People tend to see other cultures from their own point of view. They accept their own culture and its ways as the norm-everything else seems foreign, or even mysterious. This chapter described a technique called critical incident analysis (CIA) that encourages an objective reaction to cultural differences by helping managers develop empathy for other points of view.

Using the CIA approach, define a situation that you or someone else has experienced that led to a cross-cultural misunderstanding-perhaps an interaction with a fellow student, a visit to a store in your town, or an experience you had while traveling abroad. Explain what actually happened and how a more culturally sensitive response might have been possible if you or your fellow student had used CIA.