Portuguese cultural standards from a German perspective: A qualitative study of cultural differences in the organizational environment

• Autor(a) principal: Krebs, Lucas
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/27067
• topic: Cultural standards; Intercultural and cross-cultural interaction; Ambiente organizacional -- Organizational environment; Cultura nacional -- National culture; Portugal; Germany; Normas culturais; Interacção intercultural e transcultural; Alemanha

Due to globalization, intercultural encounters occur every day in international working and business environments. To build intercultural competence and ensure successful cooperation between people of different cultural backgrounds, cultural differences must be recognized and made aware of. The objective of this thesis is to identify Portuguese cultural standards from the German perspective with reference to the organizational environment. The methodology used to identify cultural standards is the Cultural Standards Method. This methodology follows a qualitative approach and helps to explore cultural differences on a deeper and more situation-specific level than other cultural models in the field. To obtain valid and representative results, the empirical research study of this thesis went through several phases. First, narrative interviews were conducted with ten German nationals who have been working or have worked in Portugal for at least one year. Subsequently, the interviewees' stories were examined for critical incidents using qualitative content analysis. Based on the repeated mention of similar critical incidents by most of the interviewees, preliminary Portuguese cultural standards were identified. These cultural standards were then evaluated through feedback from the interviewees as well as from people who did not participate in the interviews. Lastly, seven final Portuguese cultural standards were identified from a German perspective in relation to the work environment: Strong Understanding of Hierarchy; Emotionality and Sensitivity; Indirectness; Inefficiency in Communication and Decision-making; Irregular Flow of Time; Flexible, Short-term Planning and Improvisation; Significance of Interpersonal Relations.