Re: After reading the document...
It is my impression that when working for a US company (at least for SOME of them), there is a very strong pressure to conform in many more ways than an employer should possible ask for.
I work for a large US company and there us a lot of truth in that statement. Being a team player is seen as more important than genuine discussion. The biggest faux-pas is anything that tarnishes the brand. Public, dissent even within the company is seen as bad for the brand so much be stepped on.
The difference between US and European cultures is shown by this story I heard.
MS was showing off its latest Excel. They went to a US conference and showed how you could do all sort of eye-candy stuff such as rotate your tables on a cube etc. The crowd in the conference went wild, whooping and hollering as the demonstration went on.
They next came over to Yorkshire, UK and did the same demonstration. This time it was met with stony silence.
At the end, the person doing the demo said to their audience "well, I got a much better reaction last time I did this".
A voice from the back in strong Yorkshire accent then replied "Its only a bloody spreadsheet"
Biting the hand that feeds IT
