This detailed summary of Cross-Cultural Communication explores essential concepts such as cultural frameworks, communication styles, decision-making approaches, and strategies for navigating diversity. Drawing from multiple renowned models and theories (e.g., Hofstede, Hall, and Meyer), it provides...
!What is culture
There are a lot of different definitions for culture, most have the following in common:
- Culture refers to habits ( vs one-time phenomena)
- Culture is a characteristic of a social group (vs individuals)
- Culture refers to learned aspects of social life (vs biological or inherited traits)
Culture is the software of the mind (and of the heart).
Culture is everywhere and nowhere.
Everywhere: it affects people’s feelings, thoughts and actions on many levels and
occasions. People give meaning to what they do, to their experiences.
Eg: shaking hands
Culture has to do with everything that is developed by people to organize their lives and
experiences.
Nowhere: it does not exist in any specific or ‘real’ sense. It is something abstract.
Cultures are no actual ‘things’ with clear borders that exclusively separate groups of people
and determine their behavior.
Culture and groups
Often culture is referring to groups based on nationality or ethnicity. These two can overlap,
but are not the same.
But: culture is a characteristic of any human group. Examples of groups: professional groups,
city cultures, sports and leisure activities, family cultures, company cultures…
Culture and individuals
People are automatically members of several cultures at the same time.
Multicollectivity
Approaching people solely based on their national, ethnic or religious background provides a
very narrow basis for understanding.
Culture as a repertoire
Cultures provide their members with a repertoire of ideas, behaviors and symbols.
Different elements can be part of people’s cultural repertoires:
1. Knowledge
Everyday knowledge: how things work around here
More abstract knowledge: can serve as a source of ideas, inspiration and discussion
2. Values
Values indicate what people find important, good, healthy, appropriate, desirable.
Rarely explicit
3. Norms
Norms are the practical expressions of a social group’s values. They are the specific criteria
by which people and their behavior are judged.
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, 4. Language
Language literally gives words to people’s experience. There are different types of
languages.
5. Heroes, traditions and rituals
High symbolic value. Heroes are people that members of a culture look up to.
Traditions and rituals are displayed at certain occasions, they give a group a sense of
collectiveness.
Implicit Association Test
Implicit preferences can predict behavior. Implicit preferences are related to discrimination in
hiring and promotion, medical treatment and decisions related to criminal justice.
How to reduce/ eliminate implicit bias?
Focus on strategies that deny implicit bias to operate
= create ideal circumstances to diminish/ eliminate bias (‘blind situations’)
Self Reference Criterion = an unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values,
experiences and knowledge as a basis for decisions.
The frame of reference of the other person may be different. Not taking this difference into
account may lead to costly business decisions.
Eg: Sephora case, perfume on ground floor in Japan
Culture Shock
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, Diversity Competence
Diversity is not about how much we differ from one another. Diversity is about using each
other’s uniqueness.
Geert Hofstede 6-d model
Geert Hofstede (1928-2020) is a Dutch social psychologist and is well known for his
pioneering research on cross-cultural groups and organizations.
Culture = the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or
category of people from others.
Research of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture.
6 dimensions represent independent preferences for one state of affairs over another that
distinguish countries (rather than individuals) from each other.
The 6 dimensions:
1. Power Distance Index (PDI)
How a society handles inequalities among people: they accept and expect (in)equality. A
continuum, so each country falls somewhere along this line: Hierarchical Egalitarian.
Power distance is the inequality in a society. The higher you score, the more hierarchical.
Determined by questions like: How much are employees afraid to express disagreement with
the boss? How is the decision-making process in your company?
Clear link with decision-making
Eg: Denmark (18) most egalitarian in EU, China (80) highly hierarchical
Hierarchical cultures:
Father-son relation, obligations for both sides (respect vs taking care). Unequal relationships
are more naturel than equal ones, you feel okay with people having more power than you
because that is how society works.
Inequality supported and desired.
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