动力塔

Power Tower - getting to know power distances from different cultures

Intercultural communication

The power tower represents the power distance between cultures and countries. Each level is higher than the other, which means that the distance to the level below is greater, thus also the distance.

In addition, the higher you go, the fewer people can sit together on one platform. The purpose of this is that only one person can sit on the top. This person sits above all others and it turns a feeling of superiority. Each level represents a different culture. The lowest represents a culture with a very small power distance, in which employees and employers communicate with one another on one level, whereas the top level represents a culture with very high power distances, where all decisions are made by the boss and are not questioned by the employees.

In order to get to the top, steps were attached to the power tower for visitors. These steps are not aligned up to the top level, but have an offset on each level. If visitors were to get to the top level in a straight line, the promotion would be easy. Due to the staggered arrangement of the steps, visitors are forced to go around each level. This way they perceive the promotion more consciously and experience each level for itself. Not only is the promotion difficult, the descent to one of the lower levels should also be strenuous and difficult. The aim is to induce a feeling of loss of power in the visitor, similar to the one experienced when losing a leadership position.

Pictures of the process