Hofstede 's Cultural Dimensions Model Essay

In today’s high tech global community, it is not uncommon to have companies in one country doing work with others clear across the world. It is important to keep in mind that understanding the role of culture, in the international business setting, is key to success and prosperity. It is essential and know that each nation has their own set of values and ways of interacting. For example, although the United States and China frequently do business together and are equally seen as leaders on the global market, they still have very apparent differences in cultural norms. These contrasting characteristics are grouped under Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture. They include, the level of uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, individualism versus collectivism, power distance, long-term versus short-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint (Hofstede, 2001). Once one is able to properly distinguish cultural differences, can they then successfully communicate, thrive, and potentially lead in the global economy.

The model of six dimensions of national culture, one of the most powerful studies to describe cultural differences, is the result of the detailed research by Geert Hofstede and Geert Jan Hofstede between 1967 and 1973. By measuring the six dimensions on a scale from 0 to 100 the model helps to differentiate cultures as well as explaining work-related values. Hofstede identified the following six dimensions including the Power distance index (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Long term orientation versus Short term normative orienta-tion (LTO), Indulgence versus Restraint (IND) which will be analyzed now. (Griffin & Pustay 2015 p.127); (de Mooij 2010, pp.74-75); (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010 pp. 55-296)

Geert Hofstede’s framework is a referenced approaches for analysing culture variations. The dimensions conjointly illustrate the impact of the culture ingrained in society on the values of the members. They also describe the relationship between these values and behaviour and using a structure based on factor analysis. Hofstede conducts a study about the difference in cultural environments in the 1970s and 1980s. He surveyed more than 116000 IBM employees in 40 countries about their work-related values. He also finds about the managers and employees vary on five dimensions national culture. These five dimensions are power distance, individualism versus collectivism, achievement versus nurturing, uncertainty avoidance and long-term versus short-term orientation.

Looking at the chart the first dimension of culture plotted is individualism-collectivism. This dimension addresses how people define themselves and their relationships with others. Cultures that fall on the individualism side of the continuum share four characteristics. First, such cultures consider the individual to be the most important entity in any social setting. Second, individualistic cultures stress independence rather than dependence. Third, individualistic cultures reward individual achievement. The last characteristic is; individualistic cultures value each individual’s uniqueness.

Here is an overview of the work of Hofstede, which is probably the most popular work in the area of culture research. Although the work provides a relatively general framework for analysis, the framework can be

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 country that I choose for the Session Long Project for this class is Japan. By observing the Hofstede’s webpage a person can easily tell that there is a huge disparity in the values of the power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions between Japan and the United States. Japan’s cultural dimension values of power distance, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance are significantly higher than the values of the United States. The United States’ value in the cultural dimension individualism doubles that of Japan. Japan’s power distance score indicates that the country’s has a borderline hierarchy society while the United States’ fairly low score indicates that the country has the belief that everybody is treated equal rather than having a hierarchy. By observing the individualism culture dimension value for both countries, one can identify that the United States has a more independent society than Japan.

Geert Hofstede once said, “Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.” This quote means that no culture is alike or completely cohesive and that the differences between cultures are often incompatible and combative. This quote also ties directly into what will be discussed in this research paper. An analysis of the similarities and differences between the United States and India through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions of individualism, collectivism, low uncertainty avoidance, high uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity, femininity, short-term oriented culture, and long-term oriented culture.

Term 11. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension- a theory that describes the effects of a society’s culture on the value of its members and the associated behaviors (Cornacchione, & Daugherty, 2013).

Hofstede’s first dimension is individualism vs collectivism. An individualist culture emphasizes the individual over the group, thus individual goals trump the group’s objectives. While a collectivist culture promotes interdependence amongst the group, individualism expects one to be independent and self-sufficient. As a result of individualism in cultures, individual rights and needs are a major focus of all decisions. Inferring from the characteristics explained above, an individualist culture is remarkably inwardly-directed with a sharp focus on one’s self. On the other hand, a collectivist culture correlates to one’s self sourcing identity in the group. Individualist and collectivist cultures have stark differences between each other, and people from each respective culture often clash in regards to identity and self.

The most famous researcher of prevailing cultures in different countries goes by the name of Geert Hofstede. “He conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture” (). With the help of his research team, Professor Geert Hofstede created a model of national culture consisting of six dimensions. “The cultural dimensions represent independent preferences for on state of affairs

Geert Hofstede developed the widely applied Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, which mainly focuses on how different countries with different cultural backgrounds handle different anthropological problems that occur in cross-cultural communication (Hofstede 1980). The first five Hofstede’s dimensions will be discussed in following paragraphs. It should be clear that there is no good and bad between two elements in each dimension since every culture has its unique features and ways to function.

| * 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

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 discuss the influence of cultural dimensions on behavior. A cultural dimension is defined as a perspective of a culture based on its values and cultural norms. In particular, Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism vs. collectivism will be discussed. Individualism vs collectivism is defined as the preference of a person only being concerned about oneself and looking after oneself, compared to a person who wants to remain in a closely knitted network. These are some terms with definitions which will be used in this essay: the Asch paradigm, which refers to the studies conducted by Solomon Asch, in which he showed his participants different lines and asked them to verbally judge and respond as to what the length of the