Cultural Perception of the Use of Information

A question on LinkedIn sparked some thoughts on cross-cultural challenges in communication based on different cultural perceptions and levels of acceptance. The question was about:

* People who deliberately withhold knowledge or dangle tempting bits of information over your head to go one-up.

Of course, there are people who like to share their knowledge and others who prefer not to. And there are also those who actively conceal information for various reasons.

The Cultural Thumbprint

From a cross-cultural viewpoint, there are also different cultures more prone to seeing good reasons to withhold knowledge or information.

As a cross-cultural marketer, I notice cultural differences in people who like to withhold information. This is intriguing.

* Are there cross-cultural communication issues here?

Individualism Versus Collectivism Cultures

You can use Geert Hulshof's cultural behavior scales to try to understand this.

In my personal experience, the people who blatantly withhold information for their own personal benefit usually come from cultures with a high "Individualism" score. But this is only my personal experience, and I interact quite a bit with these cultures.

It should be easy enough to establish a cultural connection if you look into strong "Collectivism" cultures. You would naturally assume that any use of this sort of tactic would have an adverse effect on the "offender".

A Change In Generations

Again from a marketing standpoint, it is obvious that we are now living in a customer-centric world. Our behaviors and expectations have changed and will continue to change in the future.

Personal tactics of withholding information for power just will not continue to work in the current context.

Of course, there are some people who seem to be naturally inclined to be social bullies. But being a social bully in today's world will not get them far.

Information For Personal Gain

* How do people use information or knowledge for personal gain?
* Are there cultural differences?

I do think there are some differences in cultural acceptance of how people use information. The cultural perception will create different barriers for what people can get away with.

Even so, there are also other, more personal, factors or skills that come into play.

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