Intercultural Communication: Recognizing Cultural Variations

[LO-3] You represent a Canadian toy company that’s negotiating to buy miniature truck wheels from a manufacturer in Osaka, Japan. In your fi rst meeting, you explain that your company expects to control the design of the wheels as well as the materials that are used to make them. Th e manufacturer’s representative looks down and says soft ly, “Perhaps that will be diffi cult.” You press for agreement, and to emphasize your willingness to buy, you show the prepared contract you’ve brought with you. However, the manufacturer seems increasingly vague and uninterested. What cultural diff erences may be interfering with eff ective communication in this situation? (Canada is considered a low-context culture;

Japan is high-context.) In a brief email message to your instructor or a post on your class blog, share your analysis.