Cross-cultural competence and power-based rules: A native American case study Gelaye Debebe a,b, * a Department of Organizational Science and Women’s Leadership Institute, George Washington University, 600 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA b Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons Graduate School of Management, 408 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-5898, USA Abstract Inter-organizational relationships are increasingly formed between entities representing culturally dissimilar and politically unequal populations. This case study of an Anglo-Navajo inter-organizational relationship identifies effective and ineffective communicative acts on the part of individuals who represent the politically dominant group. It shows that effective cross-cultural coordination in these relationships requires the successful navigation of power-based rules. # 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Cross-cultural communicative competence; Power-based rules; Inter-organizational relationship ‘‘If you don’t show respect for their culture, what you want to know will never come out’’—guest member of a Navajo-Anglo inter-organizational relationship. 1. Introduction This paper explores how coordination is achieved among individuals representing culturally dissimilar and politically unequal groups. It focuses on the case of reciprocal interdependence, where task ambiguity is high (Thompson, 1967). In reciprocal interdependence, coordination is accomplished through mutual adjustment, interactions involving on-going exploration of information and ideas in an effort to reduce task ambiguity. Coordination is achieved when participants integrate their knowledge and formulate strategies and plans to achieve a goal (Follett, 1995). Based on cross-cultural research results, we can expect coordination through mutual adjustment to be challenging, but we also have some ideas about the skills or competencies required to navigate cultural differences to integrate knowledge successfully. We do not, however, know whether and how these competencies apply when there are also power inequalities among culturally dissimilar individuals. This paper explores the practices that inhibit as well as facilitate coordination when such inequalities exist. Knowledge integration involves finding a ‘‘third way,’’ a new solution that goes beyond mutually exclusive desires (Follett, 1995). This solution evolves through a process I refer to as joint learning. Learning has been defined as a www.elsevier.com/locate/ijintrel Available online at www.sciencedirect.com International Journal of Intercultural Relations 32 (2008) 399–414 * Tel.: +1 202 994 1937; fax: +1 202 994 1881. E-mail address: gdebebe@gwu.edu. 0147-1767/$ – see front matter # 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.01.003