What is the most bizarre example of cross-cultural conflict in business you experienced?
This was selected as Best Answer It is difficult to categorize cross-cultural conflict as “bizarre.” More frequently it is in my experience frustrating, confusing, fascinating and intriguing. I have had some extensive experience contracting in the Russian Federation and Poland, representing US clients. I have found differences not only of the type you describe in your question (“definitional” misunderstandings, if you will), but also of basic culture in negotiation tactics. For example, we found that frequently our Russian counterparts would present comments on only one point in a document, leaving us thinking that the rest was fine with them. Only when the one point was resolved would they raise a second point. To the US culture this was unfair “nickle and diming”–to the Russians it was more akin to being polite and efficient by not pummeling all comments at once. In Poland, many of our issues arose from assumptions about the laws there. It usually pays to involve a local lawyer earl
