Education & Work Experience
 University of St Andrews (UK)
 University of Maryland (US)
 Countries I’ve lived & worked:
10 things to offend another culture
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTE0G9amZNk
 10 things to offend another culture 2.35
Place a “U” if you think the behavior is universal,
“C” if it is cultural, or “P” if it is personal.
1. ______ Sleeping with a bedroom window open.
2. ______ Running away from a dangerous animal.
3. ______ Considering snakes to be “evil.”
4. ______ Men opening doors for women as polite behavior
5. ______ Respecting older people.
6. ______ Liking spicy food.
7. ______ Enjoy to sing and perform on stage.
8. ______ Eating regularly.
9. ______ Eating with knife, fork, and spoon.
10. ______ Being wary of strangers.
11. ______ Be rude to a waiter in a restaurant.
12. ______ Feeling sad at the death of your mother.
13. ______ Wearing white mourning robes for 30 days after the death of family.
 Question :
WHY is intercultural training is important to you.
Why is it important in general? In your work?
(use examples)
Advantages of working across cultures:
It’s more than an experience; you learn a lot.
 problem solving and decision making skills.
 importance of dialogue among different cultures.
 adapt to different environments= flexibility
 integrate into different economic, social and political systems.
 self confidence & independence: handle complex situations.
 professional, inter-cultural skills.
 become open-minded.
increase Self-development
Cultural Differences - GREETING

Belgium Formal handshake
Informal Cheek kissing: 1 kiss
 Spain
Formal: Handshake
Informal 2 kisses on the cheek
 France Handshake is formal.
Informal: Cheek kissing: 1-2-3-4 KISSES
 Netherlands Formal handshake
Informal Cheek kissing: 3 kisses
???
West
East
Question: What do you know already?
 What do you already know about “western culture”?
What do you already know about Dutch culture?
 What differences/ similarities do you know compared
to the Croatian culture?
West
•Individual
•Power Distance: low
Fork, knife & spoon
 Punctuality is priority Rude to be late
Individual meal
Adventurous
Explore, discover new things
(Bungee jump)
East
Collective
•Power Distance: high
Chopsticks and spoon
 People/relationships are
priority- Rude to leave person
Everyone shares
Preserved
I like it just like it used to be
Cultural Differences- East vs. West
Connections and Contacts
Connections
Connectionsand
andContacts
Contacts
Punctuality
Punctuality
Punctuality
Telling the truth
Cultural Differences- East vs. West
Individual - ego
The Boss
Travel
Moods & weather
‘’Culture is the way a group of people
live according to norms, values,
assumptions, beliefs, desires and
expectations.’’
Do you agree?
TYPES OF CULTURAL GROUPS
• Nationality
• Age
• Gender
• Physical ability
• Socio-economic class
• Sexual orientation
• Political group
• Organisational
• Educational level/type
• Functional
• Religion
• Manchester United supporters
OHT
5
“How judgmental are your?
Exercise:
17
Many Theories about Cultures and many
dimensions:
 Hofstede
 Hall
 Trompenaars,
 …..
Let’s discuss the following 4 dimensions today:
 Individualism-collectivism
 Particularism- Universalism
 Power Distance
 High/Low context
UNIVERSALISTS
PARTICULARISTS
Belief: standards and rules should be
followed and everyone should be
treated the same.
Belief: Obligations to particular people
come before rules.
• Rules, codes and laws apply to
everybody (universal)
• People are assigned to tasks
• Core business focus
•Objective measurement
• Similarity and linking (‘Yes, and…’)
• Particular circumstances and
relationships are stronger than rules
•Tasks are assigned to people
• Flexibility
•Particular circumstances & requirements
•Subjective measurement
• Exceptions and disparity (‘Yes, but…’)
97
Switzerland
Canada
USA
Sweden
United Kingdom
Australia
Netherlands
Germany
Iceland
France
Singapore
Japan
India
China
Russia
Korea
Venezuela
93
93
92
91
91
90
%
87
86
73
69
68
54
47
44
37
32
20
40
60
80
100
You are a journalist who writes a weekly review
of new restaurants. A close friend of yours has
sunk all her savings in a new restaurant. You
have eaten there, and you really think the
restaurant is no good.
What right does your friend have to expect
you to go easy on her restaurant in her review?
A. Every right
B. Some right.
C. No right
Please decide!
Activity :
‘’I am…….’’
If you won $1,000,000…
INDIVIDUALISTS
• Values of freedom, honesty,
self-actualisation
COLLECTIVISTS
• Values of harmony, meeting in-group’s
needs
• ‘I’ identity
• ‘WE’ identity
• Individual goals
• Group goals
• Look after yourself and immediate family
• Group loyalty provides security
•Conflict is inevitable and can lead to positive
outcomes
• Conflict should be avoided as it disturbs
group harmony and so motivation
•Competitiveness
• Cooperation
• There is a basic right to privacy
• Private life is invaded by groups
High In-Group Collectivism:
Example: Iran, India, China, Russia
Favouring close friends or family members in recruiting or
in allocating rewards and promotions
Israel
Canada
USA
Denmark
Netherlands
Finland
Australia
UK
Russia
Iceland
Italy
Indonesia
Singapore
China
France
Japan
India
Mexico
Egypt
89
71
69
67
65
64
63
61
60
%
53
52
44
42
41
41
39
37
32
30
0
20
40
60
80
100
I’’ – Characteristic of an individualist culture,
‘’C’’- characteristic of a collectivist culture,
-. ____ Employee-of-the-year awards are offered.
-. ____ People are promoted based on results.
-. ____There is a need for autonomy.
-. ____ People change jobs frequently.
-. ____ People believe that conflict is positive and clears the air.
-. ___ It’s okay to stand out from the others.
-. __ It’s common for mothers to ask their children what they want to wear.
-. ___ Self-help books are popular.
-. _ __Decisions are made by consensus of everyone.
-. ___ Marriages are arranged.
Anna Kournikova
looks strong, as an
Individual.
Her strength transfers
to the watch.
A group of women
Enjoying each other’s
company.
They look strong because
they are not alone.
Their strength transfers
To the watch
Collectivism
Sharing.
You enjoy drinks
together.
(In collective countries, one
person drinking alone
seems pitiful.)
a) One said: ‘It is obvious that if one has as
much freedom as possible and the maximum
opportunity to develop oneself, the quality of
one’s life would improve as a result.’
b) Another said: ‘If the individual is
continuously taking care of his or her
fellows then the quality of life for us all will
improve, even if it obstructs individual
freedom and individual development.’
Which of the two ways of reasoning do you think is
usually best?
Femininity
 A society where achievement
and success are important
values
 At school and at work you
compete to be the best!
• modesty, care & quality-of-life
are important– both for men and
women.
• At school and at work you do
your best, but caring for fellow
classmates are more important
than just being the best.
Femininity
Jura coffee advertisement
aimed at the Netherlands.
What is the difference?
Which dimensions are
reflected in this ad?
Why?
Jura advertisement
aimed at Germany.
What is the difference?
Why?
‘The degree to which members of institutes or
organisations expect power to be distributed equally’
High Power Distance:
 Example: Thailand, Brazil
 Hierarchical decision making, limited one-way
participation and communication
Low Power
Distance
The flight attendant (a person
of authority) and the
passenger, a child, talk to
each other like equals.
Translated: “Flight attendants who
are unique in the world.
They speak Dutch”
Power Distance &
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Country
Power
Distanc
e
Individualis Masculinit Uncertaint Long
m
y
y
term
Avoidance Orientati
on
China
80
20
66
30
118
India
77
48
56
40
61
Brazil
69
38
49
76
65
Netherlands
38
80
14
53
44
 https://geert-hofstede.com/croatia.html
HIGH v LOW CONTEXT
HIGH CONTEXT
LOW CONTEXT
Belief: Appropriate communication
depends
on decoding the situation, the
relationship, the non-verbal
behaviour (the context).
Invest time in getting to know
people to communicate efficiently.
Belief: Appropriate communication
depends
on using concrete
logical, task-orientated language
(the text).
Be explicit and transparent.
HIGH v LOW CONTEXT
High Context
Mexico
Japan, Indonesia
The Middle East
Philippines
Brazil
India
Singapore
Greece
France
Africa (all)
China
Malaysia
Spain
Italy
Costa Rica
England
Austria
Scandinavia
Israel
Swiss Germans
Australia
USA
Germany
The Netherlands
Low Context
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: WORKING SUCCESSFULLY ACROSS CULTURES
LOW v HIGH CONTEXT
-
verbalised explicitly
-
-
Direct – clear - literal
-
-
starts with the main point, and then
moves on to details.
-
The person is the message
message is implicit, not so clear
indirect, aimed at not hurting feelings
- starts with the context, circles towards
the main point or zigzags between
details and main points.
HIGH v LOW CONTEXT
Why Low, Context?
A lot of car.
Very little context. It’s about
a car, so
the whole page is about the
car, and not about the
context.
Translated
“Just close the windows”
High Context:
This is also about a car.
But the message is in the context.
(Very little car.
Very much context.)
With this car you can cross the wild,
raging river.
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 http://www.fer.unizg.hr/rasip/projekti/rpi/en/differences

A company advertised eyeglasses in Thailand by featuring a
variety of cute animals wearing glasses. The ad was a poor
choice since animals are considered to be a form of low life
and no self respecting Thai would wear anything worn by
animals.
4
8

When Pepsico advertised Pepsi in Taiwan with the ad "Come
Alive With Pepsi" they had no idea that it would be translated
into Chinese as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the
dead."
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9
See you next week

Rachel Smets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSDntIn6ekE
Cultural Differences in Negotiations and Conflicts 5’
Thai white facial products – racism or cultural?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4okNUKMHy1s
Chinese laundry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LRtr9Fwa9Y


Style of communicating
How to build trust?
7