[MUSIC] Research by and are just one variant, one very well known. Way to describe cultural dimensions depending on the targets, the aim that researchers and professionals would have. They will use various degrees of granularity in their analysis and also various way to put together some parameters or some dimensions that they believe would go together. And now I would like to show you as an example, use as an example, of such an analysis a cultural orientations model parameters that we will be using to describe also the features of mapping. We'll be using for mapping features of Russian culture. This cultural orientations model is a trademark and this intellectual product of training management corporation. I have permission to use this material from them because I was working for them In their workshops and training seminars for people who work in Russia. Now they are part of Berlitz Languages, Inc, a global company. And by now they have elaborated their cultural orientations model in a more updated version of cultural orientations approach. And this article Joerg Schmitz and the hyperlink to this article on the web will be part of your home assignment. I suggest that you read this paper because it gives a very good account of how professional researchers approach this idea of culture analysis. So let's look at this module, cultural orientations model, the previous version that we are looking at now is, suggests that we look at culture as a wheel. A wheel is a nice cultural parameters as a wheel, because wheel is a nice image. It allows you to show not just different parts of the different sectors of this wheel, but it also will show you the spikes that in some way connect these dimensions. So here we're looking at, ten dimensions that are part of the sectors of the wheel. And this framework recognizes ten dimensions of culture. The numbers are just for easy reference, the numbers do not correspond to any ranking. But each cultural orientation, or each sector of this wheel, contains at least one, or more, continua. A continuum indicates a range between two or more cultural orientations. And so we can put individuals in there. In the way they behave and perform and cultures as a something that pertains to the group of individuals features on this continuum. For example, in the time dimension, in the time sector there is a continuum between fixed and fluid time. But also there are two other continua that we will be looking at in a moment. This cultural orientation's model, and the wheel that you've just seen on the screen, are actually used for creating an indicator. A cultural orientations indicator. Which is an assessment tool that TMC Training Management Corporation uses to map one's personal cultural profile on the basis of the dimensions in the cultural orientations model. This indicator is descriptive. It is not prescriptive. It just displays in an organized manner. Preference that people select while answering certain questionnaires that deal with the choices they would make, with other conditions being equal. It describes general preferences, not skills, not abilities, or any particular behaviors. And of course, it is restricted to work-related behaviors and situations. So it doesn't tell you how you behave when you are emotional, when you are with your dear ones. When you are close to someone. And of course, cultural orientations indicator is always subject to self validation. Because it is just an assessment instrument that can be used to To see how what are, where are you in the culture continua, where's your place? Because it will allow you, it will allow you later to find potential cultural gaps between you yourself and organization we're going to work or the culture of the country where you are planning to relocate. And also it allows to compare cultures of different groups, also to see where they have gaps or where they will be overlapping really well. Also this wheel is nice. These sectors are good because they will allow us to show how far from the center, from the center of the continua. The closer we are to the outer part of the wheel, the stronger we have this or that orientation. Not all individuals share this or that value to the same degree. So it is important to understand for various types of cultures where this or that dimension, this or that feature are presented in strong and very strong ways where they're manifested strongly. And because what this orientation indicator allows us to see, it allows us to see and to predict even social distance. Or the degree of comfort or discomfort that operates between individuals as a result of different values. And this can be used then for training and for overcoming potential cultural gaps. So a few words about these cultural orientation model dimensions, the ten dimensions of culture. Time. How individuals perceive the nature of time and its use. Is time a tangible resource, or is it an intangible concept that you don't sort of cut into certain pieces, certain chunks. Is it fixed of fluid? It means whether we have certain ideas about appointments, deadlines or we are more or less flexible about it. I won't go into the details of this now, because I would like to talk about the details of this continuing these orientations applying them to certain specific data from Russian culture. I will just mention those dimensions. Past, present, future orientations, which is more or less clear. And then single-focus or multitasking. They're also part of the time sector of the wheel. Next sector or next orientation is action. How individuals conceptualize actions and interactions and the continuum is between doing culture and being culture. The center of the orientation that deals with communication has a lot of continua in it. How individuals express themselves, do they do it high tech context or low context communication. Direct or indirect? Expressive or instrumental? Formal or informal? The issue of space, how individuals demarcate their physical and psychological space. How public or private this culture is in its various manifestations. The issue of power is very important. When speaking world Russian culture is probably the founding principle, that then kind of relates, gives resonance to certain other features of culture. Because they're related, as we say, using this metaphor, or the spikes in the wheel, power. How individuals view differential power, relationships, is this culture more about hierarchy or more about equality? The issue of individualism is a well known parameter or dimension that is used in describing cultures, how individuals define their identity. And there are two scales to continue to talk about. How individualistic or how collectivistic this culture is in various situations, in various types of behavior. And how universalistic or how particularistic are the rules that this culture applies to its members. Next orientation or next sector on the wheel is called competitiveness. And it is the, it is the label that follows from the various distinctions that by keep posted were first labeled as feminine or masculine cultures. But competitiveness is a good, a good label, a good term. This orientation tells us about how individuals are motivated. Are they motivated through competition, through the strive for success, or this culture promotes more cooperative attitudes between people, more helping between individuals. The last of few would be related to the way we think. Or the way we deal with the information. So the orientation which is called structure is about how individuals approach change, risk, ambiguity and uncertainty? It's of course not only about information but the way we take new information. The way we relate to the world about us in terms of order or flexibility, stability or ability to change without feeling too bad about change. No change is hard for any culture, thinking how individuals conceptualize. Would they prefer deductive or inductive style in education? This parameter is important for, for instance, comparing various educational system. And then the issue that we already looked at, when we're talking about clock on questionnaires and system. Environment, how individuals view and relate to the people, objects and issues in their sphere of influence? Do they try to control it, does culture praises and supports the idea of individuals being the master of objects and environment. Or is it more about harmony or the situation which they found themselves in dealing with environment is better described by the word constrain. [MUSIC]
