The vice presidents (VPs) are reading the information about theories of motivation that you sent them. You know, because they have been asking questions, most of which revolve around expatriates. These questions from the VPs tell you that they are now ready to address cultural differences and how they relate to preparing staff for cross-cultural work environments. You are at work on Monday morning when the phone rings.
"Hello?" you say.
"Hello, this is Della Lane calling for Jared Smith. Please hold while I connect you."
"Good morning," he says. "I'm glad I caught you in the office."
"Hi, Jared," you say. "How are things going with staff motivation?"
"Good," he says. "That's actually why I'm calling. I'm getting the VPs and managers together next week to talk about expatriates. Can you join us?
"Sure," you say. "I can have that PowerPoint presentation about culture and diversity ready by then. Want me to present it?"
"That would be great," he says. "Just do it the same way you did last time—8 to 10 PowerPoint slides including title and reference slides, with a minimum of 250 words of speaker notes per slide."
"Okay," you say. "The presentation will explain cultural differences, intercultural differences, and culture and diversity. I'll include a slide about steps that managers at CMA should take to prepare expatriates for assignments overseas, too."
"Good," he says. "I can use that as a springboard for further discussion."
"Very good," you say. "Are you meeting at the usual time and place?"
"Yes," he says. "Plan to get here about 20 minutes beforehand so we can go over everything."
"It's on my calendar," you say. "I'll see you then."
