The Road to Hell Case Analysis

John Baker, an English expatriate is ready to turn the position of chief engineer over to Matthew Rennalls who is Barracanian. Baker has mostly satisfied with Rennalls success with the company, except he has been concerned with Rennalls race consciousness that had been keep Rennalls guarded with his interactions Rennalls and others.

The problem is with Baker, who seems to be arrogant in his thinking that he knows how to deal with the Barracanian culture just because he feels that he has always done well in the past. Baker is certain that Rennalls has an overbearing and cynical attitude toward the other expatriates. It seems as if Baker is stereotyping Rennalls based on interactions that he has had in the past. Both the Barracanians and the expatriates could use some training on cultural differences.

Baker has a perceptual problem and he is interpreting Rennalls behavior to be negative. There are cultural differences that are occurring between the employees and between Baker and Rennalls. Baker's self perception is that he has always done a good job working with other cultures, so he strongly perceives that Rennalls is the one with the problems. The Halo Effect is also seen in the case study. Baker has formed a strong opinion about Rennalls based on the one trait, that Rennalls