Canada Timber Essay

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Canada Timber: Negotiating with the Japanese Tim Wilder, CEO of Canada Timber, was excited as he hung up the telephone in his office in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tim had just received a call from Akiko Morita, who represented the Japanese furniture manufacturer, Bonsai. Morita informed Tim that Canada Timber was being considered as a major supplier to Bonsai. He told Tim that Canada Timber’s reputation as a supplier of quality hardwoods was of interest to Bonsai. Canada Timber exported its products to the United States, Mexico, and several European countries; however, the company did not have customers anywhere in Asia. Tim was excited about the prospect of exporting to Asia. After several long-distance telephone calls and several more faxes, it was decided that Tim and two of his associates would travel to Japan in order to close an initial sales contract. In addition, Tim asked his brother-in-law, Johnny Sharkey - an attorney, to accompany them, and to act as their legal representative. The two associates Tim selected to join him on the trip were a production supervisor from Canada Timber and another member of the management team. Bill Hudak, production supervisor was a long-term employee of Canada Timber. His knowledge of hardwoods and the production procedures of Canada Timber made him an obvious choice for inclusion on the negotiating team. Tim also asked Kevin Peterson, a regional salesperson, to go along as well since Kevin was married to a woman of Japanese descent, and Tim felt he would make a good impression on the Japanese. None of the Canada Timber employees, or Johnny, spoke Japanese. Kevin knew a few words in Japanese and was somewhat familiar with Japanese culture. The Japanese had faxed a number of documents to Tim concerning the meetings. Tim was very impressed with the degree of detail provided by the Japanese, including the names and

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