Fons Trompenaars

Alfons " Fons " Trompenaars (* 1952) is a Dutch scientist in the field of intercultural communication. He was a student of Geert Hofstede.

Life

Trompenaars grew up bilingual, since he had a French mother and a Dutch father. After studying economics at the University of Amsterdam in 1979 he was able to graduate with a EU grant a year studying at the Wharton Business School and the University of Pennsylvania. Finally he was able to convince Shell to fund him a doctoral fellowship from the Wharton Business School.

In 1983 he received his doctorate from the Wharton Business School with a thesis on " The Organization of Meaning and the Meaning of Organization" for Ph.D.. Subsequently, he began his career working for Shell, initially in the personnel department in Rotterdam, from 1985 in the staff development Shell research Laboratories in Amsterdam.

He then started his own business and worked as a manager and business consultant working in approximately nine countries. Today, he heads along with Charles Hampden -Turner, which specializes in cross-cultural issues management consulting firm. His other activities include his lectureship in Rotterdam and contributions he regularly writes for various newspapers. In addition, he has published several books on the subject of intercultural management and developed on the basis of works of Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall's theory to the analysis of cultural differences which are listed in his book Riding the waves of culture in the form of a description of seven dimensions of cultural differences will.

Trompenaars ' model

Definition of culture

Culture is a dynamic process of solving human problems / dilemmas in the following areas:

  • Human relations
  • Time
  • Nature

Trompenaars characterizes culture on the basis of an " onion skin model ": visible Outwardly, the " explicit culture" ( objects and products). This " explicit culture" is observable. Travelers take the goods and products by seeing, hearing and feeling true. For example, the skyline of New York is a product of American culture. Middle shell represent values ​​( defining a group, what is good and evil is ) and standards ( definition of a group what is right and wrong) represents a value of U.S. culture, for example, performance orientation, while harmony orientation is a core value in Asian cultures. at its core, the basic assumptions are about the existence of (implicit culture). between these planes there is a connection in the form, that the inner layers, the outer impact. Basic assumptions have an effect on the values ​​of a group, which in turn determine the articles and products of a culture.

What are the signs Culture

  • Language
  • Food culture
  • Architecture
  • Music
  • Clothing
  • Literature
  • Climate
  • Noise
  • Body contact

Cultural dimensions of the model Trompenaars'schen

As a result of an empirical study, he developed a model with seven dimensions of culture:

The first 5 dimensions regulate the " relationships with people ." They are:

  • " Universalism " vs. " Particularism "
  • " Neutrality " vs. " Emotionality "
  • " Individualism " vs.. " Collectivism "
  • " Specific " vs. " Diffuse"
  • " Power " vs. " Origin "

There are also two other dimensions:

  • " Seriality " vs. " Parallelism " ( dealing with a culture of the time)
  • " Internal control " vs. "External control" (handling of external nature and the environment)

Objectives of the Inter- Communication Theory

It should be recognized by the seven criteria discrepancies in terms of culture, understood and reconciled. Ideally want a transcultural competence be achieved. It is important to know especially the stereotypes of different cultures and deal with it.

According to Trompenaars cross-cultural competence is the ability to bring seemingly opposite values ​​in line.

Works

  • Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. Random House Business Books, 1993, ISBN 0-85058-428-0.
  • Business Worldwide. The path to intercultural management. Murmann Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-938017-05-8.
  • Edgar H. Schein, Charles Hampden -Turner, among others: Cross-cultural management text book: Lessons from the world leading experts. Lexington 2012, ISBN 978-1-4791-5968-0.
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Social relation Integrated Authority File
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