Lewis Model of Cross-Cultural Communication

Richard Donald Lewis (born 1930)

a British polyglot and linguist,
a world traveler,
cross-cultural communication consultant,
author.

http://www.crossculture.com/

He claims to speak 11 languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese,

German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Japanese).

Main books:
When Cultures Collide. Managing successfully across cultures. London. 1996
When Teams Collide: Managing the International Team Successfully. 2012
Lewis
founded the Berlitz School of Languages in Finland (1955), Norway (1958),
Portugal (1959), Tokyo (1966) ; spent the next 5 years living and working in
Japan, where he became tutor to Empress Michiko, the first commoner to
marry into the Japanese Imperial Family.
 Riversdown House, a 14th-century Mediaeval Great
Hall on a 40-acre estate near Winchester, Hampshire

Intensive English Courses Customised for Global Professionals

http://www.riversdown.com/

Lewis is currently Chairman of Richard Lewis Communications Ltd.

Riversdown House clients include SAP, Michelin, Iberia, Siemens, E.ON, Rolls
Royce
He gives cross-cultural seminars and keynote speeches to international corporations,
as well as governments. Clients include UBS, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Gazprom, Nokia,
Unilever and the World Bank
 Lewis R. When Cultures Collide. Managing
successfully across cultures. London. 1996

sold more than 1.000.000 copies since it was first published

"an authoritative roadmap to navigating the world's economy,"

the Wall Street Journal
We smile at foreign eccentricity, congratulating ourselves on our normality
Richard D. Lewis
 The Lewis Model

- helps to shed some light on the way different cultures communicate

- provides a great, generalized definition that leaders can use to adjust their
leadership style to meet the cultural needs of their people

"Determining national characteristics is treading a minefield of inaccurate

assessment and surprising exception. There is, however, such a thing as a
national norm.“

"By focusing on the cultural roots of national behavior, both in society and
business, we can foresee and calculate with a surprising degree of accuracy
how others will react to our plans for them, and we can make certain
assumptions as to how they will approach us“
Richard D. Lewis
 The Lewis Model

- is rooted in Edward T. Hall’s concepts of monochronic and polychronic cultures

- expands these concepts to the broader ones of linear-active and multi-active
- adds the new concept of reactive culture, following his life in Japan.

“For a German and a Finn, the truth is the truth. In Japan and Britain it is all
right if it doesn’t rock the boat. In China there is no absolute truth. In Italy it
is negotiable”.

Richard D. Lewis
Lewis plots countries in relation to three categories:

Linear-actives — those who plan, schedule, organize, pursue action chains,

do one thing at a time (Germans, Swiss).

Multi-actives — those lively peoples who do many things at once, planning

their priorities according to the relative thrill or importance (Italians, Latin
Americans, Arabs).

Reactives — those cultures that prioritize courtesy and respect, listening

quietly and calmly to their partners and reacting carefully (Chinese, Japanese,
Finns).
Lewis

1. demonstrates how each group gathers information in

a different way:
- the linear-actives relying mostly on data,
- the multi-actives on face-to-face encounters and dialogues,
- the reactives on a combination of both styles.

2. shows how the values taught to us in early life give us an

entrenched approach to the use of space and time

3. and how we accord status, respond to different types of

leadership, and organize our society and business

4. discusses listening habits that are also important to

communication
 Here's the chart that explains the world:

Cultural Types Model based on decades-long observation and thousands of

assessments of cultural profiles with respondents of 68 nationalities.
Some more details on the categories:
Common Traits of Linear-Active, Multi-Active, and Reactive
Categories
Linear-Active Multi-Active Reactive
introvert extrovert introvert
patient impatient patient
quiet talkative silent
minds own business inquisitive respectful
plans ahead methodically plans grand outline only looks at general
principles

does one thing at a time does several things at a time reacts once
works fixed hours works any hours flexible hours
punctual not punctual punctual
dominated by timetables timetable unpredictable reacts to partner’s
and schedules timetable

sticks to plans changes plans makes slight changes

Common Traits of Linear-Active, Multi-Active, and Reactive
Categories

Linear-Active Multi-Active Reactive

compartmentalizes lets one project influence
sticks to facts
gets information from
statistics, reference books,
database, Internet
job-oriented
unemotional
works within department
follows correct procedures
accepts favors reluctantly
delegates to competent
likes fixed agendas
sees whole picture projects
another
juggles facts statements are promises
gets first-hand (oral) uses both first-hand and
information researched information
people-oriented people-oriented
emotional quietly caring
gets around all considers all departments
pulls strings networks
seeks favors protects face of other
delegates to relations delegates to reliable colleagues
people
interrelates everything thoughtful
Common Traits of Linear-Active, Multi-Active, and Reactive
Categories

Linear-Active Multi-Active Reactive

brief on telephone talks for hours summarizes well
uses memoranda rarely writes memos plans slowly
dislikes losing face has ready excuses must not lose face
confronts with logic confronts emotionally avoids confrontation
limited body language unrestricted body subtle body language
rarely interrupts interrupts frequently doesn’t interrupt
 Cultural view of time

Wise men are never in a hurry” – Chinese Proverb

“Never put off something what you can do today” – English Proverb
 Linear time vs. Cyclical time
Linear time
• A linear system has a progression (as in Darwin's concept of evolution)
• When God created the world, he began a story with a beginning, a middle
and an end.
• With thriving Christianity the concept of the birth of our Universe through a
single one-shot act gradually became dominant
• The general Christian view is that time will come to a definite end with the
end of the world, in the so-called “end-times”

What happened before time began? What will happen after time ends?

Cyclical time
• Many schools of thought believe that the beginning and the end are and
have always been the same because time is essentially cyclical.
• The past is also the future, the future is also the past, the beginning also the
end.
• Time is viewed neither as linear nor event-relationship related, but as cyclic
 Cyclical time
Many peoples around the world have thought of time as
cyclic 

In a Buddhist culture not only time but also life itself goes
around in a circle.

Whatever we plan, however we organize our particular

world
• generation follows generation;
• governments and rulers will succeed each other;
• crops will be harvested;
• monsoons, earthquakes and other catastrophes will
recur;
• the sun and moon will rise and set
 A Mayan calendar

The idea of cycles of time was

common in Mesoamerica for
hundreds
of years

The Maya calendar consists of several

cycles or counts of different lengths,
each representing a different calendar.  
There was a 260 day cycle, a 365 day
cycle, and a 52 year cycle – three
"wheels" that worked together.
 The Aztec calendar wheels
a complete philosophy of time

The Aztecs believed that time went in cycles - ultimately in the repeated
destruction and recreation of the world.

The Aztec calendar was a variation of earlier calendars - ancient Mayan

calendar.
 Wheel of Time
The wheel of time concept is found in Hinduism

Repeating ages over the infinite life of the universe.

Endlessly repeated cycle of rebirths and reincarnations for individuals

“All the [orthodox] systems accept the view of the great world rhythm.
Vast periods of creation, maintenance and dissolution follow each other in
endless succession.”
An Indian philosopher
CATEGORIZING CULTURES

Cultural Category Statistics for 2005

Linear-Active 600,000,000
Multi-Active 3,300,000,000
Reactive 1,700,000,000
Hybrid (Multi-Active and Reactive)
Indonesia 215,000,000
Philippines 75,000,000

TOTAL 6 billion (approximately)

 CATEGORIZING CULTURES

1. Germans, Swiss 10. Czechs, Slovenians, Croats, Hungarians

2. Americans (WASPs)*
3. Scandinavians, Austrians
4. British, Canadians, New Zealanders
5. Australians, South Africans
6. Japanese
7. Dutch, Belgians
8. American subcultures (e.g., Jewish, Italian,
Polish)
9. French, Belgians (Walloons)
*White Anglo-Saxon Protestants
11. Northern Italians (Milan, Turin, Genoa)
12. Chileans
13. Russians, other Slavs
14. Portuguese
15. Polynesians
16. Spanish, Southern Italians, Mediterranean
peoples
17. Indians, Pakistanis, etc.
18. Latin Americans, Arabs, Africans
 Ranking of Countries on the Reactive Scale

Strongly Reactive
1. Japan
2. China
3. Taiwan
4. Singapore, Hong Kong*
5. Finland*
6. Korea
7. Turkey† Occasionally Reactive
8. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos†
9. Malaysia, Indonesia† 12. Britain*
10. Pacific Islands (Fiji, Tonga, etc.)† *Linear-active tendencies when reacting
11. Sweden* †Multi-active tendencies when reacting
 CONCLUSIONS

A grasp of cultural differences helps us alter our own behaviour and be

much better prepared for differences of cultural behaviour shown by others.
This is not about making judgments but about understanding and respecting
others better.
It is a useful model, not a law.