Negotiating in a Foreign Culture

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Case Study Summary

When Anne Burns, an American expatriate, moved to Jordan with her husband to promote female entrepreneurship through the non-profit organization ExportJordan, she had no idea that her American style of communication and negotiation would clash so severely with the Jordanian culture. As she settled into her new office aided by a western educated female employee named Hayat, she quickly ran into a number of minor differences such as men not shaking her hand. Major issues soon started happening, as evidenced by her less than warm welcome by Jafar, a male employee who warned her about her attitude and actions with cryptic phrases and obvious disapproval.

Anne rapidly ran into walls with her direct style of communication and became frustrated quickly with her inability to receive the support, answers and timeliness that she was accustomed to in America. Additionally, Anne failed to notice many warning signs from those around her as well as the fact that Hayat went missing. She also missed the frantic nonverbal glances her assistant Karim gave her before he too disappeared.

After a frightening and frustrating confrontation with Jafar, Anne decided to speak directly with the director in an effort to get direct answers. What she experienced with the director was even more cryptic and frustrating in her eyes. While Anne wished to get answers, the director asked her about her family and husband, and her sightseeing Jordan. After venting in an email to the director about all of the troubles she had been having, the director responded only saying that Jordan was a complex country.

At this point Anne decided to give up on Jordan. Unfortunately, Anne only looked at the Jordanians from the American perspective, and sh...

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