1. Assume you are advising an office equipment company on how to construct sales compensation (salaries, bonuses, commissions, individual or team quotas etc.) for two sales departments that sell equipment to local businesses. One group (department) is located in the US and the other is in Japan. Use Hofstede's cultural dimension information for Japan and for the US to determine what, if any sales compensation components or policies should be different for each sales department depending on whether the department is in Japan or the US. In other words, what would be different about the policies/components (i.e. how quota is set, amount of commission vs. base salary, additional incentives such as quota achievement bonus or customer satisfaction bonus, recognition events for top sales performers, special awards, or compensation for top achievers) in the Japanese sales compensation plan versus the American version?

2. In a number of Middle Eastern countries, the system of governance complies with Islamic or ShariaLinks to an external site. law (i.e. a body of rules and principles that are embraced in the Islamic culture). For example, Saudi Arabia's legal system is based on Sharia law and shapes a number of cultural beliefs and values relating to business financing including the concept of charging interest as an unethical, prohibited activity. While both conventional and Sharia-complaint banks operate in Saudi Arabia, the use of the term "interest" in business contract language with a Saudi Arabian company or customer can be viewed as insensitive and immoral. How would you advise a US business selling to a customer or business in Saudi Arabia to address the issue of payment for a good or service over time versus payment in total at the time of purchase? Please support your suggestion with research on how companies handle cultural sensitivities to time-based payment under Sharia law.