A French purchasing director, an American supplier, and five colleagues from five different parts of the United States. Ten decisions. No option here is stupid — each one is what a competent executive might reasonably do, and each one costs something.
Format adapted from the culture-assimilator method of K. Cushner & R. W. Brislin, Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide (SAGE, 1995). Regional patterns referenced here draw on Tannen on conversational style, Cohen & Nisbett on Southern honour norms, and Vandello & Cohen's state-level individualism index. Within-region variation is very large, and one of these ten decisions is designed to punish a regional explanation that happens to be wrong.