1. Tarmo Tuisk The Role of Nationality and Culture in Conflict Management Visiting Lecturer at Tallinn University of Technology

2. Understanding cross-cultural differences «Even though culture is perceived personally, it is nonetheless a shared system» (Hall&Hall, 1990) Program of behaviour Coding, cultural codes «Hidden codes» Non-verbal part of messages remaining uncoded Low context vs high context cultures

3. Context – the information that surrounds the event. The elements that combine to produce a given meaning – events and context – are in different proportions depending on the culture. High context (HC) communication or message is the one where most of the information is already on the person, and very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message (e.g. twins communicating with each other). Low context (LC) – the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code (e.g. two lawyers in the courtroom during a trial).

4. National cultural dimensions Geert Hofstede (1980/1984) Individualism (Individualist versus Collectivist) Collectivism: people belong to in-groups (families, organisations, etc.) who look after them in exchange for loyalty. Individualism: people only look after themselves and their immediate family. Power distance - the extent to which the less powerful members of society accept that power is distributed unequally.

5. National cultural dimensions Geert Hofstede (1980/1984) Masculinity (high versus low): Masculinity: the dominant values in society are achievement and success. Femininity: the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. Uncertainty avoidance (high versus low) - the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid such situations.

6. Impact of culture on conflict management Even if small fragments of culture are brought to awareness, these fragments cannot be changed, becasue they are very personally experienced. At the same time the cultures are continuously undergoing a change, they are connected with symbolic meaning of life, where we are constantly creating meaning and enacting our identities. European Union is an amalgamation of many different cultures, states and ethnicities – thereby, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach cannot be prescribed in order to implement general mediation programs to be used in each member state (DG-IP-PD, 2014).

7. Thank you!