Recent economic globalization has lead to large scale cross cultural contacts and communications. Every group, region and nation has its own distinct cultural characteristic and it is important to be aware and understand cultural differences amongst various groupings so as to ensure success of business relationships and dealings. For the purpose of our study and analysis, nations have been considered as the cultural unit.
Culture has been variously defined by different management gurus. Essentially, it can be said to be a pattern of shared values and norms amongst a group of people. A nation's culture can be understood as having multiple levels or layers and there are many theories in this regard by various management scholars. Ice berg model, one of the more important theory, describes culture as having two levels, a visible tip which manifests in art, customs, outward behavior, etc. and an invisible dimension comprising beliefs, attitudes, values, etc.
Every culture has its distinct traits which makes it different from all others. Hofstede has perhaps best explained the degree of cultural differences amongst various national groupings by developing a model comprising five cultural dimensions. These have been discussed in detail in the main paper and enable us to understand various cultural characteristics on a common scale.
Effective cross cultural communication requires understanding of certain essentials, such as, knowing and modulating one's own behavior, developing certain required personal traits and honing verbal and non verbal communication skills. It is important to know and appreciate other people's culture and also try to look at your own culture through the eyes of the other. A cross cultural exchange may often involve meetings, negotiations, dinin ...