Reference no: EM132208749

CROSS CULTURAL NEGOTIATION

What Would You Do about the Bill for Dinner?

Robert B. McKersie

Several readers had thoughtful, culturally sensitive responses to the difficulty faced by a man attempting to entertain four couples whose hospitality he had enjoyed in the past, only to find himself embroiled in an embarrassing social situation. The problem was complicated not just by differing cultural expectations on the parts of host and guests, but also by the fact that the guests themselves held different expectations. The scenario, in brief, was:

A young American invited to dinner four couples--two American and two Japanese--who had previously had him to dinner at their homes. Because he was a poor cook, he decided to entertain at a restaurant instead of at his house. He made it clear that the invitation was to compensate for his inadequate cooking skills, but he did not explicitly mention his intention to pay for the restaurant meal, which he felt was implied by the invitation itself.

When the waiter presented him with the bill, all the friends asked the amount of their shares. After a few rounds of insistence by both sides, the American friends conceded and thanked the young man for the meal.

The Japanese friends, however, did not stop. They tried to press money upon their host, acted as if they did not understand, and protested that their wives would disapprove of them if they did not succeed in paying.

The young man felt he could not accept their money, because it would embarrass the American friends who had let him pay. The Japanese friends were insistent, and began to talk together in Japanese, a rarity in front of nonspeakers. The young man was very distressed, because the objective of the dinner was to thank his friends, not upset them.

NEED A SUMMARY OF THE CASE AND THE ANSWER OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

What would you have done to extricate all parties from this discomfiting situation?