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The purpose of this exploratory paper is to examine cross‐cultural perception and cooperation between black, Curaçaoan and white Dutch police officers in The Netherlands. It also compares the findings with similar research carried out in the Dutch Internal Revenue Service.

The paper is a multiple ethnographic case study using participant observation, interviews and literature review.

The paper finds a problematic cooperation between black Curaçaoans and white Dutch in the police. These are based neither on cultural differences nor on the traditional white, male organization type; instead, they are related to the specific, organizational culture in the police and the hierarchical position of both groups in the organization.

This paper shares the general limitations of case‐study research. However, the findings allow one to draw conclusions beyond this limited population and challenge researchers to engage in further study on cross‐cultural cooperation in relation to organizational culture and to more general theories on in‐group versus out‐group behaviour. This line of research could focus on different ethnic groups, as well as other countries and organizations, and introduce longitudinal studies.

The paper shows that the depth of the troublesome cross‐cultural cooperation and the role of organizational culture can help police managers and administrators in decisions involving research, training, management and evaluation.

The paper sees that, with most research in this area based on studies in the USA and UK and limited to the police force as such, this paper fills a gap in examining cross‐cultural perception and cooperation in The Netherlands, including a comparative analysis with a similar government organization. The work also adds to the growing body of qualitative research and gives voice to officers at work in a multicultural police force.

The purpose of this paper is to define and test a supplier selection model for Chinese and foreign banks in China.

In total, 12 reasons affecting customers' choice in selecting Chinese or foreign banks are developed and their respective importance are tested through 2,000 questionnaires which were distributed over the city‐zones of Hangzhou.

Supplier performance in terms of responsiveness is of particular importance in preferring foreign banks, which are seen to have an advantage in terms of professionalism, innovation and client‐orientation. For Chinese banks only one selection reason belongs to an inherent advantage, a large and convenient network, with the other reasons deriving from government's protection and historical conditions. Surprisingly, cultural aspects such as “guanxi” or personal relationship are only of minor importance.

Differentiates customers only by way of age and salary and focuses on the eastern urban population. Another shortcoming is the lack of extended qualitative research.

With the transition of the market for financial services in China customers will have increasing options to choose between Chinese and foreign banks. This paper offers valuable information regarding customer selection processes in China.

With most cross‐comparative research based on standard cultural dimensions, this study focuses on specific behaviour of Chinese customers in selecting services with Chinese or foreign banks, finding cross‐national differences to be less important than the characteristics of the specific market or product. This work also adds to the ongoing research agenda concerning Chinese customers' behaviour and Chinese banking.