Van Nispen Triangle

The triangle in the gallery has the size of groups as its starting point, the largest group on top and getting ever smaller to the bottom. At the top the focus is on national cultures, below that the larger groups as in organisational culture, then smaller groups like multicultural teams and finally the individual. As mentioned before the individual juggles the cultures of all groups s/he is or was a member of. At the same time - a human being not being perfect - you also make mistakes by not showing the proper behaviour; dropping one of the balls you are juggling. In the small group you are still known as an individual person and communication is added. In organisations your individuality counts for less and you become an instrument in realising the objectives of the organisation (human resources!). At the top you are even more of a number; the larger the state, the more military, economic or cultural power a state may project in the international arena.

Between the four layers you see dotted lines because the individual moves across those lines all the time. The same applies to the research on culture. The different approaches may be divided over the four layers but not in a rigid way.

Reality is of course more complex. You may think of for instance a Dutchman working for an American company, posted in Hong Kong and working in a team with people from Japan, mainland China and the Philippines. How many triangles overlap and actually need to be coordinated for a smooth cooperation?

In the stack you also see two examples of the complexity of culture at the individual level. The second picture (developed by Hofman, adjusted) shows some of the groups an individual is a member of. The third picture puts all paradigms at the individual level in a cultural backpack. If an individual comes in a new situation, s/he will look in this backpack to see whether a suitable paradigm is already available. If so, fine; otherwise a paradigm needs to be developed, whatever the effort its costs. The fourth picture shows the relation between culture and civilisation. Culture enables people to accept the organisation of society and answers ’the question of death’: where are we coming from, why are we here on Earth and where are we going to after our death? Finally, in the fifth picture the concept is summarised, including the idea of internal and external culture (a culture you are a member of).