"Greater degree of organization and preparation" is the way that Jordi Planas describes what it takes to get ready for negotiations with North Americans. However, he also notes that although the North Americans are well prepared, they do not handle unforeseen changes very well. He observes the North Americans would rather close the meeting, go back and reorganize and then continue on with the negotiations. All of this creates a delay in the process. Similar observations to Mr. Planas' are seen repeatedly in these interviews. Javier Cantera calls this the "rigidity" of North Americans versus the "flexibility" of the Europeans. Whether it is true or not does not matter as much as the recognition that this is their perception. It is clearly the perception that North Americans prepare well, but are less adept at improvisation. Fernando Escobar also observes another impressive characteristic of North Americans, their ability to plan ahead. He finds it amazing that you can ask a North American where he will be at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon of August 15th and he or she will know.