Running Head: INTERCULTURAL INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION 1
International and Intercultural Interpersonal Communication
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INTERCULTURAL INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION 2
The two countries that shall be compared within this paper are India and Hungary.
Indulgence is the first dimension, and regards the level to which individuals attempt to control
their impulses and desires, according to the way that they were raised. In this dimension both
countries almost have similar levels as Hungary has 31% while India has 26%. The next
dimension in which the two countries are almost similar is that of Pragmatism, whereby India
has 51% while Hungary has 58%. This dimension refers to the method adopted by societies and
cultures in maintaining links with their past while still dealing with the challenges prevailing
within the present and those of the future.
Uncertainty Avoidance, which refers to the degree to which member of a particular
culture feel threatened by unknown situations or ambiguous situations and have created
institutions and beliefs that attempt to avoid such, is another cultural facet. In this facet, India has
40% while Hungary has 82%. The other three cultural dimensions, namely Masculinity,
Individualism and Power Distance have differences of 32%, 32% and 31% respectively. India
has lower percentages in Masculinity and Individualism although it is higher in Power Distance.
These above mentioned cultural aspects refer to: the motivational factors that drive individual
want for excellence and liking what one engages in; the level of interdependence within a
society’s members; and, the degree to which the underprivileged members of entities in terms of
power, acknowledge and anticipate unequal power distribution, respectively (Basabe & Ros,
2005).
The main areas that would need addressing so as to ensure that the two organizations
achieve a level of concomitance would be the areas that have the greatest gaps. This would be
Uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity, Individualism, Power Distance. In terms of Power Distance,
the organizations would have to realize that within India, there is significant appreciation for top-
INTERCULTURAL INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION 3
down structure and hierarchy. Therefore, this aspect may have to be considered especially for the
Hungarian company, which would have to adapt to centralization of real power and clear
employee direction. The Indian company would similarly have to realize that the Hungarian
market and society is more flexible in terms of its power structure, hence employees =may not be
ready to be commanded and directed at will by an overbearing central authority. This is also
noted in the Individualism aspect, whereby, the Indian company would have to give their
Hungarian employees more freedom of work and space. This is in contrast to their operations
within their home territory, which would be more apt to a collectivist culture.
Additionally, Hungary scores higher on the Masculinity aspect. This therefore means that
their society is mainly driven by success, achievement and competition. Even though India is a
masculine society, Hungary is ranks even more in this dimension, hence, the Hungarian company
should be ready to adapt to a lower masculinity level, whereby the social and organization
aspects would have major influences from the religions of the country as well as the old culture
that defines the Indian Community. The final aspect which shall be observed is that of
Uncertainty Avoidance, whereby Hungary has a significantly larger score than India. This means
that the Indian company would have to be ready to adjust to more stringent policies and
regulations governing the corporate dimension, since Hungarians have major focus on
controlling their future and influencing future events (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2011).
INTERCULTURAL INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION 4
References
Basabe, N., & Ros, M. (2005). Cultural dimensions and social behavior correlates:
Individualism-Collectivism and Power Distance.?International Review of Social
Psychology,?18(1), 189-225.
Samovar, L., Porter, R., & McDaniel, E. (2011).?Intercultural communication: A reader.
Cengage Learning.
