The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Coaching: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: TROMPENAARS AND HAMPDEN-TURNER

According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998), culture operates at essentially three different levels:

1. National or ethnic

2. Organizational or corporate

3. Functions within an organization

At each of these levels, one can look at the following three aspects of culture: relationships, time, and environment. Particular characteristics can be assessed on a continuum, with each variable at opposite ends of the scale. These dimensions of cultural differences are not intended to label or discriminate but rather to allow for learning and understanding of the similarities and differences across cultures. The first five of these aspects of culture concern relationships; the next two are ...