Dave is a $24-$year$-$old employee of a multinational company based in the United States. He is assigned to provide technical training to employees in Japan on a quarterly basis. Before making his first trip to Japan, he feels he is well prepared to present the first training module. He has heard that the culture of Japan is primarily a high$-$context culture, so he builds a day at the beginning of his schedule to build trust with his colleagues.

However, when Dave arrives in Japan, several problems arise. He has a hard time finding an interpreter for the training but is finally able to hire one through a local translation company. At lunch immediately prior to the training, one of Dave$$s colleagues asks him to conduct training on a topic that is completely different from what he has prepared for. When Dave asks why this wasn$$t brought to his attention earlier, his colleague apologizes and drops the subject.

Feeling a little off$-$balance, Dave goes ahead with the scheduled training. Although audience members seem attentive and take notes, he has a difficult time finding out whether the audience is understanding the training. When he asks the audience members if his presentation has been helpful, they nod politely. However, audience members make no comments and ask no questions, even when Dave specifically invites questions at the end of his presentation.

Feeling tired and disappointed, Dave declines the invitation to have dinner with his trainees and colleagues after the training. He returns directly to his hotel and flies out the next morning. When he arrives home, he asks his supervisor to assign someone else to do the quarterly training in the future.

Provide advice to Dave:

Using concepts covered in the course so far this semester, what are some possible causes for the problems Dave experienced?

Using concepts covered in the course so far this semester, what strategies could he use to do a more effective job in the future?

What are some possible applications of what you have learned from this case to your particular career field in business $($or what you think your career field might be$)?$