whereas
in
Lebanon, they do not start exactly on time.
Meetings in America/Australia are only there to discuss business
issues,
not getting to know one another. Also, family members are not
usuallypresent for business meetings in America/Australia.
There was a wide communication gap with both parties, both had
their
own ideas on how the meeting would work and both were not used
to theothers customs and beliefs.
The American/Australian way of conducting meeting was to get the
deal
finalised with the best offer they could get, however the Agent
did notbelieve the terms which Mr Haider offered were good enough
for his client.
This is another emphasis on the difference of conducting
business in bothcountries.
