The Framework

Three stages of navigating cultural difference, with dialogue flowing through each.

Intercultural competence provides the capacity to navigate cultural difference. Through dialogue, this capacity can be put into practice, creating space to build, sustain and deepen trust within collaboration.

The framework develops this practice through three stages: Foundation, Mediation and Alignment, each addressing a different part of navigating cultural difference.

Dialogue does not guarantee resolution; it can also help reveal when a collaboration may need to end.

Tree diagram: Foundation as roots, Dialogue as the trunk, Mediation as branches, Alignment as canopy
The framework visualised as a tree — roots representing Foundation, trunk as Dialogue as Strategy, branches as Mediation and canopy as Alignment

This framework draws on and synthesises existing theoretical perspectives. Central to the framework is Ang and Van Dyne's Cultural Intelligence (CQ), alongside contributions from Luhmann, Meyer, Molinsky, Ting-Toomey, UNESCO and Harvard Business Review.

01

Foundation

What creates the conditions?

Read more02

Mediation

How do we navigate difference?

Read more03

Alignment

How do we sustain what develops?

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Originally developed alongside my MA thesis, this site documents the framework that emerged during the MA and continues to evolve as I develop my intercultural practice.

Read the full thesis