9 Intercultural Communication
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As mentioned in the Communication and Culture section intercultural communication generally describes communication efforts between different cultural groups or subgroups. Differences between those groups, even if they speak the same language, can create problems and make understanding each other much harder. As globalisation has brought the whole world closer together, business between different cultures happens on a daily basis. To make things run smoothly, intercultural communication skills are crucial.
Intercultural communication research mainly focuses on national comparisons and is hooked in the background of management and organizational theories. One pioneering model is the one Geert Hofstede derived in worldwide studies of different nations along certain characteristics.
Hofstede refers to culture as “the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others” (Hofstede, 2013). Comparing values, behaviours and organisation for different nations Hofstede developed five dimensions to classify cultural principles. Each dimension builds up between two poles who describe the idealised extremes of it.
Hofstedes original dimensions included power distance (PDI), individualism vs. collectivism (IDV), masculinity vs. femininity (MAS) and Uncertainty avoidance (UAI) (Hofstede, 2001). A fifth definition, the one of long-term vs. short-term orientation or in other words pragmatic vs. normative, was added by Micheal Bonds research in 1991, followed by the definition of indulgence vs. restraint by Michael Minkov (Hofstede 2013). In each dimension the lowest possible score is 0 and the highest is 100.
The following questions give a better understanding of the six dimensions which have been researched to a broad extent in the last couple of years:
Power distance:
- How flat are hierarchies?
- How does a culture deal with inequalities?
- Is societal influence concentrated in the hands of a few or distributed throughout the population?
- How authoritarian is a country’s organisation?
- Are communication efforts interactive?
New Zealand Score: 12
New Zealand’s low score indicates a culture with flat hierarchies and a very low power distance. Communication in organisations is interactive and rather informal.
Individualistic vs. Collectivist culture:
- Does the interest of the group or the individual matter the most?
- Are people only looking after themselves and their immediate family?
- How well are individuals integrated and networked?
New Zealand Score: 86
With the rather high score of 86 New Zealand can be described as a rather individualistic culture with people looking after themselves and their immediate families first.
Masculinity vs. Femininity:
- Which values are aimed for?
- How strong is a society following material values and success in comparison to the quality of life, interpersonal relationships and the concern for the weak?
New Zealand Score: 5