{"id":527,"date":"2013-01-18T17:32:50","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T15:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/02086ee2.kundenrechner.net\/?p=527"},"modified":"2014-01-16T08:14:16","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T07:14:16","slug":"intercultural-training-individualism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/intercultural-training-individualism\/","title":{"rendered":"Intercultural Training: Individualism, Communitarianism and the Toilet Brush"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living and working in an intercultural world and leading intercultural training means I have the chance to notice differences. One of the things I\u2019ve noticed in traveling between Germany and the US may strike you as odd but I think it helps make a point.\u00a0 When I visit the public WC in a German airport I notice that each stall has a toilet brush but in the US airports I\u2019ve visited, there isn\u2019t one.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Fons Trompenaars\u2019 cultural dilemma concepts of Individualism and Communitarianism from his Seven Dimensions of Culture may shed some light on the subject.<\/p>\n

In the business world<\/h3>\n

In business, a cultural tendency toward individualism means that the community exists to serve the needs of the individuals in it.\u00a0 If a community or group no longer serves the needs of an individual, it is more than understandable for an individual to leave and find a new group that will.<\/p>\n

A cultural tendency toward communitarianism is the opposite.\u00a0 Communitarianism holds that the needs of the individual are not as important as the needs of the group.\u00a0 Individuals are expected to sacrifice on behalf of the well being of the group.\u00a0 The amount of sacrifice expected varies from culture to culture.<\/p>\n

As with each of Trompenaars\u2019 seven dimensions, we are talking about the relative value tendencies of groups, not behavior differences of individuals. Naturally, there are people in more communitarian cultures who value individualism and vice-versa. But what does this have to do with toilet brushes in airport WC stalls?<\/p>\n

The toilet brush<\/h3>\n

My sense is the toilet brushes in German public WC stalls come from two things, low water toilets and the feeling of responsibility to the \u201cnext guy\u201d.\u00a0 A small expectation to clean could be based on the need to conserve water for the society and that the next guy has a right to expect a clean toilet bowl before use.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s not much of an inconvenience to take a few seconds to clean a toilet bowl in a public WC, yet in the airports I\u2019ve visited in the US, I\u2019m not expect to do it at all, hence no toilet brush.<\/p>\n

Comparatively, the US culture tends to value individualism far more than the German culture though both cultures value individualism compared to the world average.\u00a0\u00a0 But what\u2019s the \u201cSo what?\u201d to it all.\u00a0 If I need to influence someone from a more individualistic culture I may begin by noting the personal benefits and advantages of the new behavior or idea I bring up.\u00a0 If, on the other hand, I need to influence someone from a more communitarian culture, it would make sense to begin with the benefits of the new behavior or idea to the group.\u00a0 In a business with both cultural tendencies present, it may make sense to design policies and communication that appeal to both tendencies.<\/p>\n

Reconciling the differences offers businesses a chance to turn working across cultures into a corporate advantage rather than a cost of doing business.\u00a0 Please share your experiences on the topic in the comments area below.<\/p>\n

The focus on reconciliation is why Target Training integrates Trompenaars Hampden-Turner’s<\/a> experience <\/em>and research into our solutions<\/a>.\u00a0 Through reconciliation, clients will find better solutions to the intercultural\u00a0 problems they face.\u00a0 Target Training is a licensed supplier of\u00a0 Trompenaars-Hampden-Turner’s\u00a0 Intercultural Awareness Profile and Cultural Competence Online Products. Target Training provides intercultural training based on the Trompenaars\u2019 Seven Dimension Model alone and as part of business communication skills training.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living and working in an intercultural world and leading intercultural training means I have the chance to notice differences. One of the things I\u2019ve noticed in traveling between Germany and the US may strike you as odd but I think it helps make a point.\u00a0 When I visit the public WC in a German airport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intercultural-2","tag-intercultural"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIntercultural Training: Individualism, Communitarianism and the Toilet Brush<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the main aspects of intercultural training is how much importance people put on an individual vs the group. 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