Jason Goes to Japan: Navigating a Cross-Cultural Encounter A Case Study

Today, the world has become a global village. Almost every organization is doing business with other companies across the world. Workplaces have become culturally very diverse. Employees are working on cross-cultural teams. This diversity leads to the requirement of communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds, who differ in their beliefs, values and attitudes. These cross-cultural encounters are fraught with difficulties. In order to succeed, it is imperative for individuals and organizations to be proactive and understand and respect the ways of other cultures. This will help them to adapt to different cultures with ease.

This case presents an encounter between an American salesperson and a Japanese businessperson. It illustrates some of the differences that exist in the two cultures in terms of dress sense, greetings, body language and beliefs. It is aimed at helping the reader to understand the importance of cultural adaptation and the results of ignoring the cultural differences that exist between people from different cultures. It emphasizes that it is wrong to believe that what works here will also work there.