So friend works for a UK company that deals with a foreign country branch on a daily basis.
Relations between the 2 places can go from frosty to cordial depending on the employees capacity for patience and courtesy on both sides due to the time, culture and business practice differences.
Employee A is tasked with going over to the foreign country company for the week to better foster relations, complete a project and bring some familiarity to who they are dealing with. They royally mess this up.
Few months later Employee B (subordinate to A) goes and is a resounding success going above and beyond.
Any gifts received from the foreign country company e.g. sweets in the past, are shared amongst the small team in that dept. Employee B whilst there refused any gifts (expensive items not sweets) but they were insistent (due to their culture) so they post an email saying how brilliant Employee B was and please accept this gift personally from the Manager there. Package arrives and the dept gathers round Employee B desk. To great surprise they are a pair of expensive shoes - for women the ones with a coloured sole underneath! Employee B is male and his wife had a milestone birthday during the week he was there so he must of told them about it.
Obviously the shoes cannot be shared out but 2 women in the dept are arguing they should be kept in the company for their use and not given to Employee's B wife based on they have shared all the gifts i.e. sweets out before.
The other team members are not interested (being male) and Employee A (superior) being weak is leaving it to the 3 to sort out as unprecedented situation.
Is he being unreasonable in giving the shoes to his wife or should he keep them in the company for team members?