RIASSUNTO
Abstract
As petroleum projects becomes more international, there is more need for the petroleum professional to communicate across cultural boundaries. Intercultural competency on the part of the petroleum professional begins with an awareness of three types of cultures at work in the workplace: national, corporate and personal. Based on proven research in the field of cross-cultural communication, we propose using the Cultural Onion Model (Smith, 1992) to interpret these three cultures. This Model uses the analogy of an onion with four layers to represent the four layers of a culture. They are Behavior, Authority Structure, Experience and Core. Within a culture, the core contains the values and assumptions from which a culture develops. We then show how differences in core values concerning inequality, individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance can affect the other layers of a national culture. Next, we explore how differences in corporate core practices can affect the culture of different types of company. Finally, we explore the implications of difference in both national and corporate cultures on three work-related areas: communication, leadership and reward system. Methods that work well in one culture may not work well in another, hence the need for cultural adaption. Our model will help the petroleum professional to understand important aspects of national and corporate cultures to become more effective in working across cultural landscapes.