1.1 ICBL
Cultural Footprint assignment
Student: Liam Bijlsma
student number: 2064819
study program: international business
class: IB-1 Community B 2021-2022
ICBL teacher: Mrs. Luisa Arrivillaga
Date: 20-06-2022
Table of contents
Who am I? ........................................................................................................................................... 3
What is culture? .................................................................................................................................. 3
What is deardoffs pyramid? ...................................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
How do others perceive the Dutch?.................................................................................................... 4
what are the cultural iceberg and onion model? ................................................................................ 5
What are my personal norms and values? .......................................................................................... 6
How is my cultural background ........................................................................................................... 7
How global minded am I? .................................................................................................................... 9
Self reflection .................................................................................................................................... 10
References ............................................................................................................................................. 11
Who am I?
My full name is Liam Bijlsma. When hearing my full name nobody would guess that I’m actually from
Indonesian descent, it sounds as Dutch as it could be. but this actually makes a lot of sense.
Somewhere in the 19th century my great-great granddad lived on a farm in the Dutch province
Friesland, he grew up to become a corporal in the KNIL (Royal Dutch-Indian army) and was regularly
send to former Dutch-indie. Here he met a native Indonesian woman, my great-great grandma, and
they eventually got kids. The kids of a Dutch man and an Indonesian woman where called indo’s,
which is an abbreviation from Indo-European. So as these little indo’s grew up and got families of
their own, until at one point my parents and grandparents migrated back to the Netherlands due to
the independence war going on after the second world war. So that’s how I ended up here, an indo
with a Dutch last name. I don’t know much about my dads side, I have never known my biological
dad so I couldn’t say much about his parents. Although I have had a Dutch upbringing and I feel
Dutch, I also am very interested in the culture of my mom, her parents and the hardships that were
playing in Indonesia.
What is culture?
Clinical psychologist and professor on the university of Toronto, Jordan b. Peterson says: “It is not like
there is you and you’re culture, you are you’re culture.” in a lecture where he explains that culture is
an abstract concept that defines not only the person that we are, but also the ideas we have (Jordan
b. Peterson, 2014). when we describe culture we like to think about the clothing we wear, the food
we eat, the music we listen too, the houses we live in and even the festivities that we like to
celebrate. Even tough this certainly isn’t wrong and are perfect examples of the physical
embodiments of culture, culture isn’t something that can be defined quite easily. There are
numerous definitions and interpretations on the concept of culture. Culture can be what we see, like
the examples I used earlier but also our actions and thoughts are being influenced by culture. The
way we communicate and handle situations, our opinions, preferences and our set of norms and
values are all somehow influenced by culture. Things that are often overlooked are assumptions.
when an American says: “this will be difficult” it usually means, “yes we can do that”. But when a
Japanese person says that something will be difficult, it often times means that it is not possible.
Assuming the intention of a sentence is a direct consequence of various values in a cultural construct
(Jeanine Hermans, 2020)
What is deardoffs pyramid?
Deardoffs pyramid is a framework that
breaks down cultural competence into
5 sub categories. It is essentially a
roadmap for an individual to behave
and communicate appropriately. In
international business this is an
essential skill to master since it is
important to be able to efficiently
communicate in for instance: in
business meetings, with business
partners, customers etc.
Attitude:
The bottom of deardoffs pyramid is all
about attitude and values. to communicate efficiently it is important to respect other people and
their cultural differences, trying to be open about learning from other cultural norms and values
without judging them for being different or less than yours. There is nothing wrong with being
curious when communicating with people that seem different. In my experience a good attitude
always gives off a good impression which results in people treating you nicely and trusting you more.
Knowledge and comprehension:
When you have come across the point of being open to learn about different cultures you have to
develop a set of skills that will help you to fully learn about this interest. One off these skills is
knowledge and being able to comprehend this new information. A good start is to learn about your
own culture, understanding your own cultural constructs is necessary for understanding foreign
cultures better. When getting deeper into the subject you will eventually understand deeper
knowledge off culture, things like the impact of it on the world, getting into learning about specific
cultures and maybe even getting into language. Learning about a culture before traveling has helped
me be more understanding of the peculiar things I encountered and be more appreciative of
everything that is done differently.
Skills:
To be able to learn about all these topics and get the knowledge needed to further understand
foreign cultures you need to get experienced into a set of skills. Listening, observing, interpreting,
analyzing, evaluating and relating are the skills needed to understand the true context of certain
sources. Meanwhile it is also a plan on how to fully emerge into a topic and truly understand said
information. These skills are not only important in an intercultural setting but I have found highly
important in all day life occurrences, these communicative skills will be of help the rest of your life.
Internal outcome:
When implementing these now learned skills you will see a changed way of thinking. This is when
the desired internal outcome comes to play, you have now developed a flexible and open mindset. in
most cases This results in you becoming more adaptable in certain situations, knowing when to use a
certain communication style and behavior and even being able to adapt to foreign cultures. You will
realize no culture is superior to another and develop empathic abilities.
Appropriate and effective behavior:
Your changed style of communication and behavior also affects the people surrounding you. This
results in you achieving the desired external outcome. You now behave appropriate and affective
and know how to effectively reach your set goal. (Jeanine Hermans, 2020)
How do others perceive the Dutch?
When a foreigner moves into “Dutch territories” they would be likely to perceive it as an hostile and
scary place. Googling Dutch culture gives you a series of survival guides on how to deal with the
Dutch, as if we are somewhat of a different breed. So to speak when people move to the
Netherlands they are in for quite a culture shock. Many might think of the Dutch as rude because of
their direct and honest nature which scares a lot of people off. Another thing they would notice is
when going out with a dutchie is that when the bill comes up, Dutch people love to split. And in the
rare circumstance if that isn’t possible they will sent you a “tikkie” for every amount above 0.50
cents, most would see this as greedy but I think this is just Dutch etiquette. To say that the Dutch are
somewhat different you wouldn’t be wrong, luckily no one is the same and this also goes for cultures
and their norms and values. (jeanine hermans, 2020)
A lot of people experience the Dutch culture differently, off course for dutchies themselves we are
quite normal compared to the rest of the world. Without saying, coming from foreigners
experiencing our culture, a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions are going around about us. I listed
some of the stereotypes that are the most common.
1. Everyone is blonde, tall and has blue eyes.
If you ask a foreigner to picture the average dutchman, they will often describe them as a tall, blonde
guy with blue eyes. Which is true to some degree, the “oer Hollander” (primal dutchie, so to say) is
from Nordic/Germanic descent who are mostly tall, blonde guys with blue eyes. But the modern day
Netherlands has become a melting pot of culture full of diversity, people from all around the world
have come here to share culture and adapt to it. Dutch culture has flourished into this European
centered culture with influences from Africa, Asia and the Americas, and it would surprise you how
many unique people walk around in this little country.
2. Rude and coldhearted
This is a stereotype that I get when you come from a warm and nice country where it is a custom to
tell little white lies and be overly friendly. It is easy to feel like we are being rude and cold people, but
actually we value honesty, are outspoken and feel like being yourselves and honest is more
important than pleasuring the other.
3. Going Dutch
When Dutch people split bills or send “tikkies” this generally would be cheap when viewed from a
foreign perspective. although there is a good reason we do this, it is a sign of respect. When splitting
bills we see each other as equals, it would be rude not to ask to split the bill as someone would think
the other person thinks he cannot pay for himself. We value equality and directness and this is a
custom that derived from that.
4. Netherlands? Yes Amsterdam, weed, weed marihuana, good!
Is a sentence I have heard a lot when traveling abroad. Some how or another, when mentioning I am
from the Netherlands, foreign people cant resist the urge to use weed, marihuana and Amsterdam in
the same sentence. It is a BIG stereotype about the Dutch. So to settle this misunderstanding once
and for all, NO not al Dutch people like to smoke weed and a lot of people have never done so, NO
weed is not legal it is just tolerated and NO you can not smoke weed everywhere, since it is tolerated
and not legalized it is in fact prohibited to smoke outside. And by the way Amsterdam is not the only
nice city in the Netherlands.
5. Sport fanatics
the final stereotype about the Dutch is about sports, and unfortunately I can not get around this one
its just true. When watching sports in general and somehow the Netherlands is involved you will
many times get struck by the orange crowd that goes wild in the audience. Dutch nationalism in
sports is huge and the dutchies will go full orange pride when participating in the crowd. (Manon,
2018)
what are the cultural iceberg and onion model?
There are different ways of interpreting the complexity and layers a culture exists of. the cultural
onion and iceberg model are models that showcase that cultures exists not only of the part that you
can clearly see but also has a more complex and deeper meaning.
Culture as an onion
Culture consists of various layers and it is comparable
to the layers of an onion. These layers are the
underlying reason of our behavioral patterns.
The outer layer describes the symbols, which in the
Netherlands are things like the national flag,
stroopwafels, klompen etc. These things have
meaning behind it but it doesn’t affect us as much as
rituals and values do.
The second layer, heroes, are mostly people that
showcase the national spirit. People like Floris V. graaf
van Holland, pim Fortuyn or peter r. de vries. These
people set an example for the rest.
Rituals are recurring events which shape our
unconscious minds. They exists both in society for
example Sinterklaas and tikkies, and in organisations.
Values is the last layer of the onion model. This layer exhibits the broad preferences for a certain
state of affairs, like appreciating honesty, mutual respect, and equality. Role models show is what is
acceptable and what isn’t, and shape a big part of our construct of values. (Hofstede Insights, 2020)
The iceberg model
It is typical for an iceberg to clearly see the surface, but what you cant see is what is beneath the
water. An iceberg is comparable to culture, as an outsider it is easy to understand and see
the simple
concepts of culture but impossible to understand the
real depth a certain culture has. Things such as food,
clothing, rituals, festivities, music and art are all part of
the visible aspects of culture and is how people
behave. What drives this behavior is part of the
invisible aspects of culture, this part of culture is more
complex and less easy to observe. In international
business it is especially important to master the skill of
being able to tell what the visible parts of culture tell
about the invisible part. (Jeanine Hermans, 2020)
What are my personal norms and values?
Values are the things that tell you what the difference is between good and bad in a culture. Norms
are the rules off living that derive from that and tell you the behavior by which you can live up to that
value. Values and norms are to be influenced by culture, and give you a reflection on what certain
society’s see as important. Some of the things I value in life are honesty, equality and respect. Some
of the norms that derive from that are the fact that I tend to always tell the truth, that I treat
everyone like I would want to be treated and that I don’t talk when people speak.
How is my cultural background
Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions is a tool used to describe and compare attributes of
cultures. The 6-D model consists of six dimensions including power distance, individualism,
masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence. These are the values when
selecting the Netherlands and Indonesia, the two cultures I mainly grew up in.
Netherlands
Indonesia
Power distance
Power distance deals with the fact that all individuals in a society aren’t equal and expresses the
attitude regarding these inequality’s. power distance is rated by the means of the acceptance of
powerful and mighty people towards that power is to distributed equally.
The Netherlands have a low score on this meaning the Dutch value: independence, equality,
directness and a balanced hierarchy. On the other end, Indonesia, scored high on this part meaning
they value: dependence on hierarchy, unequal rights between power holders, and a fierce working
regime.
I personally feel more at home in the values of the Netherlands on power distance, I value
independence and equality over hierarchy and work regime.
Individualism
Individualism grades the rate of independence among a society. Do we subscribe ourselves using a
“we” or “I” mentality. Collective societies put themselves into groups that take care of each other,
individualist societies only take care of their direct environment.
The Netherlands is highly individualistic, meaning they tend to only take care of themselves and
direct family and feel guilt and lower self esteem when opposing offence. Indonesia is on the other
end of the spectrum, they score very low. Meaning they have a strong societal framework where
individuals are expected to belong to groups and care for each other. This is very apparent when
looking at arranged marriage and the devotion kids have for their family.
I feel like I am more of an idealistic person, caring more about myself and direct environment,
although I have had the feeling of guilt towards my family when I did something wrong before. So I
would say I am somewhat in the middle.
Masculinity
The dimension of masculinity describes a society by whether they are driven by competition and
success or strive for quality of life.
Both the Netherlands and Indonesia score low on the masculinity index thus meaning these societies
are feminine. In the Netherlands people value life and work balance, involvement and quality of
working life. Indonesia is a bit different then the Netherlands, although being a feminine society and
valuing the same things people value in the Netherlands they still value status and visible symbols of
success and something of even more worth is a persons position and their outwards appearance. On
the case of masculinity I also feel somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
I think that it is important to be successful in life and always progress regardless of whether this is in
my mind or career. But Id also like to find the balance between working on myself and business and
having quality time with my family.
Uncertainty avoidance
How does a society deal with the fact that the future cant be certain. The manner of dealing with this
feeling of uncertainty and anxiety, and the ways of avoiding this by societal constructs and beliefs is
rated on the uncertainty avoidance dimension.
The Netherlands shows to have a slight preference to avoid uncertainties, meaning they have an
emotional need for rules and tend to be very busy working hard and value security. Indonesia has a
low preference to avoid uncertainty, the Javanese culture of separation of internal and external self
exhibits meaning, however they feel they will keep a smile on their face. Conflicts are often reserved
by talking to a third party. One key phrase in Indonesia is “Asal Bapak Senang” (Keep the Boss
Happy). Keeping the boss happy means you will be rewarded and if you are rewarded you have no
economic or status uncertainty as you will keep being a valuable member of the company.
The Indonesian approach, to me, feels closer to home. I have always been thought to keep my inner
self to myself and have an optimistic external selve. I also agree to the stoic philosophies of accepting
hardships you do not or can not control.
Long term orientation
How a society deals with its present problems and whether they maintain links with its past to solve
and approach problems is being rated in the dimension of long term orientation. Normative societies
prefer to have time honored traditions and norms while dealing with societal change, on the other
hand high scoring cultures approach problems in a more pragmatic way and encourage modern
education as solutions.
The Netherlands and Indonesia both scored fairly high meaning they are pragmatic cultures. People
believe that the truth depends on a lot of factors and they can easily adapt its traditions to new
conditions. They have a preference for a modern approach to achieve results.
I agree with the pragmatic way of solving problems and I feel like we can achieve a lot of we al keep
thinking critically and see certain problems thru all perspectives.
Indulgence
How people control their desires and impulses based on their upbringings is rated on the scale of
indulgence. Societies with weak control are called indulgent and societies with a strong resistance
are called restraint.
The Netherlands have an high score meaning it is an indulgent society and people are more willing to
realize and give in to their impulses with regards to having fun. Generally people are optimistic and
positive. Indonesia has a culture of constraint, meaning they don’t put emphasis on leisure time and
tend to control their impulses. These societies are often pessimistic and lean to cynicism and feel
restrained to social norms.
In most things there is a balance, just a right amount of both. There is nothing wrong with having fun
and letting yourself go sometimes, but you can not always do this. You always have other
responsibilities and need to find a balance between having fun and when you should not. (hofstede
insight)
How global minded am I?
Multicultural personality
Multicultural personality consists of three main parts: openness, adaptability and social initiative.
You’re Multicultural personality indicates the effectiveness off you in a multicultural environment.
Openness
Openness is being described in two
compartments, cultural empathy
and open mindedness. Both narrate
my ability to see things in an other
perspective and being open to
different lifestyles. I scored an
overall 6.1 on openness meaning I
am pretty well developed in my
ability to see things in someone
else’s shoes and I am open minded
on adapting other lifestyles.
Adaptability
Adaptability represents your ability to adapt in foreign cultural settings and deal with stress and
frustrations. This is set out in tow sub dimensions: flexibility and emotional stability. I had an overall
score of a 4.03 meaning I have an average ability to be flexible to different lifestyles and deal with
emotional stress coming from this.
Social initiative
The last dimension of describing your multicultural personality is social initiative, this refers to you
capability to take initiative in social encounters. Scoring 4.92 On social initiative I stand on the low
end of the people that developed this skill fairly well meaning I am okay to initiate in social
encounters.
Multicultural intelligence
Multicultural intelligence is all about
how you behave affectively and
appropriately in intercultural settings
and is set out in three dimensions:
knowledge, behavior and attitude.
Knowledge
Knowledge refers to your specific
knowledge on different cultures and
on how you obtain this knowledge,
this is divided in the sub dimensions
cultural knowledge and cultural meta knowledge. I scored a 5.38 which means I am fairly
knowledgeable about culture but there is also a lot to still learn.
Behavior
Behavior showcases your skillfulness on applying your knowledge and attitude into all kinds off
situations. A 4.75 shows me that I should still work on applying the knowledge I already have on
culture in specific situations.
Attitude
Your intentions and the reasoning why you want to learn about culture is what is being discussed in
attitude. 6.17 says me that I am fairly excited to learn all about culture and my attitude towards
cultural awareness is a good start for great things.
Language skills
Language skills are
important in intercultural
encounters. Learning
different languages and
mastering these gives you
an head start when
entering new cultures.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism considers
how ethnocentric you are
meaning, the believe of
considering the culture that
you are apart of is superior to all others. A score 3.2 means that I do not believe in any culture being
better than the other and I have a sense of equality among all cultures.
Self reflection
Some things I have to work on regarding my multicultural personality are my adaptability and a little
bit on social initiative. It seems that my multicultural intelligence is developed pretty well already but
off course could still use some improvements to maximize my efficiency . I’d like to always work on
my language skills, it is fun to develop and learn different languages and engage in social intercourse
with people of different cultures. Just like my multicultural intelligence, my sense of ethnocentrism is
developed all right although it could still use some improvement. So overall I’d like to focus on
improving my adaptability, social initiative and language skills.
References
hofstede insight. (sd). country comparison. Opgehaald van hofstede insights: https://www.hofstedeinsights.com/country-comparison/indonesia,the-netherlands/
Hofstede Insights. (2020, October). WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "CULTURE"? Opgehaald van Hofstede
Insights: https://news.hofstede-insights.com/news/what-do-we-mean-by-culture
Jeanine Hermans. (2020). cultural footprint, part 3 culture. maastricht, limburg, netherlands.
jeanine hermans. (2020, september). cultural footprint, part 4 values and norms . Maastricht,
Limburg, Nederland.
Jeanine Hermans. (2020, september). cultural footprint, part 5 stereotyping. maastricht, limburg,
nederland.
Jeanine Hermans. (2020, september). Intercultural footprint, part 1 intercultural competence.
Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands.
Jordan b. Peterson. (2014). Personality lecture 04: Heroic & shamanic initiations part 2. Toronto,
Canada.
Manon. (2018, octobre 10). The 35 Biggest Misconceptions And Stereotypes About The Netherlands.
Opgehaald van visitingthedutchcountryside:
https://www.visitingthedutchcountryside.com/general-information/misconceptionsstereotypes-netherlands-holland/