Three companies are planning a joint venture to build a new hotel and retail shopping complex. 85 The hotel company will develop and manage the property, the construction company will build it, and the bank will arrange the fi nancing. The companies come from three different fi ctional cultures: Blue, Red, and Green. Each has specifi c cultural values, traits, customs, and practices. You will play the role of a manager in one of the three companies involved in the joint venture.

Your instructor will assign you to a company and provide you with additional instructions. You are a manager in the company to which you are assigned. You will attend a cocktail party that opens a series of important business meetings, during which the companies will negotiate the details of the partnership. Your management team includes a vice president and several other managers.

a. In your assigned company, you will meet with the other student to discuss what your objectives and approaches will be at the cocktail party. Using the description of your culture provided by your instructor, practice how you will talk and behave until you are reasonably familiar with your cultural orientation. Be sure to practice conversation distance, greeting rituals, and nonverbal behavior.

b. At the appointed time, come to the cocktail party venue. As the cocktail party proceeds, interact with the managers from the other companies. Maintain the role you have been assigned, but do not discuss it explicitly. Notice how other people react to you and how you react to them.

c. Be ready to discuss your experiences after the cocktail party ends