Mcsweeney vs. Hofstede

Geert Hofstede is a professor who came up with a theory after researching how people from different background/ countries interact with each other, he based this on six different types of dimensions. Which were, power distance, individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long and short term orientation. This theory was created so that society could come into terms with issues that needs to be organized. Geert Hofstede theory has become more important as society is continuing to become an integrated global economy.

Instead of focusing on diversifying, the leaders of the country focus on gaining power and standing in the government. “Nigeria’s most daunting challenge lies in overcoming the severe divisions among its competing religious and ethnic groups” . Moreover, once they gain it, their problems do not end, since they must look over their back, never knowing how long they will hold on to the little power they have. Meanwhile, the common person suffers, as he is neglected by his government and must survive on his own. “The standard of living declined even further than before and external debts increased.” This neglect of the common man bodes ill for the government, as it is the common man who votes in the polls. However, the vote does very little, since corruption is rampant in Nigeria.

Nigeria is also considered a patriarchal society where the being are dominant over their women in various areas of their lives and this translates to the men making the most decisions. Children are important and are considered a continuation of the family or community lineage. When young people are around elders they are required to respect them irrespective if they know them or not. Nigerians love to dress nicely and therefore when you go visit their country dress in a modest manner. On other occasions such as weddings, baptisms they will dress in their African

The measurements of Geert Hofstede that are going to be examined are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, individualism/ collectivism and long term orientation. Power distance in a culture is the degree to which people accept unequal distribution of power. In high power distance societies people feel dependent on those in power and expect direction from them. It is important to understand this when

Nigeria is a very big country with very diverse culture. There are 36 states in Nigeria,

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

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.

Child Mortality: According to Unicef, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under five-year-olds and 145 women of childbearing age every single day and this makes Nigeria the second largest contributor to under-five and maternal mortality rate” (Unicef). What people tend to forget is that this is an effect of gender inequality, gender inequality decreases maternal health and can harm children both the unborn and born kids. Gender inequality increases the incidence of low birth and malnourished kids and this causes the death of kids before the age of five. If these women were educated or at least taken a better hospital and not depending on their village herbs and all those medicines, then the rate of child mortality will be decreased in Nigeria. This is also a part of the UN millennium development goals, so as to reduce the rate of child mortality and help this women learn more about how to take care of themselves since they were never educated because they are “Women”.

The first was the weak sense of nationalism caused by all the ethnic groups where religion played a major part of the division. The main three ethnicities in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo; the former is Muslim while the two latter are Christians. The second cause mentioned was the “divide and rule” which was a British tactic to employ ethnic groups against one another, and thus “helped ensure that ethnicity would be the main line of political cleavage after Nigeria became an independent country.” The third cause is the personal rule system based on “big men” and what this means is that Nigerian’s who worked for the British used their personal relationships to gain power and wealth, and in a certain way it is still used today in the Nigerian government. The fourth devastating cause was the “creation of an increasingly active and interventionist state during WWII and after until its independence in 1960, but that opened the doors to patronage, which would be used to gain political power and wealth. The past reveals the problems Nigeria has had for several decades, some of which have not disappeared but seem to get progressively worse. (CITATION)

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.

Before we begin, let’s take a look at the country and its environs. Nigeria a former British Colony, located in the western part of Africa, it shares borders with Benin, Cameroun, and Niger. A growing population of 150million, labour force of 51million (70% Agriculture, 10% industry and 20% service), urbanisation is less than 40%, GDP is over $300billion, Per capita income is $2300. Nigeria is blessed with different cultures, languages and ethnic groups (252 in total); this was due to the colonization of the British in the early 19th century (Columbia Encyclopaedia). The British amalgamated its protectorates in 1914 to enable stable control and governance which made them create one Nation of Nigeria formed from all the groups, community and empires around the Niger area under their control. Nigeria had her independence on the 1st of October 1960 and since then various civil wars, political and religious unrest in the country to share power and resources amicably.

Geert Hofstede is an influential Dutch researcher in the fields of organizational studies and more concretely organizational culture, also cultural economics and management. He is a well-known pioneer in his research of cross-cultural groups and organizations and played a major role in developing a systematic framework for assessing and differentiating national cultures and organizational cultures. His studies demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groups that influence behavior of societies and organizations.

For example, if a company based in the United States were going to expand into France, the company could use Hofstede’s 6 cultural dimensions to get a general look at the differences between the two. Then out of those differences, the company could see what approaches may or may not work, or what they may need to change,

The Hofstede’s theory has really brought some of my own personal thoughts on my cultural background to light. This was the first time I ever heard about Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. I am American and there are things about the traits for American Culture that I thought was just something based on where you are from in regards to the United States. I always felt that since I was raised in Brooklyn, NY my parents expected me to think this way. The biggest for me was the biggest on the scale was Individualism (91). I was raised know that I am different and everyone is different but special in their way. No matter who you are, you still bring something to the table. Indulgence (68) was the second highest and I myself is firm believer in work

Hofstede consider culture as “the collective programming of the mind”, which makes it necessary to look at the attitudes, beliefs, and values. Explain the element of Hofstede typology.