Technology transfer through cultural barriers in three continents

An electronics engineer is about to visit a country in another continent where he hopes to sell communications technology. Before departure, he seeks advice about that culture from a colleague from a neighboring country who has done business there. When he arrives, he finds that none of the advice makes sense. Why? A group of Western executives visits an East-European country to arrange a joint manufacturing venture. It includes a native speaker who emigrated to the West forty years ago. Whenever he is present at various meetings communication breaks down. What is going on? The author explains how, when these and other incidents are analyzed, one realizes how one culture's perception of another is clouded by its own perception system. Statements about other cultures often reveal more about the people making them than they do about the foreign cultures in question. He details how there are various levels of understanding that need to be reached for effective cross-cultural communication.<>