Analysis Of Hofstede 's Five Dimensions Of Culture

First, power distance measures the amount of layers there is between the entry level employee and the top tier managerial position. Typically, lower rankings indicate that the culture has a gradual hierarchy and less of a gap. Higher rates usually resemble a large discrepancy gauging the separation of employees and their employers. In the United States, power distance is fairly moderate at 40,

Question 1. How might the troubles with the tourism company be explained by Hofstede’s dimension of culture. Make sure to look at both Japanese and American cultures.

“When Cultures Collide”, Richard D. Lewis charted 24 leadership styles from around the world and I noted some similarities of the leadership styles that he made between an American and British that echoed that of a Kenyan and Tanzanian: British managers are diplomatic, casual, helpful, willing to compromise, and seeking to be fair, though they can be ruthless when necessary. Unfortunately, their adherence to tradition can result in a failure to comprehend differing values in others. American managers are assertive, aggressive, goal and action oriented, confident, vigorous, optimistic, and ready for change. They are capable of teamwork and corporate spirit, but they value individual freedom and their first interest is furthering their own career

Power distance is the way cultures create levels due to power, authority, prestige, status, wealth, and material assets.

Power Distance is one of Hofstede’s dimensions which is used to measure how the difference in power between the people is seen in a country. A country that has a high power distance is one where people are considered superior according to their gender, status, education, race, or family background. A good example of this dimension is India, mainly because of their caste system and females being looked down upon. Indian population is split into 5 groups, and each group has a separate power status and one you are born in the lowest caste, you cannot marry or associate with the highest class other than being servants of the higher class. Cultures with low power distance include Canada, Austria and Israel. People in these countries see each other more as equals.

Using Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions as a point of reference, what are some of the main cultural differences between the United States and France?

Power/Distance (PD), “refers to the degree of inequality that exists- and is accepted- among people with and without power. A high PD score indicates that society accepts an unequal distribution of power, and that people understand “their place” in the system. Low PD means that power is shared and well dispersed.” (www.mindtools.com) As an example from the article, Myers goes on to say, “there were basically four levels: VP, director, manager, and worker bee. You only talked to people at your level.” SK Telecom boasted that

The second Hofstede cultural dimension compared is “Individualism vs. Collectivism” which indicates whether members within a society define themselves as individuals or associate themselves with a particular group. In Hofstede’s comparison of Japanese and American cultures, American culture scored relatively high (91) in the individualism dimension. On the contrary, the Japanese culture scored relatively low (46) which firmly categorizes the culture as Collectivist. To clarify, Americans places self over group (Individualist), whereas the Japanese value group over self (Collectivist). As it relates to Snap Fitness’s desire to open fitness clubs in Japan, group think may lend itself to two very lucrative aspects of the business. First, a collectivist culture should stimulate Snap Fitness’s efforts to promote and sell corporate memberships which represent a significant revenue contribution in the 24/7 fitness business model. The second benefit collectivism should offer is an increase in the sales of group classes which is another notable source of club revenue.

When a business decides to venture internationally into different countries with its products, services, and operations, it is very important that the company gains an understanding of how the culture of the different societies affects the values found in those societies. Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most famous and most used studies on how culture relates to values. Hofstede study enabled him to compare dimensions of culture across 40 countries. He originally isolated four dimensions of what he claimed summarized different cultures — power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity (Hill, 2013, p.110). To cover aspects of values not discussed in the original paradigm Hofstede has since added two more dimensions — Confucianism or long-term orientation and indulgence versus self-restraint (Hofstede, n.d.). Because of the way Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are given an index score from 0-100, it is easy for a company to get a general comparison between the cultures they are expanding into and the culture they are already in.

This essay will first discuss the nature of Hofstede’s cultural framework and compare it with other culture frameworks. In the second part my personal score for each of the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions will be presented, followed by discussion on how my individual scores relate to the benchmarks suggested by Hofstede for my cultural background. The third section will address the issue of cross-cultural management and give suggestion to an Australian friend who is going to work as a manager in Shanghai.

Culture is defined as the symbols, language, beliefs, values, and artifacts that are part of any society. Culture is a multidimensional component that cannot be generalized for the sole purpose of creating a comprehensive methodology that is applicable to the entire world. To further dissect culture, Geert Hofstede, a renowned Dutch social psychologist, created the Cultural Dimensions Theory. With it, national culture can be analyzed along six different dimensions: Power Distance Index, Individualism versus Collectivism, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, Masculinity versus Femininity, Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation, and Indulgence versus Restraint. These different dimensions of culture were initially identified to understand how culture influences workplace values. Similarly, the Hofstede dimensions of natural culture can be used to understand the culture that determines its people’s participation or ignorance to an American pre-approval access programs. By understanding each dimension of the Hofstede model, each country’s cultural needs may be addressed and answered to better recruit patients from around the world.

Geert Hofstede is a Dutch social psychologist who studied interactions between various cultures. One of his most important and notable accomplishments has been the Cultural Dimensions theory which provides a systematic framework for analysing and assessing the differences between cultures from different geographic areas.

The United States and China boast the two largest economies in the world but, despite this fact, these two countries have very little in common. At first glance, this may seem very obvious to most people but, what exactly is it that makes these two countries so different? How is it that such different perspectives and approaches can both lead to great success? Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture are an attempt to answer these questions and more. Dr. Geert Hofstede, studied employees of the computer firm IBM in over fifty different countries. When he examined his findings he found “clear patterns of similarity and difference along the four dimensions” (Manktelow, Jackson Edwards, Eyre, Cook and Khan, n.d.). The fact that he focused his research on solely IBM employees allowed him to eliminate company culture as a differentiating factor and “attribute those patterns to national and social differences” (n.d.). He used his findings to originally identify four dimensions, later expanded to six, that could “distinguish one culture from another” (n.d.). The six dimensions all on a scale from 0 to 100 are:

Power Distance is the degree to which people accept inequalities between power. This results in a poor flow of information, both from supervisor to members of their organization. (Hofstede 1980) employee, as well as from subordinate to supervisor. Inequalities can be based upon the unequal distribution of power or privileges. In cultures with low Power Distance, people are more reluctant about the use of In most organizations, there is a hierarchy of management, built

Culture, in my own opinion, is a unique system of values and norms that are believed by a group of people who live in the same society. Since culture is unique, Geert Hofstede tried to study the differences. After the study, he proposed five dimensions to measure the cultural difference between nations. The following parts will explain Hofstede Framework briefly.