Hofstede’s monochronic and polychronic attitudes to time correlate to Trompenaars’ sequential and simultaneous frameworks. For monochromic and sequential representatives of a culture there is a limited amount of time available, and it should be used wisely. The need for efficiency results in a sense of urgency. Plans are important and interruptions constitute a nuisance.

In contrast, the polychronic and simultaneous people are multitaskers. In their estimation, time is limitless. Time is regarded as a tool and should always be adjusted to meet the needs of the people. Circumstances take precedence over schedules and deadlines which are only seen as a point of orientation.

While the monochronic types place more value on efficiency and meeting deadlines and schedules, the polychronic types are caregivers. Value is placed on friendliness and consideration for others. It is better to be late and treat people humanely than to act like a machine. So it is that it is more polite for an Italian to come to a meeting late than to leave the previous meeting while still in session. For monochronic people, time is also equated with “professionalism” or “dignity and humanity”.

For one, time is a commodity that should not be wasted -“time is money” -, while the other follows an internal clock.

Further orientations are past, present and future. For those who focus on the past, heritage and tradition count as well as experience and the “way things have always been done”. Others live in the here and now and yet others focus on how things can be improved for the next time. Polychronic people tend to focus on the present, linear people on the future.