week 7
Appreciating Our Differences (graded)
We have been talking about the importance of understanding our own attitudes and prejudices in order to appreciate cultural differences. In light of this topic, why is it important? How have you dealt with situations in which you did or said things that you later learned or realized might have been offensive, or at least misunderstood?
What’s Good for Business. . . (graded)
Japanese business culture is somewhat different from that of the U.S., yet both U.S. and Japanese companies are very successful and dynamic competitors in the global economy. You will find a brief overview of Japanese business practices in Doc Sharing titled “Japanese Business Practices.” If you notice, some of the practices and ideas are pretty foreign to our American way of doing things. How is it that with this system of “rules” that seems to govern the Japanese approach to business, their companies have been able to compete so well with the U.S.? Is it possible that they know more about us than we do about them? How about other countries? Do other countries have business cultures that are quite different from ours but also highly successful? Give examples and descriptions.