![]() The behaviour of different cultures may appear less foreign and possibly less threatening with an understanding of their particular worldviews, motivations, religious beliefs, attitudes to rules, and other cultural orientations. It is difficult to make sense of the ‘visible’ aspects of a culture without understanding the ‘invisible’, underlying elements from which they originate. Similarly, culture and behaviors have both visible and invisible components. Often, up to 90 of an iceberg’s actual area remains hidden underwater. An iceberg has visible parts on the surface of the water and invisible parts that are underwater. The portion below the surface stands for those elements which are not as obvious such as values, beliefs and attitudes. The term ‘Iceberg Model of Culture’ is inspired by the icebergs found in polar seas. Elements of culture which we can easily notice such as clothing, language, gestures, food, music or rituals are represented by the upper portion of the iceberg. ![]() The image of the iceberg with its small visible part on the surface of the water and the much bigger invisible part below the surface illuminates the different layers of culture. The so-called iceberg model of culture is often used by scholars, trainers and managers in order to elucidate the concept of culture. When we hear about Germany, several different pictures come to our minds: the Oktober-fest, Lederhosen, beer, Beethoven and Bach, high quality cars, Schloss Neuschwanstein, World War II as well as the difficulty to get into closer contact with the German people. Intercultural training can help to understand the different layers of culture and their significance.īenefits of Intercultural Training The Iceberg Model Therefore, careful analysis and a better understanding of the different layers as well as how they interact and influence each other is necessary. Halls Cultural Iceberg Model the culture of a society is compared to an iceberg only 10 - 15 of the iceberg and thus the culture is visible to us. As the most hidden layer, these aspects of culture are much harder to recognise and understand, but all of the other layers are built upon the centre of the culture onion. Finally, the level that is the hardest to understand is the bottom of the pyramid. ![]() It includes company goals, strategies and philosophies that drive a company’s mission. Values include the why behind why a company operates the way they do. The middle of the onion represents the underlying cultural assumptions and values. Right below the top of the iceberg, in the middle of his cultural pyramid is the values level. The next layer encompasses the beliefs, norms and attitudes of that culture. ![]() Culture can be broken down into layers: The outer layers are composed of the artefacts and products as well as patterns of behaviour. The image of an onion is often used to describe the different layers of culture. ![]()
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