ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on four lenses that are helpful in teasing out cultural insights in global business settings: contrasting values, context, metaphors, and change. It explains the contrasting value systems, such as individual versus collective or egalitarian versus hierarchical, and how they influence the conduct of global business. The chapter also distinguishes between high context versus low context societies and how they affect the process of cross-cultural communication. Key strengths of the bipolar, dimensional approach lie "in its clarity and consistency" and in "juxtaposing one culture against another to facilitate cross-cultural comparisons". The chapter also talks about the individual-collective dimension and explains how it plays out in collective-oriented cultures. Collectivism can be harnessed to improve business outcomes. Microfinance has been a successful strategy assisting low-income entrepreneurs to launch their own businesses. The change orientation dimension incorporates a mix of elements related to uncertainty, ambiguity, risk, structure, flexibility, and change.
