Intercultural Management in Focus – Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck’s Cultural Value Orientations

Intercultural Management in Focus

In global business, intercultural management, cultural diversity, and worldwide collaboration are critical to long-term success. Professionals working across borders encounter diverse values, communication styles, and expectations—whether in international negotiations, supplier relationships, multinational team leadership, or daily project operations. To prevent misunderstandings and build strong cross-border relationships, managers need in-depth knowledge of cultural dimensions, orientations, and communication patterns. Our Interkulturelles Training delivers these competencies, blending academic research with practical business application to help organizations turn intercultural challenges into competitive advantages.

Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck – The Pioneers:
Florence Kluckhohn and Fred L. Strodtbeck developed one of the earliest frameworks for measuring cultural differences, based on their research among indigenous communities in the Rimrock region of the southwestern United States (Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961).

While the direct relevance of indigenous societies to corporate management may seem debatable, their work was groundbreaking in two ways:

1. They introduced the concept of breaking culture down into measurable dimensions, a method later adopted and refined by all subsequent cultural models.

2. They demonstrated that cultural differences can be systematically analyzed and compared—laying the foundation for modern intercultural research.

Later studies by other scholars connected Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck’s findings directly to U.S. management practices (e.g., Adler & Gundersen 2007, cited in Kutschker & Schmid, 2011), proving their enduring relevance for leadership, HR, and international cooperation.

Five Cultural Value Orientations:
Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck identified five dimensions to describe cultural variation across societies. These include, among others:

• Human Nature Orientation – perceptions of whether people are inherently good, evil, or a mix.

• Man-Nature Relationship – beliefs about humans’ role in relation to nature.

• Time Orientation – focus on past, present, or future priorities.

• Activity Orientation – preference for being, achieving, or doing.

• Relational Orientation – emphasis on individualism, group identity, or hierarchical structures.

These dimensions remain a vital analytical tool for understanding how cultural values influence decision-making, leadership styles, and communication in global business contexts.