Apodaca
MT302 Organizational Behavior
Unit Seven: Application 15.2
Judgment Calls
March 21, 2011 Judgment Calls

1. A colleague, an amateur pilot, shows up at a critical meeting with some Japanese executives wearing a tie adorned with pictures of a P51D Mustang escorting a B-29 Superfortress (the Mustang is a World War II fighter and the Superfortress is the type of plane that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II).
If the colleague showed up before the meeting, the first thing would be to pull him to the side and explain to him that the tie he is wearing is not appropriate for a meeting with Japanese executives. I would further explain that in any type of meeting, especially critical ones, first impressions are very important. For the Japanese, casual attire is not appropriate for a business meeting. Men should wear dark conservative attire and according to their status and position, this will impress the Japanese. (Williams, 2008) If the colleague shows up during the meeting I would immediately apologize to the Japanese for the attire that my colleague is wearing and that by no means is it meant to show any disrespect.
In Japan apologizing is considered a virtue. This shows them that we are willing to take responsibility and avoid blaming others for any mistakes that we make either purposely or unwittingly. When apologizing I will be bowing deeply to show that I am really very sorry. (Abe, 2011) To summarize, none of the scenarios should have happened if I had done my due diligence I would have prepared for it as well as preparing the other participants about proper protocol when meeting Japanese executives. (Drafke, 2006)

2. You know that you have only $110 left before you hit the limit on your credit card, and you have $8 in your wallet. You are the host to three clients. One has just announced that he is considering the lobster dinner for $40. The other two clients nod their heads.
There are several options opened in a situation like this. To begin with clients that you are hosting for dinner should know proper etiquette in that they should not be ordering the most expensive meals on the menu unless they are invited by the host to do so. Secondly, since this is a business dinner foods such as lobsters, clams in the shell, or corn on the cob should not be ordered because they will interfere with the business discussion. (Drafke, 2006)
I would suggest certain items on the menu which will give them an idea of what meals we will be eating. (Drafke, 2006) As the host I will set the tone for the dinner and order a meal that is well within the budget, this should trigger the clients to follow suit and pass over the lobster dinner. (McCann, 2011) By doing this and keeping well below my budget I may still be able to offer an after dinner drink or dessert.

3. While waiting outside a meeting room, you notice that the next middle manager making a presentation is rehearsing what he will say. The pants zipper of his blue suit is open and part of his white shirt is protruding.
As per proper etiquette a person must always be ready especially when making a presentation in front of an audience. This is usually common sense, think of it as going on your first date and you want to make a good impression, so you will always double check yourself make sure that everything from head to toe is in place and looks good as in the following: “As a final check, all buttons and zippers should be checked and all shoelaces tied.” (Drafke, 2006)
Sometimes a person is so engrossed in an activity that things will slip their mind as in the case of the middle manager. If this should happen I would walk up to the middle manager and quietly ask if we could speak in private. Once that we are away from others I would politely tell him that his zipper was down and that his shirt was protruding through the opening. By doing this I would have prevented him from embarrassing himself at the meeting.

4. Your firm has a no-smoking policy in all its buildings. One of your co-workers consistently smokes in the bathroom, usually just before you have to go in there.
“To many people, smoking is a sensitive topic. Only after you have privately approached a person smoking in the no-smoking lounge should you consider enlisting the help of a manager or others. You should remember the rules of etiquette even if those around you do not.” (Drafke, 2006)
Myself being a smoker and knowing the sensitivity of smokers I would be more comfortable in talking to them than would a non-smoker. I would remind the co-worker that there is a company no smoking policy and by smoking in the bathroom he/she was breaking the policy which can affect the other smokers and the non-smokers. Such an effect would be being blamed for his breaking of the rules and suffering the consequences. 5. During an initial lunch with some important potential customers, your boss made a spectacle of herself. The potential customer’s managers spent most of the time watching her as she talked about how dumb your company’s suppliers are and how all manages are like those in Dilbert. She used her fingers to wipe her mouth and kept the napkin on the table to wipe her fingers on. She used a salad fork to stab the chicken out of her chicken soup and wrapped her tea bag around her dessert spoon to wring the last drops of tea from it. At the end, she asked for a doggie bag because she “might want a little something later.” She says she can’t wait for the next meeting, which may make or break the whole deal.
In this particular scenario my boss has just about broken every rule of proper etiquette. By doing this she as left a lasting impression of the lack of leadership skills, professionalism, and single handedly destroyed reputation of the company. During the initial lunch it would almost be impossible to speak with her and remedy her behavior. This further explained with the following: “Not conforming to etiquette in purely social situations might cause some embarrassment or a loss of social status or invitations to future events. Not conforming to etiquette during business interactions can cause you to lose a sale or not make a deal—or it can cost you a job, an assignment, or a promotion. Whether it is right or not, people often look at your behavior and lack of conformity to etiquette and project this to your ability (or inability) to do a job.” (Drafke, 2006)

What I would do would be to apologize to the customers and attempt to salvage what I could. At the first opportunity I would talk with my boss concerning her actions and behavior during the luncheon. I would be explicit holding nothing back to make sure that she understands fully what happened and the potential negative recoil that may occur, and in some cases probably already did. I would iterate the importance of having proper etiquette in business interactions.
I would also suggest that she obtain etiquette training such as given by Jacqueline Whitmore which states: “…ways to identify and avoid common etiquette pitfalls, gain the competitive advantage, polish your personal brand, and build a stronger rapport with clients and customers…”(Whitmore, 2011) Finally I would advise her to contact all customers, suppliers, and other managers to personally apologize and repair any rifts that have developed. For this is what makes a good leader.

References
Williams.D. (2008). Japan. International Business Center.Org. University of Texas at Dallas - M.B.A. International Management Studies. Retrieved on March 21, 2011 at http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/japan.htm
Abe. N. (2011). Expressing Apologies How to Say I am Sorry in Japanese. About.com Guide. Retrieved on March 21, 2011 at http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/japan.htm
Drafke.M. (2006). The Human Side of the Organization. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, Pearson Education, Inc.
McCann.M. (2011). Dining Etiquette in Business.Chiff.com, Retrieved on March 21, 2011 at http://www.chiff.com/a/business-dining.htm
Whitmore.J. (2011). Could you benefit from business etiquette training?.EtiquetteExpert.com, Retrieved on March 21, 2011 at http://www.etiquetteexpert.com/