Questions for the Anna Hakansson case study:
1. What is your opinion of the manner in which Anna Hakansson prepared for her business trip? Could she have done a better job here? If so, how?
2. Using the materials from Chapter 3 and the text Appendix concerning Hofstede’s cultural model, how would you describe the cultural environments in both Sweden and Bahrain?
3. Would Anna’s conclusions concerning mainstream Swedish and Bahraini cultures differ if you used the core cultural dimensions (see pages 80-85) instead of Hofstede’s framework?
4. What can Hakansson do to minimize the creation of stereotypes about the people she will meet at Gulf One?
5.Based on what you have learned, identify some of the cultural complexities and contradictions facing Hakansson as she tries to understand the culture of her counterparts in Bahrain.
6. Based on what Anna Hakansson has already done to prepare for her upcoming visit, what are the next steps, if any, that you would recommend she take to continue developing her knowledge of business culture in the Middle East?