Common Cultural Characteristics

Understanding culture in organizational settings begins with recognizing the commonalities that many cultures share, even across different regions or industries. These characteristics—such as values around time, power, or uncertainty —can influence how people work, communicate, and solve problems together. This section will break down several core cultural dimensions to help you navigate diverse professional environments better. Groups come together, form cultures, and grow apart across time. How do you become a community member, and when will you be a full member? What aspects of culture do people have in common, and how do they relate to business communication? Researchers who have studied cultures worldwide have identified specific characteristics that define a culture. These characteristics are expressed differently but are present in nearly all cultures.

Rites of Initiation

Cultures often have rituals for welcoming new members. A newcomer starts as a nonentity, a stranger, an unaffiliated person with no connection or even possibly awareness of the community. Newcomers who stay around and learn about the culture become members. Most cultures have a rite of initiation that marks the passage of the individual within the community; some of these rituals may be so informal as to be hardly noticed (e.g., the first time a coworker asks you to join the group to eat lunch together), while others may be highly formalized (e.g., the ordination of clergy in a religion). The nonmember becomes a member, the new member becomes a full member, and individuals rise in responsibility and influence.

Across the course of your life, you have no doubt passed several rites of initiation but may not have noticed them. Did you earn a driver’s license, register to vote, or acquire permission to purchase alcohol? In North American culture, these three common markers indicate the transition from one stage of life to another, accompanied by new rights and responsibilities. Rites of initiation mark the transition of an individual’s role or status within the group. Your first day on the job may have been challenging as you learned your way around the physical space, but the true challenge was learning how the group members communicate with each other. Suppose you graduate with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In that case, you will have already passed a series of tests, learned key terms and theories, and possess a symbol of accomplishment in your diploma, but that only grants you the opportunity to look for a job and seek access to a new culture.

In every business, there are groups, power struggles, and unspoken ways that members earn their way from the role of a “newbie” to that of a full member. The newbie may be assigned the tough account, the office without a window, or the cubicle next to the bathroom, which denotes low status. As the new member learns to navigate the community, establish a track record, and is promoted, they pass the rite of initiation and acquire new rights and responsibilities. Over time, the person becomes an integral part of the business, a “keeper of the flame.” The “flame” may not exist in physical space or time, but it does exist in the minds of those members of the community who have invested time and effort in the business. It is not a flame to be trusted to a new person, as it can only be earned with time. Along the way, there may be personality conflicts, power struggles over resources, and perceived scarcity (e.g., there is only one promotion and everyone wants it). All these challenges are to be expected in any culture.

Common History and Traditions

Think briefly about the history of a business like Domino’s Pizza. What are your associations with Domino’s? What is the relationship between sports, school parties, social gatherings, pizza, and soda? Traditions form as the organization grows and expands, and stories are told and retold to educate new members on how business should be conducted. The history of every culture and every corporation influences the present. There are times when the phrase “we’ve tried that before” can become a stumbling block for organization members as it grows and adapts to new market forces. There may be struggles between members who have weathered many storms and new members who come armed with new educational perspectives, technological tools, or experiences that may contribute to growth.

Common Values and Principles

Cultures all hold values and principles commonly shared and communicated from older members to younger (or newer) ones. Time and length of commitment are associated with an awareness of these values and principles, so new members, whether socialized at home, in school, or at work, may not have a thorough understanding of their importance.

Common Purpose and Sense of Mission

Cultures share a common sense of purpose and mission. Why are we here, and whom do we serve? Philosophers and theologians have pondered these fundamental questions of the human condition for centuries. In business, the answers to these questions often address purpose and mission, and they can be found in the mission and vision statements of almost every organization. Individual members will be expected to acknowledge and share the mission and vision, actualize them, or make them real through action. Without action, the mission and vision statements are simply words. As a guide to individual and group behavioral norms, they can serve as a powerful motivator and a call to action. For example, Mod Pizza’s purpose statements include: 

Based on these two statements, employees might expect a culture of inclusion and positivity as core to their work. What might those concepts mean in your everyday work if you were part of Mod Pizza’s “culture?”

Common Symbols, Boundaries, Status, Language, and Rituals

Many people learn early in life what a stop sign represents, but not everyone knows what a ten-year service pin on a lapel, or a corner office with two windows, means. Cultures have common symbols that mark them as a group; the knowledge of what a symbol stands for helps to reinforce who is a group member and who is not. Cultural symbols include dress, such as the Western business suit and tie. Symbols include slogans or sayings, such as “With great power comes great responsibility” or “The Happiest Place on Earth”. The slogan may serve a narrative or marketing purpose, but also embrace a mission or purpose within the culture. Family crests and clan tartan patterns serve as symbols of affiliation. Symbols can also be used to communicate rank and status within a group. Space is another common cultural characteristic; it may be a nonverbal symbol representing status and power. In most of the world’s cultures, a person occupying superior status is entitled to a physically elevated position—a throne, a dais, a podium from which to address subordinates. Subordinates may be expected to bow, curtsy, or lower their eyes as a sign of respect. The corner office may offer the best view with the most space in a business. Movement from a cubicle to a private office may also symbolize a transition within an organization, involving increased responsibility and power. Parking spaces, the kind of vehicle you drive, and your transportation allowance may also communicate symbolic meaning within an organization.

The office serves as a venue for our discussion on the second point concerning boundaries. Would you sit on your boss’s desk or sit in their chair with your feet up on the desk in their presence? Most people indicate that they would not, as doing so would communicate a lack of respect, violate normative space expectations, and invite retaliation. Still, subtle challenges to authority may arise in the workplace. A less-than-flattering photograph of the boss at the office party posted to the recreational room bulletin board communicates more than a lack of respect for authority. By anonymously placing the image in public, the prankster communicates a challenge, even if it is juvenile. Movement from the cubicle to the broom closet may result from someone who is found responsible for the prank. Again, no words are used to communicate meaning; only symbols are used, but those symbols represent significant issues. Communities have their vocabulary and ways of speaking. Consider the person who uses a sewing machine to create a dress and the accountant behind the desk; both are professionals who have specialized jargon unique to their field. If they were to change places, the lack of skills would present an obstacle, but the lack of understanding of terms, how they are used, and what they mean would also severely limit their effectiveness. Those terms and their usage are learned over time and through interaction. While a textbook can be helpful, it cannot demonstrate its use in live interactions. Cultures are dynamic systems that reflect the communication process itself.

Cultures celebrate heroes, denigrate villains, and have specific ways of completing jobs and tasks. The emphasis may be on effectiveness and efficiency in business and industry, but the practice can often be “because that is how we have always done it.” Rituals guide our performance and behavior and may be limited to small groups or celebrated across the company. Rituals can serve to bind a group together or to constrain it. Institutions tend to formalize processes, only to have difficulty adapting to new circumstances. While the core values or mission statement may remain intact, the method of doing things that once worked may no longer be as successful as it once was. Adaptation and change can be challenging for individuals and companies, yet all communities, cultures, and communication contexts are dynamic, constantly evolving. As much as we might like things to stay the same, they will always change—and we will change with (and be changed by) them. All cultures share characteristics such as initiation rites, traditions, history, values, principles, purpose, symbols, and boundaries.

Engaging Culturally Mindful Interactions

Admittedly, cultural competence requires a significant amount of work and practice. Even if you’re not culturally competent, you can engage with people from other cultures mindfully. Shauna Shapiro and Linda Carlson (2017) introduced us to the three-component model of mindfulness: attention, intention, and attitude. First, when engaging with people from other cultures, we need to be fully present in the moment and not dwell on previous interactions with individuals from that culture or potential future interactions. Instead, focusing on the person you are interacting with is essential. You should also be aware of the stereotypes and prejudices you may hold about people from different cultures. Don’t try to find evidence to support or negate these stereotypes or prejudices. If you focus on evidence-finding, you’re just trying to satisfy your thoughts and feelings and not mindfully engaging with this other person. Also, if you find that your mind is shifting, recognize the shift and allow yourself to re-center on your interaction with the other person.

Second, enter an intercultural interaction with a clear intention. If you want to learn more about that person’s culture, that’s a great intention. However, that may not be our only intention when interacting with someone from another culture. For example, you may be interacting with someone from another culture because you’re trying to sell them a product you represent. If your primary intention is sales, be aware of your intention and avoid deceiving yourself into thinking it’s something more altruistic. Lastly, all intercultural interactions should be conducted with the right attitude. Remember, the goal of mindfulness is to be open, kind, and curious. Although we often discuss mindfulness in terms of how we can be open, kind, and interested with ourselves, it’s also essential to extend that same framework when we interact with people from other cultures. Much of a mindful relationship is about embodying the right attitude during our interactions with others.

Overall, the goal of mindful intercultural interactions is to be present in the moment nonjudgmentally. When you face judgments, recognize them and ask yourself where they originated. Interrogate those judgments. At the same time, don’t judge yourself for having these ideas. Suppose we have stereotypes about another specific culture. In that case, it’s essential to recognize these stereotypes, call them out, understand their origins, and examine them for factual accuracy.