1. Cross-Cultural Communicationby
Sigrid Brevik Wangsness
9 January 2018
Home page:
Click on: Cross-Cultural Communication

2. The Concept of Culture What is culture?
A practical working definition?
How do people learn culture?
Cultures tend to be automatic, coherent and complete

3. What is culture? John Mole’s definition: a spiral
Culture is a living, changing system
Culture embraces both our personal and social life

4. Culture is... All aspects of human life are culturally conditioned
The external characteristics of culture are rooted in underlying, internal values
Culture is a mechanism for uniting people in groups and societies

5. Gert Hofstede: Culture is...
Culture is the collective programming of the mind
This programming takes place in the socialization processes that each individual experiences
Culture consists of stable and deep-rooted sets of norms and values which change little over time

6. Fons Trompenaars: Culture is...
Culture is a way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas
Culture comes in layers, like an onion
At the core of the onion: basic assumptions – what we take for granted

7. Inger Askehave: Culture is...
Culture is a very complex concept, and we need to identify the relevant factors
Culture is a system of shared human behaviour, ideas, values, rules of living
Culture is the result of a learning process, created in social contexts, expressed in symbolic form
Culture is taken-for-granted, assumed to be ”natural” by the culture itself

8. National culture vs. business culture
Definition of business/ corporate culture
We belong to several cultures: national, ethnic, religious, corporate, professional
Our cultural backgrounds have made us into who we are and thus affected how we think and what we say

9. The Concept of Communication
Two different theories:
Communication as a one-way transmission of messages from sender to receiver: focus on control, efficiency and getting the message across
Communication as interaction and cooperation: focus on how the receiver interprets the message and thus contributes to the communication

10. Our textbook: R. Gesteland’s Cross-Cultural Business Behavior
What do we know about the competence of the author? (Why should we trust him?)
What kind of a book is this? His sources?
What are his two iron rules of international business? (Why do they make sense?)

11. Why patterns of cross-cultural business behaviour?
What are the five major patterns that Mr. Gesteland emphasizes?
Explain his concept of the “Great Divide”
How important/useful is this divide?
Outline the geographical distribution of
D-F and R-F cultures