Intercultural training modules and programmes need to be grounded in theory, and this article presents a theoretical framework that is grounded in economy-based differences between countries, an area that has been hitherto neglected. The framework captures 10 key economy-based differences that can help orient business people to the differences beyond cultural differences in work values. This framework can be readily adopted for education and training purposes by allowing participants to work in a group to develop an understanding of the 10 characteristics of economically developing and developed societies, and discussing ways to deal with various related communication barriers emerging from them. It is hoped that other such frameworks will be explored to enrich the training tool kit of intercultural trainers and academics beyond cultural theory-based frameworks.
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