Intercultural Theories

1
Intercultural Theories

• Part 2 of the Module
• International Networking and Intercultural
  Theories
• Culture1

2
Starting questions

• Try to define culture. Give a definition of
  culture
• Why do we need the concept of culture Where do
  we use the word culture? What do we want to
  express?

3
Functions of Culture

• Define membership and identity
• Create exclusion of non members
• Regulate external adaptation
• Regulate internal integration
• Maintain norms that create order
• Hence favour survival
• and resist or absorb change

4
Functions of Culture

• Cultural differences are chellenging
• Challenge creativity
• Open minded
• Stimulate communication
• Never the same
• Attractive
• Boost change

5
Theories

• How to deal with CULTURAL DIFFERENCES?
• Different approaches, based on
• Definition of Culture (160)
• Scientific background (functionalist,
  interpretive, critical)
• Relation to practice experiences
• Involvement in reality of differences (social,
  economical, political, psychological)

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CULTURE Guest teachers/readers

• Culture by
• Rik Pinxten (Cultures die hard)
• Hofstede (Culture and organisations)
• Culture Edwin Hoffman (guest teacher)
• Intercultural communication - TOPOI
• Culture Juliana Roth (guest teacher)
• Intercultural differences and networking
• Culture Monique Eckmann (guest teacher)
• Intercultural differences and racism

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CULTURE
Culture Pinxten

• Culture Hofstede

Culture Trompenaars
Culture Shadid
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Culture Hofstede

• Culture 1 ( C writ large)
• Civilisation refinement of the mind
• Culture 2 ( c writ small)
• Anthropologists
• The software of the mind (mental programming)
• Collective programming distinguishing group
  members
• Learned, not inherited ()

9
Culture Hofstede

• Layers of Culture
• national
• regional
• gender
• generation
• social class
• specific socialisation

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Culture as an iceberg
manners, customs, language, history
explicit
1/9
tacit
Values, vision of the world, presumptions,
way of thinking
8/9
11
Culture onion-diagram
symbols
heroes
rituals
values
practices
12
Symbols
13
Symbols
14
Heroes
15
Rituals
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A cultural survey

• Based on Hofstedes theory

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Culture Hofstede

• Levels of cultural programming

Inherited and learned
Specific to individual
Personality
individual
Specific to group or category
Culture
Learned
Inherited
Human nature
Universal
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Cultural DIMENSIONSHofstede

• Power Distance (PDI)
• Individualism (IDV)
• Masculinity (MAS)
• Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
• Confusian Dynamism (CDI)

19
Dimension Models Hofstede

• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Long Term Orientation (later added)

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Power distance

• To what extent do we accept that some people have
  more power than others?
• High Low
• hierarchical egalitarian
• top-down top-down / bottom-up
• Latin Germanic

21
Individualism vs collectivism

• Individualism
• I
• small group
• independence
• personality
•  Western 

• Collectivism
• we
• extended family, group
• interdependence
• harmony
• Portugal, Greece, Spain, Africa, Asia, Latin
  America

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Masculinity vs femininity

• Femininity
• don t be different
• sympathy for the weak
• solidarity, caring
• environment
• Scandinavian countries, The Netherlands, Africa

• Masculinity
• be the best
• ambition, competition
• money, performance
• success, technology
• Italy, Germany, UK, Belgium, USA

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Uncertainty Avoidance

• Strong UA
• uncertainty threat
• the unknown danger,
• risk averse
• distrust, stress
• Greece, Latin countries, German speaking
  countries, Finland

• Weak UA
• uncertainty normal
• the unknown interesting
• risk taking,  open 
• relax,  cool 
• Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Dutch

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Culture Hofstede

• Cultural Differences are programmed
• ex. Interpretation of State Regulations
• Every thing what is not forbidden is aloud
• ? FR
• Every thing what is not aloud is forbidden
• ? D
• Many things which are forbidden are aloud if not
  controlled
• ? B

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Culture Hofstede

• Cultural Differences
• programmed ex.
• Universal theory of needs ? universal
• Maslovs theory in US (low collectivism)
• dimensions are based on world statistics
• explanations for obvious differences

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CULTURE

• Culture Pinxten

Culture Hofstede
Culture Trompenaars
Culture Shadid
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Culture Pinxten

• Culture Nature
• Culture of a community
• Learned by or transferred to group members
• The ways it is learned or transferred
• not always comparable structures and contents
  of a culture
• dimensions are not universal
• Comparison is difficult, because of a lack of
  common ground

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Culture Pinxten

• Comparison
• Different schools different methods
• Empiric school (cfr war)(missing strategy for
  comparison mental colonisation)
• Rationalistic school structuralism of
  Lévi-Strauss (missing attribution of meaning and
  dealing with past and tradition)
• Intercultural psychologists social structures
  lt-gt individual
• (missing culture of a group is not monolitic)
• All cultures have strenghts and waeknesses

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Culture Pinxten

• Cultural Intuition as a concept for comparison
• 12 Cultural spheres over the world

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Diversity

• Increased cultural diversity in local societies
• ethnicity
• gender
• age
• sexual orientation
• physical abilities
• ...

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Ethnicity

• Migration
• 25 of Londons labour market
• 30 of schoolchildren in Oslo
• 50.000 businesses in Germany owned by Turks
• 14.000 new jobs in Stockholm in one year
• Resource of people effective in multicultural
  environment

32
Gender

• Growing participation of women in the labour
  market
• in Northern Europe 50 of married women with
  children
• rates for men static, increase for women

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Age

• The growth in number of older people
• ageing baby-boomers
• next 10 years 3 workers over 45 for 2 in their
  twenties in Germany
• next 20 years half the population older than 50
  in Italy
• De-activating early retirement schemes60 of
  55-64 years old unemployed in EU loss of skills
  and experience (knowledge) social cost
  unsustainable after 2010

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The needs of specific groups business
opportunities

• gay community
• advertising in UK the  pink pound 
• political forces in Denmark and The Netherlands
• people with disabilities 19 million in EU
• changes in work structures and technologies(telew
  orking)

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Culture Trompenaars
Explicit products
Norms and values
Own culture
Assumptions about existence
New culture
36
Culture onion-diagram
symbols
heroes
rituals
Own culture
values
New culture
practices
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Culture Trompenaars

• Culture is the way people solve their common
  problems
• Kluckhohns Value Dimensions
• How we relate to nature
• How we relate to time
• Assumptions about human nature
• Relationships between people
• Preferred mode of activity

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Culture Trompenaars

• Relation orientation
• relationship of individuals to others
• Time orientation
• temporal focus of human life
• Active orientation
• modality of human activity

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Culture Trompenaars

• Non-nature orientation
• relation to nature
• Human nature orientation
• character of innate human nature
• ? Dimensions

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Cultural Dimensions Trompenaars

• 1. universalism - particularism
• 2. individualism - collectivism
• 3. neutral - emotional
• 4. specific - diffuse
• 5. achievement - ascription
• 6. attitudes towards time
• 7. attitudes towards nature

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Six basic cultural orientations

• Human nature good / bad / mix
  changeable or not
• Relation to nature dominant / harmony /
  dominated
• Relation with others individualist/collectivist
  /hierarchical
• Aim of human activity to do/ to become /to be
• Time orientation future / present /
  past
• Space orientation private/ mixed /
  public

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The key components of a culture

• Language
• Time
• Space
• Context of the communication
• Cognitive styles
• Cultural dimension models
• Hierarchy
• Individualism vs collectivism
• Masculinity vs femininity
• Uncertainty avoidance

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Language

• Structure adapted to social environment
• Vocabulary adapted to natural environment

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Language

• Benjamin Lee Whorf language shapes and
  structures our world-view and our behaviour.-
  Linguistic determinism - Linguistic relativity

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Language

• Meaning
• Connotation
• Usage politeness, formality

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Meanings of marriage
USA
Japan
France
Love Understanding Partnership Trust Respect
Trust Compromise Restrictions Obligations The end
of life
Love Passion Fulfilment Sexuality Reciprocity
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2. Time

• Polychromic
• simultaneous activities
• circular
• renewable
• relationships
• interruptions
• exchanging
• punctuality relative
• lack of patience

• Monochromic
• one thing at the time
• linear use
• scarce resource
• programme,  money 
• do not disturb
• property defined
• punctuality extreme
• slow, systematic

48
2. Time

• Polychromic
• Mediterranean countries
• Latin countries
• Arab countries

• Monochromic
• German speaking countries
• Scandinavian countries
• Anglo-Saxon countries

49
Turn-Taking

• A
• B

A B
A B
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3. Space

• Space as a symbol of power
• Territoriality
• devoted
• private / public sphere
• Kitchen, fridge, car, desk
• Closeness - distance
• personal bio-sphere

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Proximity
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Public private space
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4. Context of Communication

• High context, implicit cultures
• information interiorised
• nonverbal cues
• intuition
• silence
• ambiguity
• indirect
• oral

• Low context,explicit cultures
• information explicit
• words, specific
• logic
• language, precision
• transparency
• direct
• written

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Implicit - Explicit
55
Nonverbal communication

• Proxemics use of space
• Chronemics use of time
• Kinesics body movements
• facial expressions
• gestures
• posture

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5. Cognitive styles
57
Deductive - Inductive
58
Reasoning
59
Cultural differences
60
Learning styles

• Linear
• inductive
• experiential
• monochromic
• explicit

• Circular
• deductive
• conceptual
• polychromic
• implicit

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Learning methods from content to skill

• Lectures, ICT risk
• Readings
• Videos
• Discussions
• Case studies, critical incidents
• Awareness exercises, role plays, simulations
• Personal experience

62
Learning Culture

• Symbols Easily learned
• Heroes
• Rituals
• Attitudes
• Beliefs
• Values
• Experience Impossible to learn

63
Vocational Education Training
Technical skills
Language skills
Intercultural skills
64
Learning objectives

• Professional qualification
• Language awareness and skills
• Intercultural knowledge and capacity
• Knowledge, competence, and skills to operate
  within the socio-cultural environment