Seven dimensions of culture

This semester I have been doing a unit called 'Me, Them and Us', which focuses on multiculturalism and cross-cultural communication. It's based on Fons Trompenaars' Riding the Waves of Culture. I've decided to write a series of posts about Trompenaars' seven dimensions of culture, as a revision of the course material.

The essential differences between cultures are in the solutions they choose for certain problems: problems in relationships with other people, problems caused by time and problems relating to the environment. Trompenaars has identified seven dimensions, based on the different solutions used to deal with these universal problems:

Universalism/Particularism
Individualism/Communitarianism
Specific/Diffuse (part one) (part two)
Affective/Neutral
Achievment/Acscription
Sequential/Synchronic
Internal control/External control
Reconciliation