Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

parts, with individual point decision making at an operational level and 
single sign- offs. In other words, they had become much more culturally 
flexible and no longer conformed to their national default style in what is 
seen as an essential feature of Japanese management practice.
Summary
Cultural profiling is a useful tool to help identify cultural styles and 
preferences and potential difficulties when dealing with people of other 
cultures.
The key factor in cross- cultural interaction is sensitivity to other cultures. 
Cultural ‘fault lines’ are introduced as indicators of possible areas where 
sensitivity might be needed, while emphasizing the need to avoid stereo-
typing.
The comparison of key personality traits and the cross- cultural application 
of personality testing is carried out using various profile models, includ-
ing the DISC profile and
computer- generated, graphic and animated 
profiling models.
It should be clear from the above discussion that cultural profiling in itself 
is not an assured criterion of adaptability to a particular environment, 
social or business milieu but a useful guide. However, there is considerable 
value in using cultural profiling as a guide to identifying areas of special 
support needed in pre- departure or pre- project education and training. It is 
also a useful tool in analysing and repairing communication and relation-
ship breakdowns when projects or international assignments go wrong.
Finally,
cross- cultural profiling is probably more suitable as a
pre-
assignment or in- project education and training tool than being used by 
itself as a definitive recruitment assessment tool.
References
Cattell, H. and Mead, A. (2008) ‘The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire 16PF’ 
in Boyle, G., Matthews, G. and Saklofske, D. (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Personality 
Theory and Assessment in Personality Measurement and Testing, vol. 2 (Los Angeles, 
CA: Sage Publications).
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Cultural Profiling and Classification 273
Cattell, R. (1946) The Description and Measurement of Personality (New York: World 
Books).
Huntington, S. (1993) The Clash of Civilizations (New York: Free Press).
Martston, W. (1928) The Emotions of Normal People (London: Paul, Trench and 
Trubner).
Morrison, T. (1991) Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands (New York: Abrams Media).
Ronen, S. and Shenkar, O. (1985) ‘Clustering Countries in Attitudinal Dimensions: 
A Review and Synthesis’, Academy of Management Review 10(3): 435–54.
Spony, G. (2006) FUTURETOBE www.futuretobe.net.
Tomalin, B and Nicks. M. (2010) The World’s Business Cultures and How to Unlock Them 
(London: Thorogood Publishing).