Effectiveness across Cultures
Intercultural Communication & Leadership - Diversity & Inclusion
For international teams, expats, and companies working across borders
Consulting Workshops Lectures Coaching Speeches Survival Tips
Cultural Awareness
Effective Interaction with other cultures requires
- a good understanding of your own and the other culture,
- reflecting the different preferences in communication and behaviour.
- knowledge and experience how to bridge the differences through interaction and case studies
Cultural Differences
In all areas of modern life, we are dealing with people with a different background.
The mix is expected to keep increasing due to global demographics, political and economic development worldwide. At school, in shops, in businesses and in entertainment, we interact with people that have different values, different communication patterns - and if we don't understand that, we often judge too quickly.
All groups of people have to deal with these basic dilemmas:
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Equality vs Hierarchy (Power Distance Index)
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Individualism vs Collectivism (Individualism)
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Competition vs Consensus (Motivation, Ambition, Status)
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Structure vs Spontaneity (Uncertainty Avoidance Indicator)
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Pragmatic vs Normative Approach (Long-term Orientation)
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Indulgence vs Restraint (Indulgence vs Restraint)
Communities have developed different solutions for these dilemmas. They represent the basic values in this community and are passed on from generation to generation. These sets of values are generally alike for the people of one country, but different from the people of another country.
So each country has a different cultural profile that explains the preferences, reactions, and communication practices of this community.
One model to understand the world
Prof. Geert Hofstede started in 1965 a worldwide study on cultural differences in communication, preferences and probable reactions. The cultural dimensions that he formulated in the 'Hofstede model of national cultures' serve to identify and distinguish average preferences and behaviours influenced by national cultures. The results have been continually revalidated and form the basis of a variety of courses and workshops to facilitate cross-cultural communication and any interaction across cultures.
His findings and conclusions are interpreted and translated by trainers and consultants at Hofstede Insights.
About Cultural Insights
Cultural Insights is a cooperative of consultants, trainers, analysts, authors, storytellers and coaches. The members have known each other in a larger, global network The cooperative was founded in 2021, out of a shared need to join efforts within the Netherlands. Together, we have a wealth of experience, gained from various cultural backgrounds and in different sectors in numerous countries. Essentially, we have expertise in the many aspects of communication, of organisational cultures and in virtually every continent of the world.
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