Undoubtedly, television and cinema, the Internet, changes in political structure and international business expose us everyday to new cultures, values and attitudes, whether or not actively perceived by us. As I have argued, that the media has undergone a profound change, and polarizes itself in the two corners of a global media, with universal programming and regional or local programming, displaying global-like content. This shift moves the media from focusing on the country's culture to a more universal or global culture, whose values it displays to the receiver. The Internet shifts our communication use to a potentially global form. The Internet indeed gives the chance to experience intercultural communications at low cost, which facilitates the use of it in a wider audience.
Global business forces the employees to think more global, and experience intercultural encounters.
This effect can reach from the placement in a foreign country to the foreign co-worker in a home factory. Politics also play an important role. Equally, the collapse of the Eastern Block, and the following investment of money and people in those countries have made intercultural encounters possible to what was largely a closed system before. The political changes in turn have also influenced the globalization of media available in those countries experiencing the opening of their systems, as well as the availability of communication resources such as Internet. Although the culture shock, if one wishes to use that term, that is experienced differs in degree by the circumstances that surround it.