2. WHY ARE WE DOING THIS EXERCISE? Although the nature of it dictates the subjectivity of the answers, the exercise will test your first impressions of how the cultures of the five countries rate. The test here is twofold. A) to determine the extent of your general knowledge of the flat world in which we live and B) to see to what degree you are able to apply your critical thinking skills in making decisions in conditions of uncertainty. 3. WHAT TO DO? To the extent that they seem to share the orientations in the left or right side shaded boxes on page one, enter high, medium or low. You may make entries in both the left and right hand boxes for a given country. 4. THE EXERCISE COUNTRY POWER UNCERTAINTY TIME Left Right Left Right Left Left Right DENMARK JAPAN MEXICO SAUDI ARABIA USA 5. BACKGROUND 6. BACKGROUND The exercise was adapted from one originally created to be performed in a face-to face class, Classes were divided into five team, with each collaborating on one of the orientations. Although there are no right or wrong answers, members of each team were obliged to reach a consensus on the results among themselves. In the first round of discussion one person spoke for each team, giving its results to the class. After all groups had reported there was an open class discussion. 7. FOLOW UP AND TIME After submitting the completed exercise your instructor will share his own impressions with you. In the original in class version, ten minutes were allotted to discuss and complete the exercise and ten minutes devoted for the teams to present their results and for general class discussion. As an individual exercise there is no time restriction