The JOIN Principle

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Intercultural Communication
2.1 Cultural Dynamics
2.1.1 Definition and History
2.1.2 Cultural Dimensions
2.1.3 Diversity
2.1.4 Usage of Culture in this thesis
2.2 The Nature of intercultural Communication
2.2.1 Culture and Communication
2.2.2 Communication basics
2.2.3 Nonverbal Communication
2.2.4 Conclusions
2.3 Language
2.4 Ethics and Human Values
2.5 Conflict
2.6 Interpersonal Behaviour

3 Organisational Dynamics
3.1 Meetings and Workshops
3.2 Group Communication and Group Dynamics
3.2.1 Individual
3.2.2 Group
3.2.3 Group Interaction
3.3 Management and Leadership
3.4 Extra-hierarchical Facilitation
3.4.1 The extra-hierarchical Facilitator
3.4.2 The Facilitation Methodology
3.4.3 The Facilitation Process
3.4.4 The Facilitation Enabler - Trust

4 Facilitation Methodologies
4.1 Research Question
4.2 Approaches in Intercultural Facilitation
4.3 Selection of Approaches
4.4 Theme-Centered Interaction
4.4.1 Ruth Cohn
4.4.2 The Four Factor Model
4.4.3 Advanced Theory of TCI
4.4.4 TCI Group Phases
4.4.5 Interculturality and Diversity
4.5 Reteaming
4.5.1 The Approach
4.5.2 Solution-Oriented Questions .
4.5.3 Step-by-Step Process

5 JOIN
5.1 The JOIN Principle
5.1.1 Key Facts and Application Area
5.1.2 Basic Set-Up
5.1.3 Behaviour of the Facilitator .
5.1.4 Risks
5.2 The 9+2 Elements of JOIN
5.2.1 Preparation
5.2.2 Warm-Up
5.2.3 Visions Glossary
5.2.4 Concrete Goals
5.2.5 Ranking and Support
5.2.6 Solutions Talk
5.2.7 Challenges Acknowledgment
5.2.8 Feedback
5.2.9 JoinTheDots
5.2.10 Follow Ups
5.2.11 Wrap-Up

6 Evaluation
6.1 Research Questions
6.2 Empirical Methodology
6.2.1 Set-Up
6.2.2 Sample Description .
6.3 Execution and Assessment .
6.3.1 Course of Research .
6.3.2 Analysis of Responses
6.4 Discussion of Results
6.4.1 Interpretation
6.4.2 Recommendations

7 Conclusion and Outlook

Bibliography

Appendix

A Downward and Upward

B TCI - Auxiliary Rules

C TCI - Conflict Interventions

D Reteaming Questions

E Diversity Checklist for Workshop Design

F Wrong behaviour patterns during preparation and contracting

G The JOIN Principle

H Workshop Groups

I Example Flipcharts English

J Example Flipcharts German

K Details on Course of Research

L Questionnaire English

M Questionnaire German

Abstract

This thesis describes the creation and first application of an approach for facilitating intercultural, interdisciplinary meetings. ’The JOIN Principle’, or JOIN, for short is mainly based on the Theme-Centred Interaction (TCI) and Reteaming methodology. Highlights of this work are the extensive, integrated literature element on culture, communication, and organisational dynamics, as well as one of the few analyses of current literature on TCI in the English language. Additionally, the TCI group phase model by Angelika and Eike Rubner, including associated fears and wishes in each phase, are first published here in the English language. The description of JOIN is enriched with examples and guidelines on how to use this thesis as a handbook for the application of the principle. Finally, five workshops were conducted with JOIN and the data collected is analysed and documented in this thesis. The conclusion and outlook chapter summarises the results, including personal quotations from the hiring executives of the workshops, and provides suggestions for future research.

Kurzbeschreibung

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt die Entwicklung und erste Anwendung eines Ansatzes zur Moderation von interkulturellen und interdisziplinären Meetings. Das so genannte ’ JOIN Principe’, oder kurz JOIN, basiert in erster Linie auf den Ansätzen der Themenzentrierten Interaktion (TZI) und der Reteaming Methode. Höhepunkte dieser Arbeit sind die ausgedehnte und integrierte Literanalyse im Spannungsfeld von Kultur, Kommunikation und Organisation sowie eine der wenigen Analysen von aktueller Lit- eratur zu TZI in englischer Sprache. Darüber hinaus beinhaltet die vorliegende Arbeit die Erstveröffentlichung des Gruppenphasenmodells, mit zugeordneten Ängsten und Wünschen, von Angelika und Eike Rubner, in englischer Sprache. Die Beschreibung von JOIN wurde durch Beispiele und Richtlinien für die Anwendung angereichert, um dem Leser oder der Leserin eine Art Handbuch für die eigene Anwendung der Methode zur Verfügung zu stellen. Abschließend beschreibt diese Arbeit fünf Workshops von Organisationen die mit Hilfe von JOIN moderiert wurden und analysiert die Daten. Neben der Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse und kurzen persönlichen Kommentaren der Auftraggeber zu den durchgeführten Workshops, bietet der Outlook der Arbeit Hinweise auf mögliche künftige Forschungsaktivitäten.

Foreword

The first sentences in this thesis should go to all the wonderful people around me. I am grateful to every single one of you, because you all make my wings fly.

Danke Barbara, Elisabeth und Friedrich; Helmut, Martina und Michael; danke Kristina und Stefan und danke auch euch, Tom und Werner. Ihr habt die letzten eineinhalb Jahre mit mir geteilt und habt mir gezeigt, dass es interdisziplinäres Lernen und Ar- beiten, weit weg von Vorurteilen und Konflikten, wirklich geben kann. Ihr habt mich jedes Wochenende zum Lachen gebracht und gabt mir selbst dann das Gefühl dabei gewesen zu sein, wenn ich wieder zu Hause oder in einer anderen Zeitzone war. Jeder einzelne von Euch hat mein Leben so sehr bereichert, dass selbst einem ’Redhaus’ wie mir die Worte fehlen. Einfach nur DANKE euch allen für eine wundervolle Zeit!

Thanks also to all the teachers, trainers and lecturers of this amazing study course for creating an environment where learning was not forced, but just ’happened’. I already went through several training programs in my life, but without exaggeration this was the best piece of continuing education I have ever experienced in my whole life. Not because the other education programs were not good - not at all - but because the mixture of theory and practice, appreciation and advice, of flexibility and structure was extraordinary! Giving a big hand for all of you - as advisers, as leaders and as friends.

I also need to mention the ’dancing and singing’ Willi who was - maybe besides the red trousers - not only inspiring, but represents for me the embodiment of appreciation. And Martin, phew... I don’t know why, but Martin was a riddle for me at the begin- ning, and partly he still is. He was the one who supported the idea that ethics and religion could be key for facilitation in different cultures. Although I knew that, our conversations broadened my view in an indescribable way. Also thanks for the trust in my skills as a facilitator - I will never forget that!

Here, also, a special thanks to Karin and Rudi, who introduced me, as a techie, into the world of social science and interpersonal communication. To be honest, I never thought that it would be that hard. Thanks for your trust, confidence and guidance and for helping me to become a bit more interdisciplinary myself.

Von Herzen, ein großes Dankeschön an Angelika und Eike Rubner! Euer Vertrauen in mich sowie eure wertschätzende und einfühlsame Art mit Menschen umzugehen, ist mir ein großes Vorbild. Trotz eures vollen Zeitplans habt ihr immer Zeit gefunden mir Rückmeldungen zu geben. Eure Einführung in TZI war es, welche mir den Horizont des humanistischen Interagierens erschloss und der mir die Angst vor dem Wort Psychologie nahm.

A big thanks also to my proof readers. I hope you will not be the only ones, beside my supervisors, who read the full stuff. Thanks to Lisa, who is a real ’Monk’ and who corrected the whole two hundred and something pages - even the direct, native citations - without asking for a valuable consideration. Thanks to Suzanne, who I still do not know in person, but who I definitely owe a ’baby Guinness’ when we finally meet. And thanks to Anne, who is not only doing a fabulous job in editing, but also is an astonishing woman from whom I learned more than ’just’ English.

An additional thank you to the organisations and executives who trusted me, and my skills, so that I was able to apply Join in the real world. This application increased the value of this thesis considerably.

I don’t want to miss the opportunity to thank all my friends, who still keep asking me to go out for a beer, even though I rejected them so many times! Thanks for the support and the friendship. I hope I can pay it back some day.

Vor allen anderen aber ein Dankeschön an meine Familie, welche mich zu dem Men- schen heranwachsen ließ, der ich heute bin. Welche mir alles gab was ich je benötigte und von der ich auf verschiedene Arten lernen durfte. Erst durch diese Arbeit habe ich die positiven Auswirkungen vieler Erfahrungen die ich machen musste und durfte erst richtig schätzen gelernt. Danke meinem Vater, welcher mich, mit seinem grenzenlosen Optimismus und Streben nach Größerem, selbst meinen Realismus manchmal hinter- fragen ließ. Danke meinen Brüdern, die ich jederzeit anrufen kann und die auch noch immer mit mir was trinken gehen wollen - auch wenn ich scheinbar nie Zeit finde. Ein riesen Danke meiner Mama, die mich Bescheidenheit, Freundlichkeit und Pünktlichkeit lehrte und die, egal wo sie wohnt, immer noch ’zu Hause’ ist. Danke auch meiner Oma, die es mir nicht verübelt, wenn ich mich kaum sehen lasse und immer viel zu viel zu tun habe. Ich hoffe zumindest einen Teil deiner Unermüdlichkeit und deines freundlichen Wesens weiter in mir tragen zu dürfen!

Last - but first - my girlfriend Angie. When all these people make my wings fly, you are the sun, who makes me smile again and again. Thanks for being my segunda media!

1. Introduction

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest;

Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.E)

In 1945, World War Two ended, and directly afterwards the so called ’Verbotsgesetz 1947’ (Prohibition Act 1947) was passed in Austria to suppress any potential revival of Nazism. The revival of all Nazi organisations, reactuation and holocaust denial were punishable by sentences of up to 20 years. In addition to this constitutional law, in 1960, the ’Abzeichengesetz’ (Law against Nazi Insignia) was added, which forbids the public exhibition of insignia and uniforms, especially related to Nazism. The ’Verbotsgesetz 1947’ appears to conflict with the freedom of opinion, but it is still in place and being executed. Moreover, every child in Austria learns at school about the cruelties of Adolf Hitler, and although there are almost no surviving contemporary witnesses, films, exhibitions and events make this chapter of Austrian and German history an omnipresent topic.

Keeping the history of Austria and consequently the cultural imprint of the author of this thesis as an Austrian citizen in mind, here follows a short story, which should make the complexity and hidden emotional aspects of culture more tangible: During the writing of this thesis I had to go on a business trip to India. Besides working, I tried to see the main sights of Kanpur, Agra and Delhi. On the way home I passed by a small market and looked at the jewellery, artworks and drapery. By chance, I stopped at a small shop, offering different religious symbols (see Figure 1.1). I knew that what is known in Austria as the ’ Hakenkreuz ’ (hook-cross) is known in many other cultures as the swastika¹ , and has very positive associations. Nevertheless, looking at this sign, next to Christian crosses, golden and free for sale, made me feel uncomfortable. I had to fight against my cultural imprint to look at this sign not only as a representative of white supremacy, but as a mark of hate and racism. No matter how hard I tried, and despite the fact that I was not even born at the time of world war two, there was still an uneasy gut feeling of joint cultural guilt while looking at this picture. The cultural imprint of individuals are different, and even though this was an extreme example, this cultural imprint, e.g. signs, language and experiences, cannot be deleted in an instance by intellectual rules or the need for an intercultural meeting.

Although cultural imprints cannot be changed or switched off for meetings, diversity of teams is a major topic in management literature. Whilst studies of culture and cultural diversity highlight the importance of communication, the author of this thesis recognised little in the literature, and even less in everyday practice, that indicates that cultural differences are considered actively in facilitation processes. After working for seven years on some of the largest international research projects funded by the Eu- ropean Commission, the author of this thesis recognised little evidence that research on culture, communication and management is used in the experienced meetings and workshops in a practical and integrated way. The literature supports this observation for interdisciplinary research groups, and asks for professional facilitation of meet- ings (Blankenburg, Böhm, Dienel & Legewie 2005, p. 219). Alongside this, theories for effective intercultural workgroup facilitation try to close the gap between cultural studies and communication studies by offering interdisciplinary theories (Oetzel 2005, pp. 351-352).

Illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 1.1: Symbols at a market in Dehli, India (Photo © Thomas Kurz 2010)

Oetzel (2005, p. 351) proposed several reasons for the impetus of research on in- tercultural workgroups: i) Demographic changes have increased the likelihood that individuals will work in diverse cultural groups. ii) Globalisation has resulted in the increased interaction of people from different national cultural backgrounds. iii) Some organisations are employing self-managed teams to reduce the number of layers in the hierarchy, thus increasing the number of workgroups. Oetzel (2005, pp. 351-352) further argues that these trends resulted in research on such groups, concluding that “(a) culturally diverse groups have more group process difficulty (e.g. more tension and conflict) than culturally homogeneous groups, (b) cultural diversity can benefit group performance because of the infusion of different ideas and approaches to solving problems, and (c) benefits occur only if diversity is managed properly.”

Participants in intercultural meetings often need to fly to the meeting point, lead- ing to travel costs, standing costs for the work which could not be done while the group is meeting, and the costs of future problems resulting from the fact that par- ticipants misunderstood each other at the meeting (Davison 1996, p. 159). These additional costs, together with the higher group process difficulties, mean the need for efficiently facilitated meetings is even higher than in homogeneous groups. “Most research on the culture dimension has emphasized cross-cultural differences in intercul- tural behaviour rather than the interactions between people across different cultural dimensions” (Anderson, Hecht, Hoobler & Smallwood 2003, page 85).

Consequently, this thesis proposes a facilitation approach, named JOIN or ’The JOIN Principle’, for intercultural, interdisciplinary meetings. This facilitation approach was created from two, probably mutually exclusive, considerations. On one hand is the wish for a universally applicable facilitation approach, which will make intercultural and interdisciplinary meetings more efficient. On the other hand, cultures are so diverse that the universal applicability and, consequently, comparability of the research results seem almost impossible. The idea behind the approach in this thesis is to create a hu- manistic facilitation principle as close as possible to the ideal of a value-free facilitation methodology. This vision is formulated with the awareness that such a methodology is probably an impossible dream. Nevertheless, the thesis at hand aims at providing a facilitation approach, JOIN, based on proven methodologies from academia, industry and applied psychology, and a first field-test in five independent workshops. Besides the development of JOIN, the creation of a questionnaire for intercultural group facilitation represented a challenge and a goal for this thesis. JOIN as a facilitation approach and the accompanying questionnaire should be used and tested exemplarily in the context of this thesis and later, in a revised version, be reused for other applications.

Besides the creation of JOIN, this thesis comes with several additional benefits First, the reason for writing this thesis in English was to make the content available for a broader audience. Parts of the relevant German literature are not available in English at all. Second, parts of the literature in Sub-section 4.4.4 were not even published in German yet, and provide insights into the area of group phases. Davison (1996, p. 158) states that the preparation of a facilitation of intercultural groups takes three times longer than for national groups. The structuring of Chapter 5 in the form of a handbook, the workshop examples given in Chapter 6 and the additional material in the Appendixes should reduce this preparation effort for facilitators using JOIN.

This thesis can be classified in the field of intercultural communication. Gudykunst & Lee (2003, page 7) describes different approaches to incorporating culture into com- munication theory. Integrating culture with communication theory is not necessarily impossible, but the theorists have different objectives and so an integration is unlikely (Gudykunst & Lee 2003, page 27). The facilitation of face-to-face group activities can clearly benefit from the findings of interpersonal communication, and in the context of intercultural participants, from cultural studies and cultural science. Nevertheless, the field of research is interdisciplinary itself, and therefore literature from cultural studies, communication science, management and psychology were considered and compared in this thesis. It might be argued that this thesis ignores important studies that are directly related to the subject matter. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, and the complexity of the topics involved, this thesis cannot be more than an introduction to the pragmatics of intercultural, interdisciplinary facilitation and related sciences. It cannot, therefore, point to all the existing affinities to other fields of research without becoming encyclopaedic, in the bad sense of the term.

Consequently, the thesis at hand will concentrate on two main research questions:

1. What form could an approach for facilitating intercultural, interdisciplinary meet- ings (JOIN) take?

2. Could JOIN be a suitable methodology for facilitating intercultural and inter- disciplinary meetings and workshops?

(a) Why should an organisation use JOIN ?
(b) For which kind of environments and events would participants think JOIN is most useful?
(c) Which elements of JOIN can be considered most useful?
(d) Which characteristics of JOIN are noted most by the participants?
(e) Which characteristics of the facilitator are noted most by the participants?
(f) What could be improved in the current methodology?

After having outlined the motivation for creating a new facilitation approach in the Introduction, Chapter 2 draws the frame of reference for culture and communication. It introduces the concept of cultural dynamics and heterogeneity in the understanding of culture itself, sets it in relation to communication and intercultural communication, and outlines important aspects of culture in the context of facilitation, namely, language, ethics and human values, conflict and interpersonal behaviour.

Chapter 3 sets the focus of the thesis in an organisational context. It defines meetings and workshops and provides an overview of group communication and group dynamics, in relation to intercultural communication. Management and leadership contribute to the organisational dynamics as an important factor in facilitation, and pave the way to the definition of extra-hierarchical facilitation.

Chapter 4 presents existing approaches in intercultural facilitation theory and practice and condsiders the selection of underlying approaches for the new facilitation methodology. Subsequently, the two main approaches, Theme-Centred Interaction (TCI) and Reteaming, are described.

Chapter 5 is a clear description of the new facilitation methodology, including hints for application. Starting with a description of the JOIN principle, which includes key facts, set-up, guidelines for the facilitator and a reflection of the risks of the application, it continues with a step-by-step guide, which can be used as a handbook for applying JOIN.

Chapter 6 is devoted to the empirical evaluation of JOIN in five independent work- shops. Aside from the theoretical description of empirical methodologies used, this chapter also refers to the practical application of JOIN, and aids in understanding the application. It concludes with a critical evaluation of the questionnaire results.

Chapter 7 concludes with the main outcomes and findings of the thesis. Based on the findings of the empirical research, future work is suggested.

This introduction is closed with a note on how to read and understand this thesis. Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson (1967, p. 16) write in their book on the pragmatics of human communication that as their “manuscript was being critically evaluated by a variety of experts [...] It became apparent that any given section might be considered primitive by one and too specialized by anther.” Because of the complexity of the topic, and the fact that this thesis is written in English while including a variety of German literature, it is assumed that parts of this thesis will be hard to understand. Therefore, Chapter 5 and the descriptions of the workshops in Chapter 6 include visualisations and pictures to make the methodology more tangible, and can be used as the first version of a handbook for JOIN.

2 Intercultural Communication

It’s not what you don’t know

that kills you,...

it’s what you know that isn’t so.

Tom DeMarco (1940 - )

The transcription of the past, present and future of intercultural communication presented in this chapter starts with a short story on ’the other’:

“A Rabbi once asked his students how one can recognise that night has ended and the day begins. One answered: Day breaks dawn, when I can distinguish a donkey from a mule from afar. Another one said the day breaks dawn, when I can distinguish a date palm from another date palm from afar. Both answers were rejected by the rabbi and said: The day breaks dawn, when I am looking in someone’s face and I can see my brother or sister in it. Before that, we live in the darkest night.” (translated by the Author from Boldt 2009, p. 147)

In an organisational context it is not necessary to see the brother or sister in ones col- league, project or negotiation partner during a facilitation, but it is necessary to create a work environment where open communication is possible, at least for the duration of the meeting. Goal of the following chapter is to analyse what culture and commu- nication mean for a facilitation process and how they are interdependent. Besides the focus on intercultural communication, the following pages should identify which are the important issues ’that kills you’ when working in highly diverse environments. The emphasis in the selection of literature was on relevant topics in the context of facilita- tion settings and therefore interpersonal communication. After the general discussion on culture and communication, a section on language as an easily recognisable facet of cultural difference is explained. Further, the ethics and human values part elaborates on where values come from and how they influence people’s behaviour and attitude. The section on conflict shows means for successful process conflicts and leads to an intended, interpersonal attitude for intercultural facilitation of ’I’M OK - YOU’RE OK’, derived from transactional analysis (TA).

2.1 Cultural Dynamics

The term ’culture’ is as commonly as ambiguously used within and also between languages. It occupied philosophers and thinkers, e.g. Leibnitz, Voltaire, Herder, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Kant, Freud, Jung, Adorno, Marcuse and Luhmann (Maletzke 1996, p. 15). Heringer (2004, p. 158) highlights, that culture is not finished, but it constantly changes and therefore is a dynamic process. The section on cultural dynamics discusses the various cultural definitions and diametrically opposite dimensions and closes with a definition of culture for the thesis at hand.

2.1.1 Definition and History

The following analysis of the history and definitions of culture has two main objectives: First, the word must be defined, in order to understand the subsequent chapters. Second, and equally important, it acts as an example for how difficult it is to find a common understanding between languages, disciplines, and mind-sets.

Besides the common understanding, Williams (1983 a, p. xviii) emphasises the impor- tance of development and history of the term. “Where culture meant a state or habit of the mind, or the body of intellectual and moral activities, it means now, also, a whole way of life. This development, like each of the original meanings and the relations between them, is not accidental, but general and deeply significant” Williams (1983 a, p. xviii).

Derived from the Latin word cultura, meaning inhabit, cultivate, protect and honour with worship, culture was used as a noun of process in all its early uses (Williams 1983 b, p. 87). The French form of cultura, couture, has developed its own specialized meaning. Shifting its meaning at the end of the 16th century, from tending of natural growth to a process of human development, culture “as an independent noun, an abstract process or the product of such a process, was not important before the last period of 18th century and was not common before the middle period of the 19th century” (Williams 1983 b, p. 88). Interesting in this context is the development of the German word Kultur, originally borrowed from French which is mainly used as a synonym for civilization.

Beside the development of the term culture over time, it is “clear that, within a disci- pline, conceptual usage has to be clarified. But in general it is the range and overlap of meanings that is significant” (Williams 1983 b, p. 91). In the context of the collabora- tion of cultures and the thesis at hand, it is doubtful that a definition of culture exists at all. If a definition of culture is to be suitable for all stakeholders in an intercultural context, it is especially difficult to find an agreed definition. Each discipline has its own conceptional usage, history and interpretation of its own culture and the culture of ’the others’.

Chen (2008, p. 4) takes on the question, if ’the other’, or ’das Fremde’ can be resolved in hermeneutics, or if it only leads to the questioning of hermeneutics itself. Contrary to others, he is considering not only the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer, but also works on the differences to the approach of Eric Hirsch. Chen proposes to consider the ambiguity of ’the other’. Consequently he concludes, that mankind is not only trapped between affiliation and refrainment from his own culture, as described by Gadamer, but also between his own traditions and other cultures, which are not necessarily ex- tremes or alternatives. Of course there are differences between individuals, languages, cultures and religions, but there are also commonalities which, on a certain level, can be understood by everyone.

Complementary to Chen, Fuchs (1999, p. 145) addresses the metaphor of ’culture as text’, or ’texture’ from both an anthropological and partly sociological perspective. Fuchs (1999, p. 145) criticises Gadamer for being too linear with his interpretation and similarly to Chen, he emphasises the necessity of considering more than one mode of hermeneutic appropriation in the cultural context. Furthermore, Fuchs stresses recognition of difference and places it in relation to communication:

“Communication thrives on difference. Difference is what keeps communication going. Contrary to Habermas, the vision cannot be to bring dialogue to an end in a final consensus. The end of intercultural mediation and translation cannot be the ’Verschmelzung von Horizonten’ (Gadamer). The vision rather must be a reciprocal intersection and refraction of horizons and frames, or contexts.” (Fuchs 1999, p. 153)

The concept of ’the other’ also has a psychological and analytical dimension (Chen 2008, p. 6). The question of whether psychoanalysis and its different characteristics - Freud, Jung, Lacan - implicitly made up, or inherited, a cultural theory is not easy to answer. Even more difficult to evaluate is what contribution can be expected from psychoanalysis to a contemporary cultural theory (Müller-Funk 2006, p. 22). Müller- Funk at least gives the pragmatic answer, that psychoanalysis is present in all western cultures, mainly in philosophy, humanities and cultural sciences. Moreover, it certainly had an influence on cultural theoreticians, as central terminologies from psychoanalysis are used in other disciplines, even without broad knowledge of their origins. Although Müller-Funk (2006, p. 45) criticises Freud’s polarisation of culture and nature, as well as his ethnic- and euro-centric concepts, many psychoanalytic concepts are essential for the analysis of ’the other’ and the individual’s drive and intrinsic motivation.

In order to understand all the differences and terminologies of culture, it is helpful to understand the history and origin of culture. Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p. 13) refers to the million year old dynamics of culture as ’social game’. Five million years before the modern humans (Homo sapiens) populated this planet, chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest ancient relatives, already showed all the important characteristics of cul- ture. Hofstede & Hofstede continues by arguing that although less intelligent than the modern humans, these apes already lived in social units with distinct cultures. To maintain genetic diversity females switched social groups. Instead of taking their practices with them, those migrants adapted to the culture of the receiving group. In analogy to chimpanzees and bonobos, the early humans also lived as hunter-gatherers, but developed an intricate information society with complex symbolic language. Ac- cording to Hofstede & Hofstede, the invention of agriculture (10000 until 5000 B.C.) started a paradigm shift, because now a higher concentration of people could live to- gether. Observing the cultural dynamics beginning in these early stages of mankind, Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, pp. 16-17) also examines the sources of cultural diversity and change. He identifies i) the need for adaptation to new natural environments, ii) military conquests, iii) missionary zeal and iv) scientific discoveries, which in the case of agriculture caused a fundamental change of culture and also values.

This consideration of the history and origin of culture is especially important, because in “social life, including economic processes, few things are invented from scratch” (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, p. 16). Multinational companies already existed in 2000 B.C. and although the national and regional culture reflects partly the borders of former empires, the invention of ’nations’¹ is a phenomenon, introduced in the mid-twentieth century. Consequently, the categorisation of individuals based on national membership needs to be carefully questioned, also in the context of the thesis at hand.

Before a definition of culture for this thesis can be given, another key term must be understood - Cultural Studies. Cultural Studies is a collective term for the multi- or interdisciplinary analysis of cultural phenomena. The term was coined by Richart Hoggart in 1964 in Birmingham, UK (Nünning 2004, p. 96). Other than cultural sciences, cultural studies is not a unified theory but in light of the discourse of cultural studies in Great Britain, this might seem as an advantage for this open-minded and experimental approach. However, there exist many unified characteristics of cultural studies - mainly broadening the term culture from traditional high culture and popular culture to everyday meanings and practices (Müller-Funk 2006, pp. 270-272).

In summary, the phenomenon of the term culture, Maletzke (1996, page 22) suggests, that although thinkers and researchers have concentrated on culture, there is no agreed definition of culture. He suggests that everyone needs to define culture oneself. Between the different disciplines which are concerned with culture, anthroposophy, particularly cultural anthroposophy, plays a major role. However even within this field the defini- tions vary considerably. Before a definition for this thesis can be given, the following sections will deal with cultural dimensions and diversity, as a related field of interest.

2.1.2 Cultural Dimensions

The concept of cultural dimensions, of which Hofstede & Hofstede (2005) and Trompe- naars & Hampden-Turner (2005) are well cited examples, is relevant to this work in two ways. First, the descriptions of cultural dimensions, or ’mental programmings’, as Hofstede & Hofstede refers to them, analyse the different patterns of thinking, feeling and potential acting. This understanding will help to identify a definition of culture, which is suitable for this thesis. Second, it is important to understand the potential differences between individuals of a heterogeneous group for the conception of the in- tercultural facilitation methodology, presented in Chapter 5. This section will give a short introduction to mental programming concepts and generalizing attributes, fol- lowed by a short literature analysis on cultural dimensions, and concludes with possible drawbacks of categorisations, namely stereotypes.

In his book Cultures and Organizations:: Software of the Mind, Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p. 3) draws the analogy of human mindsets with the programming of computers. He identifies the sources of the mental programming as being within the family, neigh- bourhood, school, youth groups, workplace and the living community. In particular, what stands out from this is that culture is learned and not innate. Figure 2.1 presents Hofstede & Hofstede’s (2005, p. 4) categorisation of individual and natural factors of mental programming. He distinguishes between i) human nature as a universal level for all mankind, ii) culture as collective programming of groups and iii) personality, which includes the personal and unique set of mental programs.

Consequently, there seem to be universal attributes and behaviour of mankind. Al- though there are biological universalities of the ’human’, it is impossible to find a

Illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 2.1: Three Levels of Uniqueness in Mental Programming, adopted from Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p.4)

scientific proof if there are also such psychological universalities (Maletzke 1996, pp. 21-22). Nevertheless, Maletzke summarizes lists of possible universalities, e.g. moral values, music, sports, signs, etc., but also cultural universalities like ’archetypes’ by C. G. Jung or the ’generative grammar’ by Noam Chomsky. He concludes by proposing that cultural universalities are not crucial for intercultural encounters. Although Maletzke’s (1996) arguments are coherent, the thesis at hand tries to identify a universal or at least broadly applicable approach for solution-oriented collaboration, wich takes advantage of cultural differences.

Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p. 4) identified culture as the group- or category-specific level of uniqueness in mental programming. Analysing the cultural dimensions in which this mental programming can be categorized, one common pattern can be identified: the diametrical opposition of the different dimensions. Hall (1980) proposes a differ- entiation of low- and high-context cultures and stresses the different concepts of time ². Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck (1973) identified five key orientations which are i) human nature - evil versus good, ii) man-nature relationship - external controlled versus mancontrolled, iii) time sense - past- versus future-oriented, iv) activity - just ’be’ versus working for rewards and v) social relations - natural leaders versus equal rights. Not least because of the empirical validation of the categorisation, the dimension models of Hofstede & Hofstede (2005) and Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (2005) have been very successful (Gibson 2002).

Hofstede & Hofstede (2005) established in the 60s the first cultural model with a broad empirical validation³. Consequently, Hofstede & Hofstede identified four diametrically opposed cultural dimensions:

- Individualism versus Collectivism
- Uncertainty versus Avoidance
- Power Distance (high versus low)
- Masculinity versus Femininity

Later on he identified a fifth dimension, by modifying the questionnaires and their execution in the so called Chinese Value Survey (CVS). The Chinese Culture Connec- tion (1987) isolated the following “four dimensions of cultural variability: Confucian dynamism (e.g., ’ordering relationships by status and observing this order,’ ’having a sense of shame’), integration (e.g., ’harmony with others,’ ’solidarity with others’), human-heartedness (e.g., ’patience,’ ’courtesy,’ ’kindness’), and moral discipline (e.g., ’having few desires,’ ’moderation’)” (Gudykunst & Lee 2003, p. 21). Three of these four Chinese dimensions correlate positively with Hofstede’s model. However instead of uncertainty avoidance, CVS participants valued the dimension referred to as Confucian dynamism as important⁴.

Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, similar to Hofstede & Hofstede, carried out sur- veys in order to identify cultural dimensions. 15,000 managers from 28 countries were questioned and Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (2005) describe three main cultural dimensions:

- Relationship with people
- Attitudes to time
- Attitudes to the environment

These main dimensions can be subdivided into eight sub-categories and here again di- ametrically opposed dimensions such as individualism versus communitarianism, uni- versalist versus particularist or specific versus diffuse attitudes make it difficult for managers or facilitators to deal with intercultural groups. Trompenaars & Hampden- Turner (2005, pp. 195-211) suggests to first build awareness of cultural differences, then learn to respect cultural differences and finally try to reconcile those differences.

Although there exist many characteristics of cultural dimensions, research relating to culture and teams has concentrated on i) the comparison of teams across different cultures orii) related known dimensions to team processes and outcomes. Halevy & Sagiv (2008, p. 267) suggest future research, integrating these different lines of research. Furthermore, they propose collaborative efforts to study team processes and outcomes in“Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East, among other regions, and to address unattended dimensions of culture, such as hierarchy versus egalitarianism, and mastery versus harmony” (Halevy & Sagiv 2008, pp. 267-268). The dynamics of groups in an intercultural context can be found in Section 3.2.

The concepts of cultural dimensions, of which Hofstede & Hofstede’s (2005) and Trompe- naars & Hampden-Turner’s (2005) are well cited examples, describe culture but do not explain the phenomenon of culture itself (Lohmann 2009, p. 264). Those dimensions were developed with the goal of making cultural differences transparent. As mentioned before, Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (2005, p. 195) refer to this as the first step - building awareness of cultural differences. Despite the importance of awareness of cultural differences, these empirical analyses run the risk of supporting stereotypes⁵, and therefore increasing cultural issues intead of lowering them (Lohmann 2009, p. 264).

The more research tries to identify differences and axioms in cultures, the more it supports stereotyped thinking. As can be seen from Section 2.1.1, culture is hard to define and is both diverse and ever changing. Considering the fact that the notion of nations, for example, is a very recent one, it seems strange that stereotypes are often connected to national membership. Besides a short overview of formal definitions of the term stereotype, Heringer (2004, pp. 198-200) stresses their positive backgrounds. Stereotypes are an essential part of the cognitive processing of complex social data. Therefore, a stereotype can be seen as a special case of mental schemata. As such, they help in processing complex data and even find their place in setting up knowledge structures and linguistic denotations. This categorisation is dangerous when it gets overloaded with attributes, which are not observable and not value-free. The issue of stereotypes not only applies to intercultural environments, but also to the following subject: diversity.

2.1.3 Diversity

The term diversity was not mentioned in Williams’s (1983 b) Keywords of culture and society. Differently, Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, pp. 10-11) has a very wide understanding of the term culture. He recognised that people carry a set of mental programs and belong to a number of different groups and categories at the same time. According to Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p. 11) those levels of culture are:

- A national level, according to one’s country (or countries for people who migrated during their lifetime)
- A regional and/or ethical and/or religious and/or linguistic affiliation level, as most nations are composed of culturally different regional and/or ethic and/or religious and/or language groups
- A gender level, according to whether a person was born as a girl or as a boy
- Agenerationlevel,separatinggrandparentsfromparentsfromchildren
- A social class level, associated with educational opportunities and with a person’s occupation or profession
- For those who are employed, organizational, departmental, and/or corporate lev- els, according to the way employees have been socialized by their work organiza- tion

The main reasons for introducing diversity management were i) to improve performance and ii) the wish to overcome social workplace inequalities, referred to as equal opportu- nities perspective (Özbilgin 2008, p. 381). From a performance imperative perspective, on one hand many case studies exist, which confirmed the positive influence of diver- sity. On the other hand other case studies did not confirm the positive influence of diversity. Özbilgin concludes that effective management is the key-factor for one or the other. In the context of cross-cultural innovation and new ventures, Bouncken (2005, p. 187) supports Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner’s (2005, pp. 195-211) assertation of the need for recognition and understanding of their diversity as a basis for success. Furthermore, she stresses the central role of communication in performance and the need for communication patterns, which polychronic cultures might dislike.

In a management context, diversity management “is a management philosophy that proposes that recognizing and valuing heterogeneity in organizations can contribute to both organizational performance and the financial bottom line” (Özbilgin 2008, p. 379). Differentiating between single-nation and global diversity management, Özbilgin (2008, p. 396) concludes that diversity professionals face two main challenges. The first is to recognize the unique requirements of single-nation diversity management approaches and practices. The second is the need for coordination of divergent practices at the international level. The question remains if diversity management, as a U.S.-based concept,, can be easily transferred onto management systems of other countries. The diversity approach to equal opportunities perspective, including a shift from equal opportunities to diversity management as a move away from emotive discourse and the moral case for equality toward individualised and performance-driven business case arguements, may be especially difficult for collectivist cultures, An implicit definition of diversity in a facilitation context, published by Berger (1996, pp. 184-185), establishes that many differences and stereotypes can also be observed within a culture and it is not a given that all members of a culture, even in a wide sense, behave in the same way. One example is that interdepartmental workshops have advantages in handling complex topics. Weinreich (2005, 371) argued that interdepartmental workshops are the creative reservoir for holistic product development, as well as process re-engineering. For similar face-to-face settings, Halevy & Sagiv (2008, pp. 256-257) identify three main influence factors: i) group identification, ii) communication and iii) intragroup conflict.

Having begun by widening the definition of culture to encompass diversity, the last step in the discussion of this subject is to distinguish between surface-level diversity and deep-level diversity. “Surface-level diversity refers to the forms of heterogeneity that can be detected by observing the physical qualities of a person, such as sex, race, and age. Deep-level diversity relates to divisions between individuals by beliefs, values, and norms” (Özbilgin 2008, p. 385). This definition is particularly important for this thesis, as the different personality types⁶ and consequent behaviour attitude of participants in workshops and meetings play an important role as both surface-level and deep-level diversity factors.

2.1.4 Usage of Culture in this thesis

The definitions of culture, being one most complicated words in English, has pragmat- ically shifted from honour with worship to a wider usage of the term, e.g. diversity (Williams 1983 b, p. 87). Although the variety of individual mindsets of culture is enor- mous, there seems to be a structure that can serve as a basis for mutual understanding (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, p. 2). One of the basic assumptions of this thesis is that there are some principles which make it possible to enhance the efficiency of meetings and workshops. As shown in this Chapter, the terms intercultural and interdisciplinary refer to similar issues of cultural differences. Consequently, the proposed JOIN princi- ple acts as an approach for heterogeneous groups. As a result, in this thesis the term culture is defined based on the hermeneutic approach of Fuchs.

“Culture is a metaphor for difference.” (Fuchs 1999, p. 153)

Despite this very general definition, Heringer (2004, p. 158) is mindful of common issues, which must be acknowledged when dealing with cultural differences: i) Culture is not conclusive. It is a dynamic process, open for interpretation. ii) Culture is flexible. We need to adapt to environmental changes. iii) Culture is complex. The behaviour of billions of humans cannot be defined in a few words. iv) Culture is not homogeneous. Even in our own culture, agendas and values differ considerably. As mentioned before, communication plays a central role in intercultural groups. After an analysis of intercultural communication in Section 2.2, subsequent sections deal with specific dynamics, which need to be kept in mind in a heterogeneous cultural context.

2.2 The Nature of intercultural Communication

“An old riddle posed by the mystics of many religions - the Zen Bud- dhists, the Sufis of Islam, and the Rabbis of the Talmund - asks, Is there a sound in the forest if a tree crashes down and no one is around to hear it? We now know that the right answer to this is no. There are sound waves. But there is no sound unless someone perceives it. Sound is created by perception. Sound is communication.” (Drucker 2001, p. 262)

Setting this riddle in the context of facilitation, it is the task of the facilitator to make sure that the mental sound waves of participants are both spoken out and perceived by other participants. This is not an easy task, particularly in an intercultural and interdisciplinary setting. Simultaneously, communication is a condicio sine qua non - a condition without which it could not be - of human life and social order (Watzlawick et al. 1967, p. 13). Communication happens even without voice, but it does not guarantee that the receiver of verbal and non-verbal messages perceives and interprets those in the appropriate cultural context. According to Ellingsworth (1983, p. 195), intercultural communication needs to start from interpersonal communication. As this thesis focusses on facilitation in meetings and workshops, the analysis of communi- cation here focusses on face-to-face communication, always in relation to the diverse cultural backgrounds of the participants. The following subsections will first connect the cultural terminology of Section 2.1 with communication, then the basic principles of verbal and non-verbal communication will be given, concluding with applications and critical issues in intercultural communication.

2.2.1 Culture and Communication

Intergroup communication covers most of the communication aspects relevant within a facilitation process. Baldwin & Hunt (2002, p. 274) summarizes different intergroup communication models, including intercultural aspects (see Figure 2.2). Social identity theory (SIT) presents a one-dimensional continuum from interindividual, i.e. interper- sonal (IP), to intergroup (IG) communication. The behaviour depends on whether inferences drawn from the other communicator are based on personal knowledge of the counterpart, or whether the person is seen only as a member of another group. The two-dimensional model of Gudykunst & Lim (1986, n.p.) separates the intergroup and interpersonal dimensions and argues that the interaction level can be high or low on both dimensions. The basic argument for the three-dimensional model of Baldwin & Hecht’s (2009, p. 274) is that “just because two people perceive there to be differ- ences (such as in interracial communication), there may not, in fact, be differences. In the same vein, two people can perceive themselves to be of the same group (e.g., both deaf students), yet actually have wide cultural differences (intercultural dimen- sion).” Although the focus on facilitation in meetings and workshops is not only related to information seeking, this model seems to provide a good overview on the relevant communication issues.

To understand the role of communication in diverse cultures, the key terms must first be defined. Most relevant to this thesis is intercultural communication. Aligned with the broad definition of culture in Section 2.1.4, Gudykunst (2003 a, p. 163) defines intercultural communication as including “communication between able-bodied and disabled, intergenerational communication, communication between members of differ- ent social classes, and interracial/interethnic communication.” Whereas research on cross-cultural communication is presented as the comparison of communication across

Illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 2.2: Models of intergroup communication, adopted from Baldwin & Hunt (2002, p. 274)

cultures, Gudykunst (2003 b, p. 1) refers to intercultural communication as communication between people from different cultures. Moreover, Gudykunst argues that intercultural communication generally involves face-to-face communication.

Several theories on intercultural communication⁷ were published in the last 20 years. Gudykunst (2003 c) summarized and classified them into objectivist and subjectivist theories. Objectivists see a ’real world’ external to individuals and see communication as ’determined’ by the environment. On the contrary, subjectivists try to understand individual communicators’ perspectives, and view communication as a function of ’free will’. In this summary, different theories were presented, e.g. anxiety/uncertainty management, where a moderating process is essential for communication effectiveness. He concludes that the integration of theory will increase the ability to understand intercultural communication (Gudykunst 2003 c, p. 185).

Besides the term intercultural communication, a second important term, especially in German speaking countries, was coined and established in the last decades: transcul- tural communication. Referring to the work of Edward Hall, Löffelholz (2002, pp. 192-194) identifies the four main metaphors related to transcultural communication: interpersonality, propaganda, development and culture, of which interpersonality ap- peared to be the dominant paradigm of the related research. He defines transcultural communication as a dialogic, steadily renewing, dynamic process with consideration of all individual, internal procedures and institutional influences of communication partners. Further, Löffelholz argued that transcultural communication sciences can- not leave classical culture and communication terms unconnected to each other. It is based on systems theory and constructivist thoughts. While the term transcultural communication is not well cited in English literature, the idea of looking at communi- cation as a process of creating culture, instead of suggesting the transport of values to another culture, seems useful not only because of the interpersonal background of the terminology.

2.2.2 Communication basics

The following subsection examines the key principles of interpersonal communication and relates it to culture-specific phenomenons. Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher Watzlawick et al. (1967, pp. 48-71) proposed five communication axioms, which will be analysed for their intercultural usability in the following paragraphs.

The impossibility of not communicating: Issues with this axiom arise especially in an intercultural context. Silence is interpreted differently depending on the culture. Even pauses in conversations are understood differently. While a pause of 20 seconds might seem embarrassing in a German culture, there are different rules in other cultures (Heringer 2004, p. 19).

The content and relationship level of communication: This axiom relates to the con- tent and relationship aspect of communication. While both aspects are relevant for intercultural communication, the importance of one or the other differs considerably, depending on cultural preferences. Heringer (2004, p. 20) also highlights the sequence in building intercultural relationships. In the German culture, content orientation is highly valued, whereas in other cultures the relationship aspects build the centre of communication.

The punctuation of the sequence of events: The sequence of communication and the subsequent missunderstandings are also relevant for intercultural communication. Heringer (2004, p. 21) highlights the importance of questions such as who is allowed to start a communication or what should be stated at the beginning and what at the end of a conversation.

Digital and analogical communication: This axiom corresponds to the communication media and the distinction between verbal (digital) and non-verbal (analog) communi- cation. According to Heringer (2004, p. 21) this axiom deals with questions such as what is allowed to be made explicit and verbalised in a culture and which parts need to be kept unspoken. Heringer proposes that even the classical facilitation approach of meta-communication, as a solution to communication issues, can be dangerous in an intercultural context.

Symmetrical and complementary interaction: Symmetrical interaction refers to equal distribution of options. Both participants try to avoid differences, which could relate to early phases in intercultural group facilitation (see also Section 3.2). However, an intercultural interaction can be defined as complementary by definition. Although participants in an intercultural conversation may try to act symmetrically, Heringer (2004, p. 22) states that often the question arises of which participant is worth more He also highlights the possibility of conflict escalations, especially if one person plays a dominant role in an interaction, or does not feel valued by the other person. More details on conflict escalation are given in Section 2.5.

Following this initial consideration of communication axioms in an intercultural con- text, in the next section communication models, as well as concepts of meaning and understanding, will be described. The focus is on verbal communication. Watzlawick et al. (1967, p. 21-22) suggests to divide human communication into syntactics⁸, se- mantics⁹ and pragmatics¹⁰. He focuses further on sender-receiver relations, mediated by communication. Additionally, this “communicational approach to the phenomena of human behaviour, both normal and abnormal, is based on the observable mani- festations of relationship in the widest sense, it is therefore, conceptually closer to mathematics than to traditional psychology” (Watzlawick et al. 1967, p. 22). It is not surprising that the underlying information theory is the mathematical theory of communication by Shannon & Weaver (1998). The so called Shannon-Weaver model refers to a well known mathematical expression, named ’Shannon’s formula’, calculating the channel capacity (C) of an information transmission channel:

Illustration not visible in this excerpt

’Shannon’s formula’ gives an expression for how many bits of information can be trans- mitted without error per second over a channel with a bandwidth of W Hz, when the average signal power is limited to P Watt, and the signal is exposed to an additive, white noise of power N with Gaussian probability distribution (Proakis & Salehi 2004, p. 637). For a communication engineer these concepts are crystal clear. Although Watzlawick’s pragmatics of human communication refer to mathematics, and human communication models refer to Shannon, it can not be taken for granted that the explanation of even one of Shannon’s basic formulas can be understood easily by all referencing disciplines. This is a further example in the area of cultural differences, of two disciplines referring to the same mathematical foundations.

Despite the simplification of Shannon’s transmission model in relation to communica- tion engineering¹¹, it shows the basic elements of human communication (see Figure 2.3a). The original model consists of six elements: i) the information source, which produces a message, ii) a transmitter, which encodes the message into signals, iii) a channel, to which signals are adapted for transmission, iv) a receiver, which decodes the message from the signal, v) the destination, where the message arrives and vi) the dysfunctional factor of noise, which interferes with the message travelling along the channel. Staehle (1999, p. 163) analyses the elements of human behaviour (see Figure 2.3b). External stimuli trigger human senses (e.g. eyes, ears, skin, brain) and stimulate receptors (e.g., retina, cochlea, mucosa). The stimulation of the autonomous and motor system through motives, expectations, abilities, etc., causes behavioural intentions which are reflected by effectors (e.g., muscles, sinews) and recognizable as a

Illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 2.3: Combination of communications’ and behavioural Models

reaction. Schulz von Thun (1981, p. 30) devised a communication model which becamepopular, especially in German speaking countries. It focuses on four sides of messages,namely factual information (data, facts), self-revealing (motives, values and emotionsof the sender), relationship (feelings and relationship between sender and receiver) andappeal (wish or command to act). This model is consistent with the second axiom ofWatzlawick et al. (1967, p. 51), that every communication has a content as well as arelationship aspect.

[...]

---

¹ The swastika, an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, is a symbol for the creator god Brahma and the god Surya (Sun) and is considered extremely holy and auspicious by all Hindus. It is used in Hindu temples, signs, altars, pictures and many more. Also in other cultures the symbol has mainly positive meanings, e.g. in the postwar US as a good luck or religious symbol. In Austria and Germany the public showing of the ’Hakenkreuz’, the swastika, is illegal and punishable according to the Law against Nazi Insignia. Even crossed-out swastikas, as a symbol of anti-fascists, are controversial symbols in Germany (hen, ddp, AP & dpa 15/03/2007).

¹ “Political units into which the entire world is divided and to one of which every human being is supposed to belong - as manifested by her or his passport” (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, p. 18).

² For more detailed information see Hall (1992).

³ The collected data was collected from IBM employees working in 72 of the company’s national subsidiaries, who followed 38 different occupations, and spoke 20 languages. More than 116,000 questionnaires were distributed, each with over 100 questions. For more detailed information see Hofstede & Hofstede (2005).

⁴ Detailed information on CVS results and this long- and short-term related dimension can be found in Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p. 207-240)

⁵ A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (Soanes & Stevenson 2005, p. 1734)

⁶ Personality types can be categorized, e.g. according to Baron (1998), Marston (1987) or even psychoanalytical categorisations, e.g. narcissistic, schizoid, depressive, obsession, hysterical (phallic and oedipal)

⁷ For more detailed information see also Gudykunst (2005)

⁸ Problems of transmitting information and domain of information theorists. Concerns are: problems of coding, channels, capacity, noise, redundancy and other statistical properties of language (Watzlawick et al. 1967, p. 21)

⁹ Deals with the meaning of words and symbols based on agreed conventions (Watzlawick et al. 1967,

p. 21).

¹⁰ Communication affects behaviour, which is referred as the pragmatic aspect (Watzlawick et al. 1967, p. 22).

¹¹ For more detailed information see Proakis & Salehi (2004, p. 21)