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2.pptLec. 2: Understanding Cultural Differences
and Cultural Agility
Bill Castellano, Ph.D.
Dr. William G. Castellano©2016
Class 6
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Welcome to class 6 understanding cultural differences and cultural agility
Class 6
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| Class 6: | Introduction to Cultural Agility International Assignment Track: Cultural Awareness Course - Understanding Cultural Dimensions | Chapter 5 Videos: Your DNA Journey Video TED Talk: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story Discussion Question What are the drivers of cultural dimensions? Think about why there are difference across countries. |
In class 6 we will cover ….
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Lecture 2: How to Understand Cultural Differences
Our next session in Class 6 is “How to understand cultural differences.”
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Your DNA Journey Video
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View the video ‘Your DNA Journey.” This video is a nice example of how culture is a socialized phenomenon – not genetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaEQEmt5ls
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What is culture?
- shared by many members
- socialized or learned
- relatively stable
- shapes behaviors and values
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It is important to remember that when we think about culture as shared behaviors and values, we understand that culture can:
- Define boundaries of different groups
- Connect people within a group – such as a country, a school or a religion
- Assume less variation within a group, than across groups
Think about when you started high school or college. You learned about how to be a student by observing, talking to people, and testing approaches. You might have had classmates take you under their wings and teach you – or teachers who reinforced the way to behave.
Over time, you felt comfortable and could fit in. By the following year, you were able to guess the new students because they might be doing things that don’t fit in. You’re now socialized into the norms of the new culture.
This is how culture is created. It’s passed along by people within a group – from older members to newer members. You aren’t born with your cultural norms. You learn them.
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Multiple Stories,
Multiple Socializing Agents
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
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View Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s TED Talk, which is a powerful reminder that socializing agents matter more than country; and stereotyping is never helpful when talking about culture.
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Levels of Culture
Values such as individuality, tradition, integrity, equality, diversity, empowerment, etc.
Beliefs about human nature,
social relationships,
time, space, etc.
Adapted from: Schein (1987). Organizational culture and leadership. London: Jossey-Bass.
Norms
Visible things and behaviours
Espoused Values
Values, beliefs, and attitudes that people talk about and acknowledge
Basic Assumptions
Fundamental premises that people hold about the world and that are usually not articulated and rarely questioned in everyday life
Architecture, organizational structure, rituals, symbols, language, practices, office design, control systems, etc.
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Norms which are visible things and behaviors are reinforced over time.
Attitudes and espoused values – are those unspoken beliefs about what is considered respectful or rude, appropriate or inappropriate, desirable or undesirable.
Assumptions form the basic notion for how we believe the world should work. They run deep – and are sometimes hard to describe.
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Describing one’s own culture is like asking a fish in water to describe what it is like to swim in water…
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In fact, there is a saying that describing one’s own culture is like asking a fish in water to describe what it is like to swim in water. They don’t know until they are on the shore…and then they want to get back in the water.
…it is impossible for the fish to describe water. Once the fish is on the shore, it is much easier to describe water.
It is tough for us to describe our own cultural values unless we have lived outside our home culture.
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There are three popular metaphors for describing culture: culture is an iceberg, an ocean, or an onion.
Icebergs, oceans and onions have something in common. They are rather straightforward on the surface – but far more complex below the surface.
When you think about cultural differences, what we can see is the easiest to understand – even master. It is the deeper levels of culture, when we start considering values and assumptions, that cause problems for many, as they are invisible.
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The limbic system enables the brain to learn from repeated experiences, to retain memories, and to maintain stable personality and values.
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Thanks to our limbic system it is difficult to fully turn off our own socialized attitudes and values. This means that whatever we interpret, we do so from our own cultural lens. It is a sure way to end up making an erroneous conclusion when in another culture.
Cultural challenges are almost always a function of attitudes and values – far deeper than those that meet the eye – and our brains.
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Think about it:
Do you recall how you learned the behaviors associated with “professionalism”?
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Let’s consider the example from what we can observe from expected norms.
Each student has learned some of the norms of professionalism in a slightly different way. For example, some of you learned what it meant to be “professional” from parents, college advisors, internships, part time jobs, volunteer work, or maybe even through media.
However you learned it, you are now able to make judgements about what it means to be professional. When you judge someone’s professionalism, you are doing so based on the norms you have learned.
This is how a cultural norm is formed and reinforced.
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Physical Distance
Smiling
Facial Gazing
Eye Contact
Touching
Expressiveness
And more…
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There are many behaviors that are socialized or learned.
Think about your own childhood. Were you taught to look people in the eye or avert your gaze to show respect. Was it appropriate to touch when you spoke to others, or inappropriate.
The behaviors that are deemed as appropriate or inappropriate are learned.
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Cultural values are also socialized.
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Many researchers have uncovered socialized values, in fact the entire field of cultural anthropology is dedicated to understanding how societies differ.
In terms of cultural models, Geert Hofstede identified Cross-Cultural Work-Related Values, such as:
Individualism versus Collectivism – whether the focus is on the self or the group
Uncertainty Avoidance -- the level of formal predictability that is preferred
Power Distance – a preference for hierarchy and deference to authority
Masculinity versus Femininity – whether a culture prefers cooperation and work-life balance (the feminine cultures) or are more aggressive and status driven, the masculine cultures.
Long Term versus Short-term Orientation – the amount of long-term planning that is preferred or expected.
Gesteland added a few more cross-cultural business behaviors: Deal focus versus relationship focus, Informal versus formal , Rigid-time versus fluid-time, Expressive versus reserved
Edward Hall described cross-culture communication styles to be either low context versus high context. Low context cultures are direct with little hidden meaning or need to read-into the words based on the situation. High context cultures would require a deep understanding of the situation to interpret the meaning fully.
Many of these are the same as those you covered in the CultureWizard, the online learning system for this course.
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Now, you can learn more about these cultural values. Go to International Assignment and log onto and take the Cultural Awareness Course
Discussion Question: What are the drivers of cultural dimensions? Think about why there are differences across countries.
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