Fons trompenaars

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

Life

Trompenaars grew up bilingual because he had a French mother and a Dutch father. After studying economics at the University of Amsterdam , he was able to complete a year-long study visit at the Wharton Business School and the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 with an EU grant . Eventually he was able to convince Shell to finance him a PhD scholarship at the Wharton Business School.

In 1983 he received his PhD from the Wharton Business School with a thesis on "The Organization of Meaning and the Meaning of Organization" for Ph.D. He then started working for Shell, initially in the HR department in Rotterdam, and from 1985 in HR development at the Shell research laboratories in Amsterdam.

He then went into business for himself and worked as a manager and management consultant in around nine countries. Today, together with Charles Hampden-Turner, he runs the management consultancy that specializes in intercultural issues. His other areas of activity include his guest lectureship in Rotterdam and articles that he regularly writes for various newspapers. Furthermore, he published several books on the subject of intercultural management and developed a theory for the analysis of cultural differences based on the works of Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall , which is reproduced in his book Riding the waves of culture in the form of a description of seven dimensions of cultural differences becomes.

Trompenaars' model

Definition of culture

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

• human relationships
• time
• nature

Trompenaars characterizes culture using an "onion skin model": the "explicit culture" (objects and products) is visible from the outside. This “explicit culture” is observable. Travelers perceive the objects and products by seeing, hearing and feeling. For example, the New York skyline is a product of US culture. The middle bowl represents values (definition of a group what is good and bad) and norms (definition of a group what is right and wrong). At its core are the basic assumptions about existence (implicit culture). There is a connection between these levels in the form that the inner levels influence the outer levels. Basic assumptions have an effect on the values ​​of a group, which in turn determine the objects and products of a culture.

How culture expresses itself

• language
• Food culture
• architecture
• music
• dress
• literature
• climate
• noise
• Body contact

Cultural dimensions of the Trompenaars model

As a result of an empirical study, he developed a model with 7 cultural dimensions :

The first 5 dimensions regulate “relationships with people” . They are:

• "Universalism" vs. "Particularism"

Which is more important - rules or relationships?

• "Neutrality" vs. "Emotionality"

Are we showing our emotions?

• "Individualism" vs. "Collectivism"

Do we function in a group or as an individual?

• "Specificity" vs. "Diffusity"

How much do we participate in public life?

• "Performance" vs. "Origin"

Do we have to develop a status for ourselves or is this given to us?

There are also two other dimensions:

• "Seriality" vs. "Parallelism" (how a culture deals with time)

Do we do things at the same time or one after the other?

• "Internal control" vs. "External control" (dealing with external nature and the environment)

Do we try to control our environment or do we work with it?

Goals of intercommunication theory

The seven criteria are intended to recognize, understand and harmonize discrepancies on a cultural level. Ideally, a transcultural competence should be achieved in this way. It is particularly important to know and deal with the stereotypes of the individual cultures.

According to Trompenaars, transcultural competence is the ability to reconcile seemingly opposing values.

Works

• Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. Random House Business Books, New York, 1993, ISBN 0-85058-428-0 .
• Business worldwide. The way to intercultural management . Murmann Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-938017-05-8 .
• with Edgar H. Schein, Charles Hampden-Turner and others: Cross-cultural management textbook: Lessons from the world leading experts. Lexington 2012, ISBN 978-1-4791-5968-0 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Fons Trompenaars in the catalog of the German National Library
• Trompenaars' and Hampden-Turner's cultural factors (eng.)
• Website of Trompenaar's company
• Scientific site with an overview and description of the cultural dimensions of trompenaars