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Apr 26

Cross Cultural Theory: Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector 1 Comment »

A number of scholars and experts have tried to explain the impact of cross cultural differences on people’s behaviour to help reduce the intercultural risks of international business. Dr. Milton Bennett, co-founder of the Intercultural Development Research Institute, believes that the more experience a person has with cultural differences the more that person will develop intercultural competence, becoming more effective when working across cultures.

According to Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), there are six stages on this path to developing intercultural competence, each characterised by certain perceptions and behaviour towards the “own” and the “other” culture.

As the graphic below illustrates the main change along the line of intercultural competence occurs from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism. In other words, from an understanding of your own culture as being superior to an understanding of your own culture as equal in value and complexity to any other culture.

Cross Cultural Theory: Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

Each of the six phases of Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity are described in more detail below:

Denial: When in this first stage, individuals refuse all interaction with other cultures and show no interest in discovering cultural differences. They may also act agressively during cross cultural situations.

Defense: In this stage, individuals consider all other cultures to be inferior to their own culture and will constantly criticise behaviour or thoughts by someone from another culture.

Minimisation: When this stage is reached, individuals will start believing that all cultures share commom values. They will also minise any cultural dfferences by correcting people to match their expectations.

Acceptance: At this stage, individuals may still judge other cultures negatively but they will tend to recognise that cultures are different and they may become curious about cultural differences

Adaptation: During this stage individuals gain the ability to adapt their behaviour more easily and effectively by intentionally changing their own behaviour or communication style.

Integration: This stage tends to only be achieved by long term expatriates living and working abroad or Global Nomads. In this stage, individuals instinctively change their behaviour and communication style when interacting with other cultures.

Progressing from ‘Ethnocentrism’ to ‘Ethnorelativism’ on the scale takes time, yet it is vital for the success of any business person working in what is an increasingly global economy. Becoming more interculturally sensitive can be achieved through a combination of first hand experience with other cultures and participation on intercultural training courses like Effective Global Leadership or Doing Business in India.

While the final stage ’integration’ is seldom reached, a combination of experience living and working in other countries and taking part in tailored intercultural training courses allows global business people to reach the ‘adaptation’ stage, acquiring a high level of intercultural competence that will ensure they are successful working internationally.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Mar 16

Intercultural Training – Essential for Global Success

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources No Comments »

Today’s world is characterised by global organisations with operations and employees across the world in constant contact via traditional and modern communication methods. The coming together of different nationalities offers organisations access to an unrivalled talent pool. However, it also creates new obstacles that internationally focused companies and institutions have to deal with in order to be successful.

© istockphoto.com/urbancow

Intercultural training can help employers and employees navigate the challenges of international working rooted in cultural differences by helping them develop their intercultural competence which is essential for global success.

International organisations working across the globe should provide intercultural training options for its employees to ensure they:

  • Understand the implications of cultural difference on business
  • Understand how they are perceived by their international counterparts
  • Communicate effectively across cultures
  • Build successful cross cultural relationships
  • Help the organisation have a competitive edge in the international market

A high level of competence in the areas above, developed through intercultural training, will result in more successful financial cross cultural business endeavours, an improved corporate image and long-term relationships with international counterparts.

Understand the impact of cultural difference on business

Intercultural training programmes like Working Effectively across Cultures provides employees with a foundation for understanding the impact of culture on business. Through the analysis of several key dimensions of culture, employees are able to understand how their own cultural values compare to those of their international counterparts. Being aware of different attitudes to things such as time, hierarchy and risk raises awareness of potential differences and helps to develop strategies for successfully working across cultures.

Perception and Image

One of the most important things intercultural training develops is self-awareness. By understanding both their own culture and that of their international counterparts, employees are able to better identify differences which they will need to adapt to. Through an increased awareness of how they might be perceived in other cultures, both individually as representatives of the company, they will avoid any potential miscommunication and improve global business.

Effective Intercultural Communication

Another important area that intercultural training helps develop is intercultural communication. Different verbal and non-verbal communication styles can cause misunderstandings and frustrations that can potentially affect international business relationships and cause a decrease in productivity and efficiency due to the lack of knowledge or appreciation of cultural differences.

Problems in communication may arise from the obvious linguistic differences, but also from the often less apparent differences in cultural values which are often unconsciously embedded in people’s behaviour. The awareness gained from intercultural training about employees’ own cultural values and the impact they have on how they behave and are perceived is essential for anyone working in international organisations.

Build successful cross-cultural relationships

When working across cultures, it’s extremely important to consider the importance employees place on relationships. In some cultures, doing business means getting straight down to the tasks at hand while in others doing business is all about developing a solid relationship first. Stories abound about companies who were not able to build effective relationships with their international counterparts resulting in lost deals. Knowing how much time needs to be spent developing the relationship before starting negotiations or planning a project will ensure success. Intercultural training programmes can provide employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to build effective global relationships.

Increase competitive edge

Communicating and working across cultures often presents huge risks for international businesses. Communicaid’s intercultural training can help prevent wasted time, lost revenue and damaging misunderstandings which occur as a result of a lack of knowledge and understanding of the target culture. Understanding how people think and why they behave the way they do will help employees work more effectively, which in turn, will give the organisation a competitive edge over other organisations who lack this intercultural competence.

© istockphoto.com/Yuri-Arcurs


In an article about measuring the benefits of intercultural training John Schieman wrote, “Quantifying the business improvement from cross-cultural interventions is challenging, however it is clear that cross-cultural competence has the potential to make a significant contribution to top and bottom line results as well as individual performance.”

Intercultural training ensures international organisations maximise positive outcomes of intercultural interactions and reduce potential cultural faux-pas which could result in huge direct and indirect costs as well as lasting damage to the company’s performance and reputation abroad.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Mar 05

Cross Cultural Preferences: Individual or Group?

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Have you ever considered why in some cultures it’s best to praise a team for their efforts rather than an individual?  Or why connections and networks are more important when doing business than individual achievement?  Or in education, have you noticed that in some cultures children are encouraged to participate and show individual creativity while in others the expectation is for children to recite lessons as a group?  There are many differences like these that can often be explained by a predominant tendency in a culture to place more importance on individuals or groups.

This distinction is often referred to as individualism and collectivism, the degree to which a society reinforces individual or group achievement and interpersonal relationships.  This concept, one of Geert Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions, helps explain many cross-cultural attitudes, behaviours and communication styles.

Societies which emphasise collectivism are those where people’s main concern is their in-group or community rather than their individuality.  Extended families and networks where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group are typical of collective cultures such as China, Mexico and Greece.

Individualism refers to describe societies that are characterised by the importance of individuality and individual rights. In individualistic cultures such as the US or Germany, the self and immediate family come first while social bonds tend to be loosely tied.

Below is a table which summarises the key differences between the cross-cultural preference for individual or group.

Collectivism Individualism
‘We’ conscious ‘I’ conscious
Group comes first Self and immediate family come first
Focus on tradition and precedent Focus on growth and progress
Collaborative Competitive
Success and position are ascribed Individual achievement earned and rewarded

Understanding whether a culture places more emphasis on the individual or the group will help you maximise doing business in that country. These concepts are covered on cross-cultural training programmes such as Communicating Effectively across Cultures as well as cross cultural training for business and management programmes such as Doing Business in India.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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