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Scenario: Steve recently accepted an opportunity to travel to Venezuela for his American-owned company. This is his first opportunity to travel outside of the United States. Steve is an exemplary employee and takes his job very seriously. His job is to convince a Venezuelan company that they should become partners with his American company.
On his first visit, Steve is upset that no one shows up on time for his important visit. In fact, he almost has to wait an hour for everyone to show up for a scheduled meeting. To top it all off, no one wants to talk business. They all want to talk about families and the weather. Finally, to Steve’s surprise, they ask him to go out to dinner for the evening. No business is discussed and the evening is wasted.
Steve decides they are not interested and does not return the next day for another meeting. The Venezuelan company is greatly offended by Steve’s behavior.
Question
Using terminology from this week, explain to what extent the scenario is an example of ethnocentrism and also think about what other cultural issues are in this scenario. If Steve practiced cultural relativity, holism, or even had a cross-cultural perspective, what are some issues that might explain the Venezuelans’ behavior? Please be sure to cite textbook page number when using terminology.