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A 2 x 4 factorial design (cultural dyads x levels of cultural adaptation) is used to investigate the effect of cultural adaptation on attraction, outcomes, perceived compliment, and perceived trustworthiness when Americans sell to Japanese and Thais. This dissertation extends the research of Francis (1989, 1991) by taking into account the influence of collectivism, perceived status differential, similarity-attraction, and social identity. The curvilinear relationship found by Francis to exist between cultural adaptation and attraction when Japanese adapt to American norms and behaviors is not replicated by the experiments. Both Thai and Japanese subjects generally perceive Americans as having a higher status than themselves. They are not threatened by Americans’ adaptation to their cultural norms and practices. For Thai subjects, the relationship between cultural adaptation and attraction, outcomes, and perceived compliment appears to be monotonic positive. For Japanese subjects, the relationship reaches a plateau beyond moderate adaptation. The no adaptation condition is rated lower in perceived trustworthiness than is the substantial adaptation condition in both the Thai and the Japanese experiments, contradicting the findings of Francis.

A 2 x 4 factorial design (cultural dyads x levels of cultural adaptation) is used to investigate the effect of cultural adaptation on attraction, outcomes, perceived compliment, and perceived trustworthiness when Americans sell to Japanese and Thais. This dissertation extends the research of Francis (1989, 1991) by taking into account the influence of collectivism, perceived status differential, similarity-attraction, and social identity. The curvilinear relationship found by Francis to exist between cultural adaptation and attraction when Japanese adapt to American norms and behaviors is not replicated by the experiments. Both Thai and Japanese subjects generally perceive Americans as having a higher status than themselves. They are not threatened by Americans’ adaptation to their cultural norms and practices. For Thai subjects, the relationship between cultural adaptation and attraction, outcomes, and perceived compliment appears to be monotonic positive. For Japanese subjects, the relationship reaches a plateau beyond moderate adaptation. The no adaptation condition is rated lower in perceived trustworthiness than is the substantial adaptation condition in both the Thai and the Japanese experiments, contradicting the findings of Francis. / Business, Sauder School of / Marketing, Division of / Graduate

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of macroeconomic policy variables on bilateral trade between the United States and Japan. An auto-regressive distributed lag model is developed to estimate the effects of government economic policies on four commodity groups: agriculture; materials and chemicals; machinery and transport equipment; and manufactured goods. Results indicate that monetary policy significantly affects U. S. and Japanese imports of manufactured goods and transport equipment. The results also show that changes in government expenditure have a significant long-run effect on U.S. imports of manufactured goods and Japanese imports of materials and chemicals, while the long-run effects of income and exchange rates are significant for most commodity groups.

Increasing globalization and transnational trends in business have resulted in greater contact with people from different cultures. However, in any cross-cultural encounter, miscommunication and misunderstandings are likely to occur. In a workplace setting, these can seriously undermine job performance and employee relations. The Intercultural Sensitizer is a cross-cultural training tool that is designed to increase the likelihood that trained individuals will make accurate interpretations concerning behavior observed in individuals from other cultural groups (Albert, 1983) . The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to identify cultural differences between Americans and Japanese that can lead to misunderstandings in the workplace and hinder communication, and (2) to construct an intercultural sensitizer that will enable the two cultural groups to interact more effectively with each other. The study's five-phase research design was based on Albert's (1983) delineation of the construction of an intercultural sensitizer. Twenty-four episodes were constructed and statistically analyzed to determine if there was a difference in the way the two cultural groups responded to a given situation. Nine episodes yielded critical values significant at the .05 level. The study concluded that there while there are differences in the cultural perspectives of American and Japanese business professionals, the two groups also share common cultural assumptions. The study's findings have numerous implications for cross-cultural corporate training and higher education.

The Eisenhower Administration sought to create a large role for U.S. multinational corporations, who could provide a significant amount of the capital needed for trade expansion and industrial growth. This policy became known as "trade not aid." The trade not aid policy reflected both the fiscal conservatism and ideological beliefs of the Eisenhower Administration. By 1957 Eisenhower shifted to a policy of trade and aid. This study examines three foreign economic policies in the context of American-East Asian relations. It focused primarily on Japan, since that country served as the center of the American regional "workshop economy" concept in Asia. Tracing the development of the trade/aid program, this thesis then compares and contrasts governmental policies with business activity and opinion during the 1950s. It concludes that the foreign economic policy of the Eisenhower Administration contained serious flaws, served the needs of only a few countries in the region, and was weighted heavily toward a military support role rather than economic development. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)