Answer the questions

Situation 2

Answer the questions

Situation 1

You are from a particularist culture, but you have emigrated recently to another country (a more universalist culture), where your good friend Mrs. Thompson lives and where you have been offered a job in the company where her husband works. You started work a few months ago, and everything went well until recently when you started having trouble with the day-care ar­rangements for your daughter. Because of this problem, you have been arriving an hour or more late to work at least twice a week. Yesterday Mr. Thompson, who manages the division you work in, complained to you about your tardiness and explained that you could not continue to come in late or you would get a reprimand in your personnel file.

You asked Mr. Thompson to do what he could to help you, but he explained that this was the standard policy and that to treat you differently would not be fair to the other employees. You are very hurt to be treated just like every other employee. After all, you are not just any employee; you are the friend of Mrs. Thompson and her husband. Friends make exceptions for friends, and other people understand this. You would certainly help them if they were in trouble. What should you do now?

1. Do you feel surprised or offended? Why?

2. Why do you think Mr. Thomson behaves this way?

3. What would you say to him in this situation?

4. What do you think about match-making?

5. Do you believe the success of work doesn’t depend on the match-making?

You are riding in a car driven by a close friend when he hits a pedestrian. There are no other witnesses and the pedestrian is bruised but not badly hurt. The speed limit in this part of town is 20 miles an hour, but you noticed that your friend was driv­ing 35. His lawyer tells you that if you testify under oath that your friend was driving 20, he will suffer no serious consequences.

1. Would you testify that your friend was driving 20 miles an hour? Why?

2. Would you change your answer if the pedestrian was badly hurt and your friend was going to suffer more serious conse­quences?

3. Percentage of Americans who said they would not testify that their friend was driving 20 miles an hour: 96%. Percentage of Venezuelans who said they would not: 34%. Why do you think people from the USA and Venezuela answered this way?

4. Do you believe that while life isn't nec­essarily fair, you can make it more fair by treating everyone the same or by treating everyone as unique? Why?

5. Do you think it is reasonable to lay your personal feelings aside (where possible) and look at situations objectively? Why?

6. What culture – universalist (like Americans) or particularist (like Venezuelans) – would you prefer to live and work, if you had choice? Why?

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29