A basic threshold issue for understanding cross-cultural studies and deriving value from the research conducted in this area is developing a workable definition of the term "culture".  Unfortunately, this is not an easy task and as explained in this report there are a number of elements that must be accounted for including the level of analysis (i.e., societies or organizations) and the specific purpose of the  proposed research.  In future posts we will examine several of the attempts to suggest cultural dimensional models, which have now become widely used tools in cross-cultural comparative studies.