Develop an awareness of cultural differences and identify the underlying cultural values of observed behaviors.

Instructions

1. Four volunteers leave the classroom for a few minutes.

2. The remaining students receive the following instructions: When your friends return to class, you will act as employees from a foreign country. When you answer their questions, you must follow these rules:

(a) You refer to “ We” and not to “ I. ” You do not respond to very personal questions concerning your personal opinion, feelings, etc. You look at your classmates, trying to get their agreement to what you say. (Individualism – Collectivism)

(b) You answer only when they use your family name, or another gesture of respect (e.g. Mr., Dr.). You also respond with gestures of respect. (Power distance)

(c) When a woman is being asked, the man sitting next to her will reply instead. (Masculinity – femininity)

(d) Your answer should not be factual or evidence based. Rather, you should respond in vague and ambiguous terms. (For example, “ it will be all right “; “ people say . . . , ” “ we’ll give it a try . . . , ” etc.). (Uncertainty avoidance)

(e) You avoid conflicts and disagreements. (Harmony)

3. Please call back the volunteers and say: “ Your multinational organization sent you as expatriates to work on a project which runs in a foreign country. This is your first day in the new site. You want to establish relationships with the local employees. Employees in your host country have different cultural values and rules than the ones you have. Your objective is to discover these rules. You can ask your foreign employees any question you like. ”

4. Let the class play the game for 15 minutes.

5. At the end of the exercise you ask your class to interpret the rules in terms of Hofstede ’s cultural dimensions (1991, 2001). Identify differences between the host country and the expatriates. Ask the class to reflect upon the process of discovering the rules of behaviors and their underlying values. In addition, ask the participants to say how they felt about each other, what frustrated them, whether they were able to relate to each other and whether they believe they could successfully work together.