Before communicating bad news in cross-cultural situations, you should research the cultures’ expectations about the organization of bad-news messages. Some cultures prefer directness, and others value indirectness. Assume you are presenting bad news in a face-to-face meeting with stakeholders who represent several different cultures, including high-context cultures (Arabic and Latin American) as well as low-context cultures (German and Scandinavian).

How do you balance their differing perspectives about how bad news should be presented? [Related to the Culture feature on page 194]