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ASSESSMENT

What’s Your Cultural Prole? - Results by Erin Meyer

You selected China as your nationality. Observe where you fall on each of the eight scales:

Communicating. This scale measures the degree to which a culture prefers low- or high- context communication, a metric developed by anthropologist Edward Hall. In low-context cultures (such as the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands), good communication is precise, simple, and explicit. Messages are expressed and understood at face value. Repetition and written conrmation are appreciated, for clarity’s sake. In high-context cultures (such as China, India, and France), communication is sophisticated, nuanced, and layered. Reading between the lines is expected. Less is put in writing, and more is left to interpretation.

LOW-CONTEXT HIGH-CONTEXT

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

Evaluating. Often confused with the Communicating scale, Evaluating measures something distinct: the relative preference for direct versus indirect criticism. The French, for example, are high-context communicators relative to Americans yet are much more direct with negative feedback. Spaniards and Mexicans are equally high-context communicators, but the Spanish are much more direct than Mexicans when it comes to giving negative feedback.

DIRECT NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

INDIRECT NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

Persuading. This scale measures preference for principles-rst versus applications-rst arguments (sometimes described as deductive versus inductive reasoning). People from Germanic and southern European cultures usually nd it more persuasive to lay out generally accepted principles before presenting an opinion or making a statement; American and British managers typically lead with opinions or factual observations adding concepts later

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British managers typically lead with opinions or factual observations, adding concepts later to explain as necessary.

PRINCIPLES- FIRST

APPLICATIONS- FIRST

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

The norm for your culture is not plotted here, because it is neither principles-rst nor applications-rst, but holistic.

Leading. This scale gauges the degree of respect and deference shown to authority gures, on a spectrum between the egalitarian and the hierarchical. The former camp includes Scandinavia and Israel, whereas China, Russia, Nigeria, and Japan are more hierarchical. The metric builds on the concept of power distance, rst researched by Geert Hofstede, who conducted 100,000 management surveys at IBM in the 1970s, and later researched by Robert House and Mansour Javidan in their GLOBE Study of 62 Societies.

EGALITARIAN HIERARCHICAL

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

Deciding. We often assume that the most egalitarian cultures in the world are also the most consensual, and that the most hierarchical ones are those where the boss makes top-down decisions. That’s not always the case. The Japanese are strongly hierarchical but have one of the most consensual cultures in the world. Germans are more hierarchical than Americans but also more likely to make decisions through group consensus. This scale explores dierences between building group agreement and relying on one person (usually the boss) to make decisions.

CONSENSUAL TOP-DOWN

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

Trusting. This scale balances task-based trust (from the head) with relationship-based trust (from the heart). In a task-based culture, such as the United States, the UK, or Germany, trust is built through work: We collaborate well, we like each other’s work, and we are fond of each other so I tr st o In a relationship based societ s ch as Bra il China or India

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of each other—so I trust you. In a relationship-based society, such as Brazil, China, or India, trust is built by weaving personal, aective connections: We have laughed together, have shared time relaxing together, and have come to know each other at a deep, personal level —so I trust you. Many scholars, such as Roy Chua and Michael Morris, have researched this topic.

TASK-BASED RELATIONSHIP- BASED

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

Disagreeing. Everyone knows that a little confrontation is healthy, right? The recent U.S. business literature certainly conrms that viewpoint, but dierent cultures have varying ideas about how productive it is. People in Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand view the public airing of disagreement very dimly, whereas those in Germany, France, and the Netherlands are quite comfortable with it. This scale measures how you view confrontation—whether you feel it is likely to improve group dynamics or to harm relationships within a team.

CONFRONTATIONAL AVOIDS CONFRONTATION

HOW YOU SCORED NORM FOR YOUR CULTURE

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