2. The first cross-cultural studies were
carried out by Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī, who
wrote detailed comparative studies on
the anthropology of religions, peoples
and cultures in the Middle East,
Mediterranean and especially the
Indian subcontinent.
He presented his findings with
objectivity and neutrality using cross-
cultural comparisons.
3. Extensive cross-cultural studies were
later carried out by 19th century
anthropologists such as Tylor and
Morgan. One of Tylor's first studies
gave rise to the central statistical
issue of cross-cultural studies:
Galton's problem.
4. The modern era of cross-cultural studies
began with George Murdock (1949). Murdock
set up a number of foundational data sets,
including the Human Relations Area Files, and
the Ethnographic Atlas. Together with Douglas
R. White, he developed the widely used
Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, currently
maintained by the open access electronic
journal World Cultures.
5. In the past decade, there has become an
increasing pressure for universities
across the world to incorporate
intercultural and international
understanding and knowledge into the
education of their students.
International literacy and cross-cultural
understanding have become critical to a
country’s cultural, technological,
economic, and political health.
6. It has become essential for universities to
educate, or more importantly, “transform”, to
function effectively and comfortably in a
world characterized by close; multi-faceted
relationships and permeable borders. Students
must possess a certain level of global
competence to understand the world they live
in and how they fit into this world. This level
of global competence starts at ground level–
the university and its faculty – with how they
generate and transmit cross-cultural
knowledge and information to students.
7. Cross-cultural communication endeavors to
bring together such relatively unrelated areas
as cultural anthropology and established areas
of communication. Its core is to establish and
understand how people from different cultures
communicate with each other. Its charge is to
also produce some guidelines with which people
from different cultures can better communicate
with each other.
8. Cross Cultural Knowledge is
critical to basic cross cultural
understanding. Without it cross
cultural appreciation cannot take
place. It refers to a surface level
familiarization with cultural
characteristics, values, beliefs and
behaviors.
9. Cross Cultural Awareness develops from
cross cultural knowledge as the learner
understands and appreciates a culture
internally. This may also be accompanied by
changes within the learner's behavior and
attitudes such as a greater flexibility and
openness.
10. Cross Cultural Sensitivity is a natural by-
product of awareness and refers to an
ability to read into situations, contexts and
behaviors that are culturally rooted and be
able to react to them appropriately. An
suitable response necessitates that the actor
no longer carries his/her own culturally
determined interpretations of the situation
or behavior (i.e. good/bad, right/wrong)
which can only be nurtured through both
cross cultural knowledge and awareness.
11. Cross Cultural Competence is and should be
the aim of all those dealing with
multicultural clients, customers or
colleagues. 'Competence' is the final stage of
cross cultural understanding and signifies
the actor's ability to work effectively across
cultures.
12. Cross cultural competency is
beyond knowledge, awareness and
sensitivity in that it is the digestion,
integration and transformation of
all the skills and information
acquired through them, applied to
create cultural synergy within the
workplace.
