A U.S.-American business person refused an offer of a cup of coffee from a Bosnian businessman. Such a rejection is considered very rude and the business negotiations became stalled.

A Japanese manager in a U.S. company was told to give critical feedback to a subordinate during a performance evaluation. Japanese use high context language and are uncomfortable giving direct and concise feedback. It took the manager five tries before he could be direct enough to discuss the poor performance so that the U.S. American understood.

An Iraqi-born woman working for a U.S. company did not show up for work one day. She also did not call her supervisor to let him know that she was taking the day off. The U.S.-born American supervisor angrily called his employee around midday, demanding an explanation why she had neither shown up for work nor called. She replied, “Why are you upset? YOU have to call me and see if I am ok.”

A U.S.-born boss said to his Chinese-born employees, "Why don’t we go for dinner together after work?" The employees agreed. They went to a restaurant and enjoyed a pleasant dinner. The check arrived. Who should pay for dinner? The employees looked at the boss, the boss looked at everybody. There was silence. In China, if the boss asks her/his subordinates for a dinner, it is her/his responsibility to pay the bill, and in the U.S. people may choose to “go Dutch” for such a dinner.