Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

The cultural assimilator
The cultural assimilator was originally defined by Fiedler, Mitchell and 
Triandis (1971) as: ‘A programme learning technique that is designed to 
expose members of one culture to some of the basic concepts, attitudes, role 
perceptions, customs and values of another culture.’ Scenarios include situ-
ations where people from one culture are required to interact with those of 
another culture where a clash of cultures might occur, for example, in taking 
part in a meeting, in negotiations, in the use of body language or in giving a 
presentation. The use of the cultural assimilator is a more developed method 
than the cultural capsule. Usually two different cultures can be compared and 
contrasted – for example, the British and the Italian styles of communication, 
the contrasting use of body language, tempo and display of emotion.
The incident should, whenever possible, be first piloted with those who 
have relevant and recent experience of the culture to ensure its accuracy 
and suitability. Those taking part are presented with a number of alternative 
choices and are required to select what they consider to be the most appro-
priate cultural response to the situation. If a correct solution is given, the 
student can move on to the next situation. If an incorrect solution is pro-
posed, the student is then requested to reconsider and make another choice 
from the alternatives. The incorrect answers must be sufficiently plausible 
alternatives so as not to be quickly rejected.
An example is given below.
premature and the Chinese would expect the Sales Manager himself to 
stay and not just leave his assistant to oversee matters. This shows disres-
pect as the Chinese place great store on hierarchy and seniority.
This may happen to you!
You are a businessman with an appointment in one of the Gulf states 
for 10.00 am with Mr Al- Saeedi, your business counterpart. You have 

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Teaching Cross- Cultural Communication 283
arranged the meeting to discuss your business proposal in more detail. 
You are concerned to arrive on time and you play safe by arriving at 
09.55 am. You are greeted by his personal assistant and told that he will 
arrive shortly. You accept a cup of coffee in the ante- room to his office. 
Your next appointment is not until 11.30 in the same building, so you 
are not yet particularly concerned.
At 10.25 am, Mr Al- Saeedi arrives and apologizes, and you are ushered 
into his office and offered more coffee. After exchanging a few social 
pleasantries, you anticipate being able to get down to business. However, 
his personal assistant enters and he and Mr Al- Saeedi discuss something 
of apparent importance in Arabic. Mr Al- Saeedi again apologizes and 
enters into a long telephone conversation, again in Arabic.
At 10.40 am, you resume your conversation with Mr Al- Saeedi, who 
seems more interested in talking about your family, the weather in the 
UK and his son, who is studying in London.
At 10.50 am, his personal assistant again enters, this time with 
correspondence to be signed.
At 10.55 am, there is another telephone call, this time from his brother 
in Riyadh. You are now beginning to feel annoyed and anxious, and keep 
looking at your watch. You remind Mr Al- Saeedi gently that you have 
another meeting scheduled for 11.30 am. He smiles and tells his personal 
assistant to phone to say you will be arriving soon. You continue your 
meeting, which is very amicable, but you do not seem to have made any 
agreement yet to do business. Mr Al- Saeedi insists that he takes you to 
dinner at a top restaurant that evening.
You eventually move on to your next appointment, realizing that the 
Arab concept of time is very different from yours. In the event, the fact 
that you have been invited to dinner is a very encouraging sign that you 
are building a good personal relationship with Mr Al- Saeedi, which bodes 
well for future successful business.
This scenario can be discussed with the group and the attitude towards 
time in the two cultures (monchronic and polychronic can be empha-
sized). It also says much about schedules and punctuality, and the fact 
that Mr Al- Saeedi has a more relaxed approach to business meetings, 
which for him in the initial stages are more concerned with building 
trust and personal relationships.