Developing Cross Cultural Decision-Making Skills

Decision making is a key part of all business practices, and it is part of every person’s life. We make all kinds of decisions as we participate in work and life. A Western approach may be to use logic to consider the situation, assess alternatives and then systematically selects the “best-fitting” solution. However, in cross cultural situations, what is “logical” to one person may be “circular” to others, or vice versa. And the methods and processes used in decision making are highly affected by culture.

Most people will tell you that they really do one of the following when they make decisions: They work incrementally, in small steps, rather than performing a single powerful analysis. They create simple rules of thumb that simplify the decision-making process. They choose a plausible alternative early on rather than continuing to look for the “best-fit” alternative over a long period of time.

They procrastinate, they panic, and sometimes they avoid the decision altogether. Interestingly enough, it is these characteristics that are consistent across cultures — not those of the typical rational process. Most decisions that involve cross cultural scenarios are highly complex, and culture influences how people attempt to simplify this complexity. Hofstede’s dimensions of cultural differences can also be used to understand the foundation of decision making across cultures. All six of Hofstede’s national cultural dimensions have their own influence on decision making in different cultures.