Reference no: EM133036829

Sanjay Ghosh was posted in Japan for a consulting assignment with one of the major clients of ABC Inc. The Japanese company had been working with ABC for 5 years and Sanjay was their single point of contact in Japan.

The CEO of the Japanese firm, Mr. Futoshi, called Sanjay to his office in Tokyo and invited Sanjay to dinner at his house over the weekend. Sanjay was initially hesitant but eventually accepted Futoshi's invitation. He decided to pick up a small gift for Mr. Futoshi and his family. Sanjay bought a few sticks of lilies and a gift which was moderately expensive which he got gift wrapped at the store.

He dressed casually for the occasion, reached Futoshi's house a little early and walked straight into the house without taking off his shoes.

After a small chat it was time for dinner. Sanjay was asked to sit on one specific chair. Sanjay felt that he would be comfortable taking the seat next to the one specified for him and sat in it. Sanjay was not comfortable using chopsticks and asked for a fork from his host.

Once soup was served, those are the dining table made slurping noises while eating. Sanjay felt uncomfortable and a little odd.

During the course of dinner, he took some rice and mixed it with gravy that was served. Sanjay finished eating the rice in the bowl, however, there were a few grains left in the bowl. The host served him rice again. Sanjay could not eat more and had to leave the rest of the rice in the bowl. All through the dinner, Sanjay tried to engage the family in conversation but was unsuccessful. It seemed to him that the family was extremely busy eating.

After the dinner Sanjay appreciated the paintings on the walls in the dining area to engage Mr. Futoshi in a conversation. However, Futoshi's response was extremely cold. Once back at the hotel, Sanjay wondered about the reason for the cold behaviour of his host.

Questions:

Q1. What according to you were the reasons of the hosts behaving in a reserved fashion? Could Sanjay have avoided such a situation?

Q2. Explain the following with the help of suitable situations:

a) Ethnocentrism

b) Stereotyping

c) Low and High Context Cultures