they decided on a 7 series BMW. It seemed like the two-year stay would be very enjoyable for the two of them. Hans and Wolfgang immediately began to impress the people at BSS. They were quite motivated and appeared to be technically very competent. After only one week at BBS, Hans was able to suggest an improvement in a software design that would save BBS a considerable amount of money. The two men appeared eager to make a large contribution to the strategic alliance. While their part was mostly technical, they were also to report back to Germany on the progress of the partnership. Most of the employees at BSS found the Germans interesting. While the city of Lexington was diverse (at least for Kentucky) due to the fact that the University of Kentucky was located there and attracted more foreign-born residents, not many Germans lived there. While the employees of BSS were interested in the two men, not everyone found them likable. Many employees reported to Sam Sherwin, Hans and Wolfgang's supervisor and a member of middle management, that the men were "kinda stuffy" and that they "keep to themselves too much." Some of their co- workers resented the fact that the two men keep the doors to their offices closed while they were inside working. It appeared that they did not want to interact much with others. While everyone at BSS was on a first name basis, Hans and Wolfgang always introduced themselves as "Reinhardt." Since they both had the same last name, this created some confusion. The two were given nicknames by one of the employees and those nicknames caught on quickly. Hans was called "Hands" and Wolfgang was called "Wolfie." While the two Germans responded to the nicknames, it sometimes appeared that they did not appreciate their new American names. Most BSS employees found Hans and Wolfgang to be pleasant, but they were not quite as friendly as most of the employees, who, were mostly from central Kentucky. Hans and Wolfgang were assigned to work on a project with three American engineers. The project was directly related to the work BSS had been doing for ABBA on a contract basis. The software application for an advanced personal data transmission system had presented the engineers at BSS with many difficulties. With the help of the German engineers, especially Hans, the team was able to overcome the most significant difficulties and move the project mostly towards closure. Assigned to Colin Sam decided that Hans' early success should be leveraged into a new project being directed by Colin Corum. Colin bad just graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in computer science and he was very young, however, Sam believed that Colin showed great promise. He had made a significant amount of money while still a college student working as an independent contractor for some of the biggest names in software design. Although it was rumored that Colin had made over a million dollars while a college student, the fact that he was working at BSS made others think that he may not be wealthy. Colin was offered jobs at moreand World War II. Although there was some tension at times, the beer flowed freely; the men laughed, and it appeared, left the pub on good terms. After about six months at BSS, Hans asked Sam if the two men could take a few days off. He told Sam that he and Wolfgang had some friends in Florida and they wanted to visit them. Sam told Hans that he would have to check with Colin since he was the project manager. When asked, Colin refused to grant the time off. Colin told Hans that he was about to assign him a very important part of the project they were working on and that it was important that the team show early progress. He told Hans that "if Wolfie picked up some of the slack" the team would be making more progress. Besides, he said, BSS was receiving a number of orders for software development from ABBA that they had not anticipated, and the firm would need both of them to work extra hours to help with the new business. Hans mildly protested, but Colin would not budge on his decision. After a discussion with Wolfgang, the two men decided to approach Sam about the time off request. Sam reaffirmed the need for everyone to work more hours but agreed to talk with Colin. After a short time, Sam told Hans and Wolfgang that they could take a Friday off and have a three-day weekend. The Germans thanked Sam and began planning their trip. They drove the next weekend to Florida, picking up two speeding tickets, and arrived at work the following Monday exhausted, and less than friendly. Problems Continue Tensions between Colin and Wolfgang continued, and it was clear to everyone at BSS that the two did not like each other very much. Sam felt that Wolfgang was a hard worker, but that he was not as talented an engineer as Hans. His personality was more stoic. and he was very formal and didn't smile very much. Sam had told Colin to work with Wolfgang in improving their relationship because the partnership was very important to BSS, and Hans was needed in the coming months to handle projects which no one at BSS was capable of doing. With increased business coming in, it was clear that BSS would need more software engineers. Sam decided that it might be a good time to have a meeting with Colin, Hans, and Wolfgang to discuss how things were going, and to see about the possibility of bringing more ABBA engineers to BSS. Sam had already decided to hire more American engineers, but he also wanted to get ABBA engineers involved in the projects. The meeting was scheduled for 1 PM and Hans and Wolfgang arrived promptly. Sam entered the meeting room a few minutes later and the three men began talking. Hans told Sam that in Germany it is customary for employees to take an entire month off from work during the summer months. Sam chuckled and said that maybe he should be assigned to ABBA for a while. By 1:15 PM Wolfgang was beginning to appear upset. He kept looking at his watch and said nothing. A few minutes later he told Sam that he didn't know if he could work any longer with Colin. When Sam asked why, Wolfgang proceeded to list the many concerns he had about the young manager. Wolfgang told Sam that Colin was immature, that he didn't respect the education and training of Hans and himself. and that Colin was intentionally giving him work that was not challenging and that he knew Wolfgang would dislike. HansHans and Wolfgang Experience American Culture In an effort to gain a competitive advantage in the increasingly competitive information technology (IT) marketplace, Business Software Solutions, Inc (BSS) of Lexington Kentucky and ABBA Deutschland of Stuttgart, Germany decided to form a strategic alliance. Both firms felt as if they could gain from the partnership by combining the narrow expertise and competitive advantage they had developed in their fields. Business Software Solutions was founded by Jim Gibson, a former professor of engineering at the University of Kentucky who developed a number of business applications software packages in an era when few existed. The company grew rapidly, and was very profitable from its inception. From basic software development, BSS has expanded more into serving the IT needs of medium and large- sized companies. ABBA Deutschland is a large German multinational company with a specialization in satellites and data transmission. ABBA is considered one of Europe's leading information and communications companies, yet it lacks the software development capabilities it needs and must subcontract much of this important function. It was felt that the creation of a partnership between BSS and ABBA would be beneficial to both firms, but that the partnership should begin slowly. The Germans Arrive It was decided that two technical managers from Germany would be assigned to the Kentucky company for a period of two years. Hans Reinhardt and Wolfgang Reinhardt (not related) were chosen to work at BSS in Lexington to help develop the strategic alliance. It was hoped that the two-man team could learn about BSS's software development process and act as a liaison between the two firms. Both Hans and Wolfgang were software engineers who graduated from the same prestigious technical university in Germany with a degree in software engineering. They both also attended Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology and earned advanced degrees in information systems and management. As part of their academic studies, the pair completed an extensive internship at Cisco Systems GmbH. Both men were single and looked forward to living in the United States for the two year assignment. The boyhood friends loved to travel and hoped to see more of the United States during their short stay in the United States. BSS provided Hans and Wolfgang with a furnished apartment. Because the two of them wanted to live together, BSS felt that they could provide more upscale living facilities. The apartment was in a luxurious complex 20 minutes from BBS headquarters. The two men also decided to lease one automobile, andsaid nothing but appear not to disagree with what Wolfgang was saying. At that moment, Colin arrived for the meeting. He apologized for being late, and explained that he was on the telephone with an important customer. Sam thought that it might be a good idea not to discuss the tension between Wolfgang and Colin at this time and proceeded to talk about the upcoming workload. He explained to the three men how work orders were increasing, and that BSS would need o hire more engineers. Sam asked if ABBA would be willing to send additional engineers to Lexington. Both German men felt that it would be possible, and also a good idea to bring in more Germans. Hans volunteered to contact ABBA and make an informal inquiry about this possibility. The meeting ended without any further discussion of the tensions between Colin and Wolfgang. Things continued as usual at BSS. The workload increased and tensions were sometimes high between Wolfgang and Colin. The Germans tried to enjoy their time in Kentucky by taking road trips on the weekends and making new American friends. Two additional engineers would be coming from ABBA and Sam felt that this addition might help reduce some of the difficulties between Colin and Wolfgang. Sam also increased the pay of all members of the special project team headed by Colin due to their increased workload. He felt that this might also help in easing the strain experienced by all. Goodbye to America Upon the approach of their one-year anniversary at BSS, Hans and Wolfgang requested a meeting with Sam. He assumed that the men wanted to talk about the upcoming arrival of the two additional German expatriates. The meeting instead was about Hans and Wolfgang returning to Germany. Hans explained that he and Wolfgang were returning to Germany, but that they would stay two weeks after the new expatriates arrived to help them settle in and get use to their new surroundings. Sam was shocked and very disappointed. He had actually hoped that Hans, especially, would decide to stay even longer than the planned two years. The two men thanked Sam for allowing them to work for BSS and they told him that they had enjoyed their experiences in America, however, they were anxious to return to Germany. Sam asked if there was anything he could do to change their minds, but the Germans appeared not to be flexible on the issue. Sam shook their hands and said that he hoped that he would be able to visit them in Germany. As the men left his office, Sam sat, wondering how he was going to replace Hans, and if he should have managed the German engineers differently.prestigious companies, however he wanted to remain in Lexington and this limited his opportunities. When Sam approached Hans with the idea that he work with Colin on another, bigger project, Hans suggested that he and Wolfgang both be assigned to the project. Although Sam felt that Wolfgang could be better used elsewhere, he agreed, reasoning that the two men were insecure living and working in a new country. Hans and Wolfgang did not have much respect for Colin. They had interacted with him briefly on the earlier assignment and felt that he was not capable of leading a team of engineers. Although only a few years separated Colin from the Germans, Hans and Wolfgang felt that Colin was very immature. They would be reporting to him and he would be reporting on their progress to Sam. Although the men felt uncomfortable with this assignment, they nevertheless agreed to Sam's suggestion. Colin was a very talented software engineer, but some of his personal habits were a bit unconventional. For example, he frequently brought his dog to the office with him, an office that looked more like a sports memorabilia store, featuring his favorite team - the University of Kentucky basketball team. The office was very cluttered and his personal appearance was less than professional, at least from the eyes of Hans and Wolfgang. The two German's felt that Colin was too young and immature to be in such a responsible position. They had great respect for Sam, so they tolerated the quirks of Colin and tried to work with him. Colin referred to the two men by their newly acquired nicknames, as did most BSS employees. He seemed to have some respect for Hans, but paid little attention to Wolfgang. As the days and weeks went by, Wolfgang began to miss work sporadically, complaining about allergies and bad headaches. Colin didn't seem to mind that Wolfie wasn't around and assigned more work to Hans. Hans didn't seem to mind the additional workload and defended Wolfgang whenever Colin made negative comments about Wolfgang. Cultural Differences Sam would on occasion stop by to see how the expatriates were doing, and perhaps sensed that things weren't going too well. He invited Hans, Wolfgang, and Colin to join him at an Irish pub near work for dinner and a night of drinking. The evening went well, at first. Sam asked Hans and Wolfgang to talk about Germany and how their country was different from the United States. Hans and Wolfgang also talked about how ABBA was different from BSS. At first the Germans appeared to be somewhat tense, especially Wolfgang, but as time went on all four men became relaxed and joked about many things. As Wolfgang drank more beer he became bolder and began to provide a "German perspective on America." He told some jokes about Americans and explained how Germans respected Americans, but felt that they were not very cultured, were undisciplined, and did not take a world-view, and instead thought everything resolved around the United States. Wolfgang also complained about the lack of respect many Americans had for society. He explained for example that "someone with a punk automobile and very loud music invades the personal space of others." It appeared that Colin did not appreciate the cross-cultural analysis provided by Wolfgang and made some derogative comments about Nazi's