Cross-Cultural Training

Lesson 3: Introduction to Basic Cultural Differences

Summary

On the surface, it may seem as if I have just given you a group unrelated classifications. But think again. In a high-context culture, the contextual clues are what count and one of these clues can be your relationship with and the person with whom you are speaking. What does this sound like? A culture that values rank and places the focus on relationships is what Hofstede has classified as an interdependent (or collective) culture. So, Hall’s classification of a high-context culture more or less corresponds to Hofstede’s individualism dimension. And high and low-context cultures differ in other ways as well including how they view time, their work ethic and the way they conduct and manage business.

So you see, you can really use all of these different classifications to create a profile of your new culture. However, still be warned that this will be just a general profile. Not only will there be individuals in the cultures who don’t “fit” it, globalization has caused the cross pollination of many cultural aspects. Just as the East has adopted Western ways, so has the West adopted Eastern ways. Becoming culturally aware means developing the skills to see these differences as well.

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