This white paper compares the major cross-cultural models and their usability in a business context. There are several models to choose from, but our research and work with clients in the field indicates that the Universal Consensus Business Model of Intercultural Analysis (BMIA™) has among the strongest applicability for enhancing global business performance.

1. Consulting
Global Transformation Services
A Critical Analysis of Mainstream
Assessment Models in a
Cross-Cultural Context
White Paper
David Sult
February 2013
A Critical Analysis of Mainstream Assessment Models in a
Cross-Cultural Context White Paper 1

2. Table of Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................................... 3
Our Point of View ............................................................................ 4
Cross-Cultural Models......................................................................... 5
GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures ............................ 5
Cultural Types – The Lewis Model......................................... 6
Trompenaars’ 7 Dimensions of Culture ................................ 7
Business Model of Intercultural Analysis (BMIA) .................. 8
Organizational Culture Model ......................................................... 9
Personality/Self-Assessment Models.................................................. 10
Facet5 – Five Factor Model ................................................. 11
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) .................................... 12
Summary of Models ...................................................................... 13
Conclusion ..................................................................................... 14
A Critical Analysis of Mainstream Assessment Models in a
Cross-Cultural Context White Paper 2

3. Executive Summary Through the course of organization restructuring and global expansion
consulting assignments with clients in the field over the last 20 years,
ranging from Fortune 500 to mid-sized companies across a variety of
industries, we have seen time and again that a holistic approach to
organization design is required to achieve and sustain optimum business
performance. As globalization of companies from all regions of the world
(not just the United States) has increased through a variety of expansion
models (i.e., acquisition, joint venture, “greenfield” business
development), the importance of understanding and incorporating the
cross-cultural dimensions of different nations into the operating model
and organization design has become absolutely essential. Given the
depth of experience and empirical research that has been applied to this
topic, companies expanding their global footprint into new and different
geographies now have a choice of whether to “learn as you go” or
“anticipate and orchestrate.” For those companies concerned with
achieving their revenue and market share growth targets in the
timeframes forecast in their business models, minimizing organization
development cost, and minimizing human capital risk, the choice is in
most cases clear.
This white paper compares the major cross-cultural models and their
usability in a business context. There are several models to choose from,
but our research and work with clients in the field indicates that the
Universal Consensus Business Model of Intercultural Analysis (BMIA™)
has among the strongest applicability for enhancing global business
performance. Of all the models we have worked with and/or researched,
the BMIA™ framework is objective-centric, rather than ethno-centric,
addresses operational and communication issues, addresses both
individual and performance optimization across cultures, and is
purposefully results-driven. For this reason, we find it offers the most
value in a business-environment and has been adopted as an important
resource within our M&A and organization transformation consulting
methodology. The only other cross-cultural models that we rated as
“high” business applicability had flaws that are disconcerting or
complexities in usage that run counter to our pragmatic business
orientation. For example, the Lewis Model is somewhat limited in its
scope and applicability outside of its communications dimensions; and
the 7 Dimensions Model is very advanced, but lacks clarity and ease of
use necessary to be useful to most of our clients.
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4. Our Point of View Before moving on to the comparison of the major cross-cultural models
and their usability for the purpose of improving business performance, it
may be useful to provide the business context underlying our point of
view. Our Organization Transformation engagements align the
organization design of the company to achieve targeted and sustained
business results. Within the context of organization transformation a core
set of activities in a business are to design and align the organization
design to the strategy and operating model of the enterprise. Our holistic
model of organization design, well known to our clients but perhaps new
to other readers of this paper, is shown below:
Business Drivers, Organization
Culture Realize
Strategy & Design
Group Business
Operating Context and Alignment Impact
values &
beliefs
Culture
Situation (Company) Benefit
Analysis
Company’s Increased /
Analysis
Internal Factors Organization Govern- Improved
- Vision, Mission, ance & - Growth
Structure - Customer
Values Decision
- Operating Satisfaction
Rights - Integrated Ops
Principles
- Business Structure Quality
and Strategy - Efficiency
- EE. Engagement
Culture
Culture
Company’s Talent
External - Org. Structure that is
Environment effective in enabling
- Market Share / Business Inform- the business strategy
Positioning Processes ation in an efficient
- Customer Insight & Systems flow manner
- Competitive - Ensuring availability
Dynamics of the right talent for
- Gov. Influence the right role at the
- Sensitivity to Culture right time
Economic Env. (Country)
Our talent centric point of view on organization design goes beyond the
“lines and boxes” to consider the inter-related elements of organization
structure, governance and decision making, information flow, business
processes, talent (leaders, managers, workforce), and culture. The
attributes and implications of company cultures in organization design
have been developed through years of work in the field. Our assessment
instruments, analytic tools, and high performing benchmark databases
are mature and quite effective in the context of M&A integration, joint
ventures, restructuring, and business model innovation. It is only in the
last several years that we have purposefully segmented culture and
implications to organization design and transformation into two
components: company culture and country culture.
The multi-cultural realities and challenges confronting organizations
when expanding into new regions and countries are significant. As this
dimension of organization performance has increased in frequency and
relevance, the imperative to systematically and effectively address these
attributes in organization design has increased. The balance of this paper
summarizes the findings of our field experience and research on this
specific dimension of organization design and performance.
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5. Cross-Cultural Models Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Description
Geert Hofstede, a Dutch cultural anthropologist, did a seminal cultural
study among 116,000 IBM employees in the early 1980s. He surveyed
employees across international IBM offices and found that he could map
national culture along four dimensions. Hofstede rated 40 countries on
each dimension on a scale from 1 to 100. The dimensions were:
- Power Distance (PDI)
- Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)
- Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)
- Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
A fifth dimension, Long-Term Orientation (LTO), was added in 1991 based
on further research by Michael Bond who conducted an additional
international study among students.
Business Applicability
Hofstede’s model has significant scientific backing and a huge survey
population, but the work is very specific to IBM – the tech industry and
the corporate culture at IBM. Nearly 3 decades have passed since
Hofstede (1980) collected the data used to classify countries by their
underlying work-related structures, and much has changed in cultural
classifications. As an anthropological model, Hofstede’s research is the
basis for many subsequent models, but as a stand-alone tool, it provides
limited business relevant insight.
GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures
Description
Begun in 1993, the Global Leadership & Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) framework is an ongoing research program using
data from 825 organizations in 65 countries. Rather than replacing
Hofstede’s model, it expanded it. The output is similar to Hofstede but
with more dimensions added – the dimensions were:
- Assertiveness
- Future orientation
- Gender differentiation
- Uncertainly avoidance
- Power distance
- Individualism / collectivism
- In-group collectivism
- Performance orientation
- Humane orientation
Business Applicability
This is also a scientific and anthropological model, not necessarily tied to
business objectives and performance. It added some additional
dimensions and provided an updated measure of where countries rate on
each dimension.
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6. Cultural Types – The Lewis Model
Background
Richard D. Lewis is a British linguist, cross-cultural communication
consultant, and author. He has developed a model that puts cultures on
three dimensions: linear-active, multi-active, and reactive.
Business Applicability
Lewis’ model is relatively comprehensive and good for an initial overview
of where cultures fall on each axis. Unlike Hofstede and the GLOBE
model, it does not require reading of multiple uncorrelated dimensions. It
has most applicability in understanding cross-cultural communications,
but limited usefulness in other areas. Being high-level, it is somewhat
restrictive, which stops it from providing the full spectrum cross-cultural
factors, and it may be too limited to help provide useful business
optimization insight.
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7. Trompenaars’ 7 Dimensions of Culture
Background
The Seven Dimensions of Culture were identified by management
consultants Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner, and the
model was published in their 1997 book, "Riding the Waves of Culture."
Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner developed the model after spending
10 years researching the preferences and values of people in dozens of
cultures around the world. As part of the study, they surveyed more than
46,000 managers in 40 countries.
The dimensions are:
- Universalism versus particularism
- Individualism versus communitarianism
- Specific versus diffused
- Neutral versus emotional
- Achievement versus ascription
- Sequential time versus synchronous time
- Inner direction versus outer direction
Business Applicability
The model is very comprehensive with significant data to back it up.
Although the model was developed for business application, it is highly
complex. The model is most useful as a general guide when dealing with
people from different cultures. As with previous models, it distinguishes
the differences between cultures, but provides no recommendations on
how to solve cultural disconnects.
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8. Business Model of Intercultural Analysis (BMIA)
Background
The BMIA model has been developed over the last two decades by
Denise Pirrotti Hummel, J.D., a cross-cultural business thought-leader and
the CEO of Universal Consensus, a cross-cultural management consulting
and training firm. The model is objective-centric (focused on the business
objective at hand), rather than ethnocentric. It has been developed,
empirically tested, rolled out, and honed by working with global
corporations and organizations globally. It assesses cross-cultural issues
on an individual and organizational level through six comprehension
lenses that are robust, interconnected, and result in sustainable
transformation. The model has an assessment, awareness, and
optimization component to it.
The lenses of the BMIA model are:
- Cultural Themes
- Glocalization
- Group Dynamics
- Process Engineering
- Time Orientation
- Communication
Business Applicability
The BMIA framework is in the top tier of business oriented cross-cultural
models of all those compared, as it focuses on both awareness and
business optimization. It is comprehensive yet easy to implement and
understand in its basic iteration. Added layers and continuums under
each lens make it more advanced, and adaptable, than other cross-
cultural models. It can be applied at the lowest echelon of a company
through the most strategic roles, based on the customization of the
assessment model and the training curriculum. It has applicability to
every departmental function and every industry.
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9. Organizational Culture Model The Denison Model
Background
Daniel R. Denison is Professor of Organization and Management at IMD
Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland and the developer of the
Denison Model. The Denison Model is focused on organizational culture
change and provides a guide for organizational change through two
frameworks: The Organizational Culture Model and the Leadership
Development Model. The model is heavily tied to individual character
assessments. The Denison model of organizational culture is widely
known and used in academic research on organizational culture.
Business Applicability
The model is easily understood yet comprehensive when it comes to
organizational culture change. It is both an academic and business-
focused model. It has proved effective in addressing company culture
attributes and informing organization design, but it has no national
culture component and, as such, its utility and specific usefulness in
addressing multi-national cross-cultural issues is limited.
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10. Personality/Self-Assessment Models The Barrett Seven Levels of Consciousness Model
Background
Richard Barrett conceived the Seven Levels of Consciousness model in
1997; the model describes the evolutionary development of human
consciousness. It applies to all individuals and human group structures.
The model is an extension and adaptation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Human Needs. The model covers both the internal dimensions of
consciousness - the inner journey into self‐knowledge and meaning, and
the external dimensions of consciousness - the gradual expansion of
sense of identity.
Business Applicability
It is a self-assessment and leadership model rather than an organizational
one. It can perhaps be utilized in a cross-cultural context, but the model
was not developed to enhance cross-cultural skills and has very limited
usability in a cross-cultural context.
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11. Facet5 – Five Factor Model
Description
Facet5 uses the five-factor model of personality, which is a way of
describing the fundamental building blocks of personality. The five-factor
model is based in psychological research and used to give a
comprehensive description of personality and behavior. It is based on a
paper by WT Norman’s in 1963 that described how almost all of the
different personality factors identified by personality.
Business Applicability
This model is excellent for understanding personal differences but it has
no cross-cultural background or component – it is an Anglo-centric model
for understanding personality traits and preferences.
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12. Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Description
MBTI is probably the most widely used personality model in the world.
The MBTI assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to
measure psychological preferences and how it influences decision-
making. The model was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers in the 1960s
and is based on Carl Jung’s theoretical concepts of ‘preferences.’
The 16 MBIT types are typically referred to by an abbreviation of four
letters, for example:
- ESTJ: extraversion (E), sensing (S), thinking (T), judgment (J)
- INFP: introversion (I), intuition (N), feeling (F), perception (P)
Business Applicability
The MBTI was the most ground-breaking work on personality models, but
it has many inconsistencies and very limited usability in a cross-cultural
context.
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13. Summary of Models
BUSINESS
MODEL CONTEXT DESCRIPTION
APPLICABILITY
CROSS-CULTURAL MODELS
HOFSTEDE’S Anthropological Seminal cross- Medium
CULTURAL cultural model
DIMENSIONS developed in the
1980s.
GLOBE Anthropological Expanded Medium
Hofstede’s model
in the 1990s.
LEWIS MODEL Business Model mostly High
applicable to
cross-cultural
communication.
TROMPENAARS Business Very advanced High
model, which also
makes it
somewhat
complex.
BMIA Business Most recent Very High
model that
incorporates
components from
the others while
taking it to the
next step.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE MODELS
DENISON Business The most Very High
comprehensive
and business-
focused
organizational
culture model.
PERSONALITY/SELF-ASSESSMENT MODELS
BARRETT Anthropological Self-assessment Low
/Business and leadership
model based on
Maslow’s
Hierarchy of
Needs.
FACET5 Business Self-awareness Medium
model based on
personality and
behavior.
MBTI Anthropological Personality type Low
/Business awareness model.
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14. Conclusion Our work with clients in the field, ranging from Fortune 500 to mid-sized
companies across a variety of industries, has shown that a holistic
approach to organization design is required to achieve and sustain
optimum performance. As globalization of companies from all regions of
the world has increased through a variety of expansion models (i.e.,
acquisition, joint venture, “greenfield” development, alliance), the
importance of understanding and incorporating cross-cultural dimensions
into the operating model and organization design has become
imperative. While there are pros and cons to every model of analysis, a
thoughtful comparison points to the use of the Universal Consensus
Business Model of Intercultural Analysis [BMIA ™] as one of the most
likely to yield advantageous business results for our M&A and
organization transformation clients.
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Cross-Cultural Context White Paper 14

15. Author David Sult
Practice Leader, Global Transformation Services
Seattle, WA
david.sult@aonhewitt.com
Contributors
Khalid Ali Elias Dib
Washington, DC Dubai, UAE
khalid.ali1@aonhewitt.com elias.dib@aonhewitt.com
Edward Stanoch Karla Barrato
Warsaw, Poland São Paulo, Brazil
edward.stanoch@aonhewitt.com karla.baratto@aonhewitt.com
Audrey Widjaja Jaidev Murti
Shanghai, China Gurgaon, India
audrey.widjaja@aonhewitt.com jaidev.murti@aonhewitt.com
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Cross-Cultural Context White Paper 15

16. Press Release Aon Hewitt Partners With Leading Cross-Cultural Firm to Provide Advisory
Services for Global M&A Clients
Jan 24, 2013
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., January 24, 2013 – Aon Hewitt, the global human resource
solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), today announced it is collaborating
with Universal Consensus LLC, a leading cross-cultural management consultant
and training firm, to enhance Aon Hewitt’s cross-cultural advisory, integration
and business optimization services for its global mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
clients.
Headquartered in San Diego, Universal Consensus offers cross-cultural
assessments, advisory services, and training to hundreds of large organizations
around the world. Its proprietary framework, the BMIA™ (Business Model of
Intercultural Analysis), evaluates companies’ challenges and growth opportunities
of doing business across cultures, both internationally and domestically. Armed
with this data, Universal Consensus experts develop customized solutions
including assessments, strategic advising, training, executive coaching and other
programs to help companies improve how they integrate across cultures during a
merger, acquisition or joint venture.
“Culture is one of the big obstacles hindering deal success and is a driving force
behind many other immediate causes of deal failure, including delayed
integration or implementation. Some of the largest companies in the world pull
out or scale back in foreign target markets simply because they failed to
understand the impact of national cultures on the very factors they relied upon to
drive profitability,” said David Sult, senior vice president of Merger and
Acquisitions Solutions at Aon Hewitt. “Our partnership with Universal Consensus
complements our existing cultural capabilities, expands our global footprint and
brings us additional levels of insight, capabilities and tools to help companies
understand and manage the cross-cultural issues that impact the success of their
M&A transactions.”
“More and more companies realize the importance of evaluating and controlling
the impact of national cultures coming together during the M&A process,” said
Denise Pirrotti Hummel, CEO of Universal Consensus. “Failing to appropriately
identify, analyze and manage cultural differences can create significant problems
for organization and can often lead to the success or failure of a transaction. Our
partnership with Aon Hewitt enables us to combine our talent and expertise to
help companies find the most effective way to bring together diverse national
workforces and cultures.”
Aon’s M&A Solutions (AMAS) practice provides comprehensive services through
the entire M&A lifecycle including due diligence, integration planning and
implementation. For the past four years, AMAS has provided world-class thought
leadership and experience on more than 3,700 diligence assignments. The
practice’s expert team is comprised of over 300 dedicated M&A professionals
worldwide, including management consultants, attorneys, actuaries, human
capital specialists, brokers, underwriters, claims adjusters and investment
bankers.
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17. About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource consulting and outsourcing solutions. The company
partners with organizations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial challenges,
and improve business performance. Aon Hewitt designs, implements, communicates and administers a
wide range of human capital, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation and
talent management strategies. With more than 29,000 professionals in 90 countries, Aon Hewitt makes
the world a better place to work for clients and their employees. For more information on Aon Hewitt,
please visit www.aonhewitt.com.
Copyright Aon Hewitt 2013
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