Hofstede Proposed Four Value Dimensions : Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, And Masculinity

There are five Dimensions of Culture that Hofstede mentions in International Business, The Challenge of Global Competition. These include: Individualism-collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity-femininity and long-term orientation/Confucian dynamism. Understanding these dimensions will assist a U.S.

Inequalities within society could be power and authority differences in hierarchies of organizations. The score of countries on the power distance index is determined by the answers of IBM employees to 3 specific questions, which focus on the corporate culture of an organization. The different score of countries on the PDI index represent differences in family, school and workplace among countries. (Hof-stede 2010, pp.

Many organisational managers claimed that Hofstefe model is successfully comparative different culture in different countries. However, some scholars argued that it is risk to apply Hofstede model due to validity and reliably to differentiate culture such as perception of culture, methodology, and his dimensions.

For example, taking into account Nisbett, Cohen and Hofstedes studies, we assume how a specific cultural belief, tradition and attitude become part of the person and not just of his/her surroundings. For example, Hofstedes dimension called “Power Distance Index” (PDI), is concerned with attitudes towards authority and hierarchy. This cultural perception makes a huge difference in how people feel with their superiors and how they react to control-authority, -father like figures.

Management Summary This Bachelor Thesis will yield insights in the applicability of motivational theories across cultures. Within a globalizing working environment this research will provide relevant information on how to motivate employees with a different cultural background. The research combines the theory of Hofstede’s four dimensions (Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism and Masculinity/Femininity) with two theories of

Geert Hofstede is a researcher researching on the global leadership he focuses on how culture affects values in a workplace. He defends that all behaviors are defined by culture. The culture of a place affects how an individual behaves. Hofstede cultural dimensions are power distance index it measures the power of members in an organization it shows how the society handles inequality. Individualism is how an individual is integrated in a group. Masculinity this evaluates the distribution of roles. Uncertainty avoidance tolerance to the society, long-term orientation shows the values of perseverance and finally the

Hofstede defined the culture as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from that another”. His five types of cultural dimensions are the most popular in many cultural area studies, include: (1) power distance; (2) individualism vs. collectivism; (3) uncertainty avoidance; (4) masculinity vs. femininity; and (5) long-term vs. short-term orientation. These dimensions offer an insight towards behaviors and standards in the cultural context which are useful for many motivators to explore the people in different culture. The text suggested that countries with high uncertainty avoidance will lead to more job security, whereas people with low uncertainty avoidance (for example, U.S.) are motivated by new ideas and innovation. People with high power distance are motivated by relationships between subordinates and their boss, while people with low power distance are motivated by team work and relationships with their peers. On the other hand, individuals from high individualism are motivated by opportunities and autonomy; collectivism (for example, Japan) suggests that motivation should be done with group goals and support. Individuals from high masculine culture are comfortable with the tradition and division of works and roles; in a feminine culture, the motivators help people through flexible roles and work

The first of Hofstede’s dimensions deals with power distance. Hofstede’s description of power distance is the degree in which less-superior members of an organization within a country tolerate the unequal distribution of power, for instance, between managerial roles in a company and the employees. New Zealand has a score of 22 in this dimension, which is considered very low. A very low score depicts that equality is a predominant cultural value within the

The first dimension in Hofstede’s theory is power distance, which is considered high in Brazil, and the strong belief in power distance means that the power is distributed unequally, where the less powerful members of organizations within the country accept the difference. With a high distance, Brazilians believe that everyone has a place in the social hierarchy and accept inequalities amongst people; thus, the power holders have more benefits than the less powerful in society. In organizations, authorities and responsibilities in the Brazilian work environment are often centralized. Therefore, the decision-making need to make by the high-ranking people, which evident what hierarchical business is in Brazil. Also, it is important to show status symbols of power to indicate the social position and get respect from others. In contrast, the US score is low which indicates

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

Dr. Hofstede performed a comprehensive study of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. In the 1970’s, as a Dutch researcher Dr. Geert Hofstede, collected and analyzed data from 116,000 surveys taken from IBM employees in forty different countries around the world. From those results, Hofstede developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions of differentiate cultures. These include: Uncertainty Avoidance (UA), Masculinity-Femininity (MAS), Individualism-Collectivism (IND), Power and Distance (PD). After a further study of the Asian culture by researcher Michael Bond in 1991, Hofstede added a fifth dimension in his theory, Long- and Short-term time orientation (LTO), also referred to as the Confucian Dynamism. His research has framed how cultural differences can be used in professional business transactions. Geert Hofstede 's dimensions analysis can assist the business person in better understanding the intercultural differences within regions and between countries.

The dimension of power distance affect the HR activities by reactions to management authority differently among cultures. There will be greater status and authority differences between superiors and subordinates if the power distance increases. The next factor is individualism which it can up to which people in a country prefer to act as individual in the group. Asian countries more toward to group-oriented meanwhile United Stated more prefer to individualism. The last factor are masculinity and femininity which means masculine is for men and femininity is for women. The person with assertiveness, success, and competitiveness well known as masculine meanwhile feminine known by quality of life, close personal relationships, and

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

| * India scores high on this dimension, 77, indicating an appreciation for hierarchy and a Top – Down Structure in society and Organizations. dependent on the boss or the powerholder for direction, acceptance of un-equal rights between the power-priviledged and those who are lesser down in the pecking order, immediate superiors accessible but one layer above less so, paternalistic leader, management directs, gives reason / meaning to ones work life and rewards in exchange for loyalty from employees. * Real Power is centralized even though it may not appear to be and managers count on the obedience of their team members. * Employees expect to be directed clearly as to their functions and what is expected of them. * Communication is top down and directive in its style and often feedback which is negative is never offered up the ladder

United States is ranking as the small power distance or individualism for the reason that every American worker is being treated equally in despite of different positions. Western countries would like to see how each individual participate in the job and disregard of the hierarchy. In contrast, Japanese organizations tend to have large power distance as there is a large dissimilar treatment in different level of positions. Managers are always showing their power and apply their authorities to their employees. As showed in the movie, Japanese executives such as Kazuhiro frequently use autocratic style to make decisions that he considers to be right. In addition, when Kazuhiro received phone call from his boss, he was very modest and obedient during the