Alex Gordon, an intercultural trainer in Tokyo was working his way through the "case study" section of his program with middle managers from Nippon Inc. Part of the pre-departure training required that the Japanese reveal true-to-life conflicts they had personally experienced or witnessed in joint ventures with Western partners. One of the trainees, Roichi Sato, Nippon human resource director, told of his woes with Raleigh, Ltd., a U.S. affiliate. Only several days ago, he had received a letter from the Raleigh attorney, Jules McIver, "threatening litigation" against Nippon, Inc. Baited by the urgency of what appeared to be a managerial crisis, and noticing the smirks on the faces of the other Nippon managers, Gordon gently pumped Sato for more information.