Differing Frames of Reference: E-Mail Cross- Cultural Misunderstanding A cultural misunderstanding nearly derailed an Indo-Japanese bridge building project. An Indian firm sent a detailed list of technical questions to its Japanese counterpart. The Indian engineers panicked when they received no reply. They wondered what had happened. Was the deal off?

A week later, the Japanese engineers responded. Unlike in India or in the United States, the Japanese encourage input from everyone involved in a project. The queries probably went to the heads of different departments so that a complete picture could be presented in the response. In the United States and in India, businesspeople expect an immediate response of some sort from e-mails.

Your Task. Discuss how differing frames of reference affected this misunderstanding. How could such misunderstandings be averted?