In culture studies, culture is seen as mental programming, where patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting are seen as mental programmes analogous to computer programming. Upbringing plays a major role here, and culture is generally considered learned and not inherited. The sources of an individual's mental programming lie within the familial and social environment in which he/she grew up as well as the individual's collected life experiences. Significantly "culture" refers to the process of socialization, which encompasses all the rules, regulations, assumptions, mindsets, world-view of the family/environment/society in which the individual lives and grows up. Culture enables individuals to play a normal role in society by teaching and shaping human behaviour in accordance with the values and norms that are accepted in that community.

Cross-Cultural studies build on the conviction gained from different fields like social anthropology, sociology, or organisational psychology that all societies, traditional or modern, face the same basic problems; only their approaches at finding answers differ. The "Onion" diagram or the "Iceberg" model, try to explore cultures at different levels of depth. Different theorists like Hoffstede, Trompenaars, or Geertz try to understand differences among cultures through value differences along quantifiable dimensions.

Though they are very valuable tools for understanding cultural differences, identifying barriers, and finding ways of working around them, they suffer from some shortcomings.

Firstly, the concepts of ethnicity and nation-state are considered to be equivalent, which is not often the case in real life nowadays. Not all German or French citizens are ethnic Germans or French and diversity creates complexity in behaviour patterns.

Secondly, scholars like Nigel Holden criticize the concept of "culture" as a 19th century concept based on culture as difference.

Thirdly, much of cross-cultural literature present these "dimensions" e.g., Hofstede dimensions uncritically as fact rather than theories with significant inherent limitations.

Last but not the least, the role of the particular industry/field and the organisation is not given due importance, though it might sometimes override ethnic cultural "dimensions". In spite of having very different cultural "dimensions", a German software designer might have more in common with a Russian software designer rather than with a German investment banker.

In a business context, two other dimensions complicate the picture. The culture of the profession/field and the organization play a major role in the success of organisational socialization, or how the newcomer successfully integrates and functions in the organisation. The behavioural/mindset expectations that newcomers must acquire in order to become investment bankers are very different from the behavioural/mindset expectations of DJs in the music industry. A 150 year old multinational in the steel industry, which still runs as a family business, is an entirely different world from a website graphics design startup business with 25 year olds.

Another aspect that these "cultural dimensions" measure somewhat sketchily is mindsets or world-view (Weltanshaung as the Germans call it). Scandinavians often believe that the Nordic model of welfare state is the supreme achievement of mankind and all other societal models are somehow inferior. Scandinavian society is often extremely arrogant when the question of recognizing an immigrant's educational and professional qualification comes up, especially if the immigrant has not been trained locally or at an elite Western educational establishment like Oxford University or Harvard. A very qualified surgeon from China or Brazil with 20 years experience might be required to take basic courses to "bring her/his qualifications up to the local level". This might cause very much resentment possibly affecting work commitment.

Typically the cultural barriers that are encountered in the business world originate from inadequate knowledge about:

• How different orientation to time and space affects behaviour
• Do people from different cultures have different expectations about induction and socialization from the firm and colleagues?
• Differences in communication methods (e.g., do they like to physically meet and discuss face to face or think over things alone and then e-mail own comments, do they signify dissent bluntly or keep silent)
• How people process information (do they take notes silently or air their views dramatically during presentations etc)
• What does it mean if the organisation is hierarchical and not flat
• Differences in how managers delegate, supervise and follow-up tasks
• How managers and subordinates see each others roles
• What different areas corporate social responsibility is seen to encompass (the Indians or the Japanese see the role of managers and the company very differently from the Finns or the Danes)
• How are Career and Performance Management implemented?
• Do employees from different cultural backgrounds have different concepts of getting and giving respect?
• How do the special characteristics of the field/industry affect daily behaviour?
• How important it is to learn the particular organisational culture of the firm?
• How does the equation of human capital, cultural capital, social capital as well as spiritual capital work for each person?

An organization's strategy for dealing with cultural barriers should entail the following steps:

• Identifying precise nature, location and origin of barriers
• Deciding the aims of intervention - why and to what degree that particular barrier needs to be removed
• Choosing the method of intervention - is training the preferred method, should it be individual or group training, one time or repeated, self-learning or group learning etc
• Ways of securing commitment to change - people involved should know why changes are desired and what are the benefits for them
• Damage control strategies - what to do when things go wrong with interventions
• Follow-up mechanisms to prevent relapses, support learning, reward achievements and monitor overall success

However, the law in many countries restricts what you can ask or cannot ask candidates at job interviews. Established practice and common decency also dictate how you should conduct a job interview. The purpose of these laws restricting some areas of inquiry is to prevent discrimination, so that every human being gets a fair chance of being recognized for true worth and contribution rather than on grounds of skin colour, ethnicity, gender or age etc.

Though the majority of interviewees are genuinely interested in getting the jobs they apply for, a small number of dishonest people purposely plan misusing the interview system by finding out what is illegal, going for interviews and then suing the company for discrimination when the interviewer has asked the wrong questions. Corporate HR interviewing policy usually learns to take account of these unfortunate malpractices after some expensive litigation.

Though they vary from country to country, some overall guidelines could be given. Some of these restricted areas of inquiry at job interviews are:

• Nationality
• Birthplace
• Ethnicity or race
• Religion
• Sexual orientation
• Marital status
• Health conditions and physical disabilities

The following list of questions gives only some very broad guidelines. You should always check with your company's HR department or with someone who really knows to see if your state or locality, or even your company, has additional restrictions on what you may not ask.

1. Where were you born?

   This question might seem like innocent small talk, but it could also be used to gather information about the candidate's national origin. You should ask whether a candidate is authorized to work in the country, but avoid asking about citizenship. But some jobs are restricted to nationals of that country so you need to ask that question with proof of such citizenship.

2. What is your native language?

   You can ask whether the person speaks a language required for carrying out the job. For example, if job responsibilities include supporting French-speaking customers, it's fair to ask whether the candidate speaks French fluently.
   
   Race or ethnicity is an irrelevant factor affecting the employee's capacity to do the job though there might be some exceptional cases relating to employment in roles that require involvement with particular ethnicities or nationalities. Many employers are aware that discrimination on the basis of race is unlawful so they try to go around by asking questions like “Is that a Jewish name? But enquiries into the ethnicity of candidates are illegal in many countries.

3. Are you a lesbian? Are you married?

   This question is off limits at job interviews as the information gained can be used as a basis for discrimination. Achieving the balance between work and private life is considered the individual's own affair and does not concern the employer.

4. Do you have children?

   This might sound like an innocent question in most setting, but in a job interview it is illegal. There are general prohibitions about discrimination over parental status, so avoid asking this question.

5. Do you plan to get pregnant?

   This information is insulting, private and also can be used as a basis for discrimination so it should never be asked.

6. How old are you?

   Age discrimination is illegal, and you should avoid asking this question. Usually people write their age on their CVs. It's equally ridiculous to ask a senior level applicant with decades of job experience “Are you sure you are over 18 years old?&rdquo

7. Do you observe Ramadan or Yom Kippur?

   You can't discriminate candidates on the basis of religion, so this question is illegal. If you're concerned about the candidate's availability during certain times of the year, you could ask whether he or she can work on holidays and weekends. But you cannot ask about the observance of particular religious holidays, as this question is discriminatory.

8. Do you have a disability or chronic illness?

   This information is illegal as a factor in recruitment, so the question is illegal. If the job requires some specific physical skills, such as installing cables in high places or standing for most of the day, you may ask whether the person could perform those tasks in those particular circumstances.

9. Are you in the National Guard or liable for conscription?

   It's illegal to discriminate against someone because he or she belongs to the National Guard or is liable to conscription.

10. Do you smoke or use alcohol?

    Almost all jobs forbid drinking being under the influence of alcohol while on the job but consuming alcohol on free time is a private affair. Smoking is also forbidden indoors in many countries. Though people can be fired for drinking or being under the influence of alcohol or other narcotics while on work, and spontaneous tests can be conducted at the workplace, asking about these can be problematic. So make sure what is allowed or not in your country or state.

Most of the articles on the Internet on the topic of what is legal or illegal in job interviews focus on the USA. As legislation and established practices differ in different countries, please make sure of local conditions before designing your own job interview questions.

I remember when working with our on site clients.I think there was a diversity of thinking even for the so mentioned diversity above.While I could see some treating other people equally,while I could see others showing lot of discriminations.

Well, diversity is one of the greatest strengths of any company. Unless you have say for example, people with diversity of knowledge,how will a company become successful in executing projects if all of its employees are equally qualified or say qualified in only a single technology. How will the company make any business?

Workplace diversity helps to build the organization's relationship with the community, enhance the contribution of its employees and improve the quality of its products and services, hence increase the turnover which is the ultimate goal of any business/company.

So most companies have come up with diversity training programs where in people are trained in their soft skills for accepting and coming up with diversity.

Major benefits of diversity is increased innovation ,improved service to clients ,better employee relationships with clients as well as co workers.