Свишов культурные различия

1.

G LO B A L T E A M S
FIELD GUIDE
WORKING ACROSS
CULTURES

2.

Culture shapes how teams communicate, decide and trust
1 Primary culture sets default instinct
Communication cadence, feedback tolerance and work ethic originate largely in
national upbringing.
2 Unspoken friction vs deliberate strength
Without a shared vocabulary, unexamined norms cause friction; with mutual clarity,
diversity sharpens execution.
3 Two structural frameworks
Hofstede offers macroscopic societal benchmarks, while Meyer supplies calibrated
operational scales.

3.

Hofstede compares cultures across six dimensions
Geert Hofstede's foundational model maps national baselines across
six behavioral tensions, defining how authority, risk and community
operate in business.
DIMENSION
LOW POLE BENCHMARK
HIGH POLE BENCHMARK
Power Distance (PDI)
Egalitarian, flat access (e.g. Denmark, Israel)
Hierarchical, deference to status (e.g. Japan, India)
Individualism (IDV)
Collective obligation, team harmony (e.g. China)
Individual initiative, autonomy (e.g. United States)
Achievement & Success (MAS)
Quality of life, consensus, welfare (e.g. Sweden)
Competition, performance metrics (e.g. Germany)
Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
Tolerance for ambiguity, agile pivots (e.g. UK)
Rigid protocols, risk mitigation (e.g. France)
Long-Term Orientation (LTO)
Short-term ROI, quick returns (e.g. USA)
Generational persistence, horizon value (e.g.
China)
Indulgence vs Restraint (IVR)
Strict social control, duty-first (e.g. Russia)
Open expression, personal leisure (e.g. Mexico)

4.

Meyer's Culture Map turns culture into eight workplace scales
Erin Meyer’s work at INSEAD gives managers practical guidance. Each
culture falls between two poles on every scale.
Leading
Persuading
Evaluating
Communicating
Explicit, low-context vs implicit,
high-context.
Direct vs indirect negative
feedback.
Egalitarian vs hierarchical.
Theory first vs practical
application first.
Scheduling
Disagreeing
Trusting
Deciding
Consensual vs top-down.
Task-based vs relationshipbased.
Confrontational vs avoiding
confrontation.
Structured vs flexible.

5.

Communicating and evaluating: say it plainly, or read between the lines
The first two scales govern how information travels and how criticism
is received—the primary source of misunderstandings in remote
teams.
Scale 1: Communicating
Scale 2: Evaluating
Low Context vs High Context
Direct Negative Feedback vs Indirect
In low-context environments, good communication is precise, simple
and clear. In high-context cultures, messages are read between lines
and layered in context.
Americans speak explicitly but soften criticism with positive padding.
Dutch, French, Israeli and German colleagues deliver negative feedback
unvarnished.

6.

Leading and deciding: who has the final word
Hofstede's Power Distance splits into two distinct dimensions in
Meyer's model: how authority is expressed versus how choices are
finalized.
SCALE 4 · AUTHORITY STRUCTURE
SCALE 5 · ALIGNMENT MODEL
Leading: Egalitarian vs Hierarchical
Deciding: Consensual vs Top-Down
FLAT ARCHETYPES
Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden
CONSENSUAL
Japan, Sweden, Germany
HIERARCHICAL
Japan, Nigeria, India, China
TOP-DOWN
United States, China, Nigeria
WORKING RULE
Boss is a peer facilitator vs senior
director
DECISION PACE
PROTOCOL
Skip-level contact accepted vs line
breach
COMMITMENT
Deliberate up front, instant execution
Fast choice, iterative changes later

7.

Trusting, disagreeing and scheduling shape daily teamwork
Trusting
Disagreeing
TASK-BASED VS RELATIONSHIP-BASED
CONFRONTATIONAL VS HARMONY-PRESERVING
Task cultures (USA, Germany) build trust through reliable output.
Relationship cultures (Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia) build trust through
meals, shared time and personal connection.
French and German teams view intellectual friction as healthy rigour.
East Asian and Latin cultures view public dissent as a personal injury to
the group face.
Scheduling
Persuading
LINEAR-TIME VS FLEXIBLE-TIME
PRINCIPLES-FIRST VS APPLICATIONS-FIRST
Linear time (Germany, Switzerland) treats deadlines and agendas as
locked contracts. Flexible time (Nigeria, India, Italy) treats plans as
fluid guides adapting to emerging context.
Principles-first thinkers (France, Italy) demand the conceptual theory
before practical proof. Applications-first thinkers (USA, UK) demand
case studies and ROI before methodology.

8.

Four habits for working with international partners
Cross-cultural competence is not about memorizing stereotypes—it is
a repeatable operational discipline practiced in every sprint.
1
2
3
4
Map position
Adapt style
Confirm written
Baseline only
Locate yourself and
your partner across
the eight scales
before kick-off.
Flex your feedback
and debate
cadence rather
than judging theirs.
Follow every verbal
agreement with
concise, explicit
written recap
notes.
Treat cultural
models as
hypotheses, not
permanent
individual labels.