It wasn't even 7:30 Monday morning when Dan Flammer heard a knock at his door. Looking up, Dan saw Ben, his boss, standing there with a sheepish look on his face. "Dan, I've got bad news. Given we've been playing catch-up following that parts shortage, we dropped the ball on the Toyo negotiations. I need you to catch tomorrow morning's flight to Tokyo so that you can be ready to negotiate on Thursday morning. I'll get you off the hook in terms of your remaining end-of-quarter deliverables."

Dan smiled hesitantly and answered, "Sure Ben, Tokyo is beautiful this time of year." Dan didn't like international flights, but he thought, "How hard could this be? All I've got to do is wrap up a buy of the X57." The X57 was an electronic component Dan's company, RevCo, uses in several of its surveillance equipment models.

Dan boarded his flight with a thick folder of material to review before arriving in Tokyo. The good news: He had plenty of timeand he'd been upgraded to business class. Once onboard, however, Dan enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine and soon fell fast asleep. Before he knew it, Dan heard the flight attendant announcing, "Please turn off your computers, put your seat backs up, and fasten your seatbelts. We'll be landing shortly." He looked at his watch. It was only 3:00 pm Wednesday in Tokyo. Dan still had time to review his materials.

But, when Dan stepped off the escalator to pick up his suitcase at the baggage carousel, two Toyo representatives greeted him. They were sharply dressed in dark suits, white shirts, and ties. Dan was impressed with their flawless English. When they dropped Dan at his hotel, they suggested he take a nap so that he would be refreshed and ready to meet for dinner at 6:00 pm. Dan felt that it would be impolite to refuse their offer. As he began to review the detailed notes on the negotiation plan, he drifted off to sleep. Dan was startled awake by the phone. He looked at his watch. It was 6:00 pm. Realizing he'd been overcome by jet lag, he quickly changed and took the elevator down to the hotel lobby.

Two new Toyo representatives greeted him, saying, "You are our most honored guest, and the key to the city is yours." The Toyo managers suggested that they first go to a bar for drinks and sushi, followed by dinner at a steak house. "Steak is a delicacy in Japan," they explained, adding, "We'll conclude with karaoke and possibly dancing."

Dan tried to politely object, saying, "A quick dinner will be more than sufficient." The Toyo representatives objected, explaining that it would be impolite to refuse their hospitality. "Well," thought Dan, "I will probably wake up very early tomorrow morning due to the jet lag, and I can finish reviewing the negotiation materials then. They'll be fresh in my mind before the negotiations." Dan and the Toyo representatives commenced to enjoy the bright lights and attractions of Tokyo, which included Dan's trying sushi and sake for the first time, eating too much steak, and belting out poor renditions of the Rolling Stones' hits, "Start Me Up" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want." At 1:00 am, the Toyo representatives deposited Dan back at his hotel, and let him know that they would return at 7:00 am to pick him up for breakfast.

Dan had planned to review his materials, but he spent most of the night moderating a battlethe sushi in his stomach was fighting the sake, and both were at war with the steak! No matter which of these won, Dan was going to lose! At 6:30 am Thursdayafter a sleepless nightDan got up, showered, and arrived at the hotel lobby just in time to meet two new, also impeccably dressed, Toyo representatives. "The morning shift," Dan grumbled softly.

When Dan finally arrived at the Toyo headquarters at 8:30 am, he was met by seven Toyo managers, representing a broad swath of functional areas within Toyo, including sales, engineering, manufacturing, distribution, and finance. Dan's head spun as he stared down blankly at his unread folder. Dan frowned as he thought, "Ben expects me to return with a signedand very competitivecontract."

Questions

What should Dan's company, RevCo, have done differently? Be specific.

What should Dan have done differently?