The Second Hofstede Cultural Dimension Compared : Individualism Vs. Collectivism

Collectivism is doing something not just for yourself but for the good of everyone involved. It has nothing to do with the individual and everything to do with the overall group’s success. This is what the Japanese value highly. They always reinforce this throughout the movie about how they will do whatever it takes for the company to do good. One of many examples of this is when the Japanese show up to play the softball game. Before the game starts you see the Japanese team working together and participating in a team warm up. The Americans make fun of this and think of it as something that makes them weaker. When the game starts you are able to see exactly how this hurts the Americans. The Japanese play a “small ball” game and worry about getting runners on base and relying on everyone working together to get runs on the board. The Americans, who are less team oriented, try to do everything themselves and try to hit the ball as far and hard as they can every time they come up to bat.

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)

Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture are power distance, individualism v collectivism, masculinity v femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term v short-term time orientation. In the film the five dimensions are present, in the dimension of power distance it clear with the powerful positions that all the characters have within their professional lives. The way they live and own lavish houses leads to believe that they don’t believe they are equals to everyone else because of their status. Most of the couples demand respect and expect not to be question in their motives, which is a higher power context. Next is individualism versus collectivism, in

Explanation: Hofstede 's framework rates Japan and Singapore as "collectivist" and the United States as "individualistic." A collectivist cultures has a stronger group identity than an individualistic culture.

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.

Asian and South American cultures tend to be a collectivistic culture because they put more value on group membership, group obligations and group goals than on the individual. Face saving plays an important role while managing the reputation of one's family or group organization

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.

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?

This essay aimed to evaluate and critique the paper written by Geoffrey Williams and John Zinkin. It was divided into seven parts. First of all, I would brief introduce what the essay is about, followed by giving the description of the paper being evaluated. Then, theory and literature would be evaluated, with highlighting the theoretical frameworks used by the authors in developing the paper. Research design and approach would come to the fourth part, in which I would explore the research design and methods and discuss the benefits and limitations. Afterwards, benefits and limitations of the research design and approach would be given, and finally comes the suggestions of alternative research strategies/method and the

“In your country of origin it is normal that people are not treated equally” (Graph 4)

As defined in the Oxford dictionary, culture is the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society (“Culture”). In general, culture is divided into two categories, social and organizational. Social culture is the shared values and knowledge of a society whereas organizational culture is the shared values and knowledge of an organization (Payne). The two cultural categories are both relevant to Snap Fitness’s desire to open club locations in Tokyo, Japan. The social culture is important for the organization towards attaining a greater understanding of the customer. A greater understanding of the customer will allow Snap’s management to create culturally tailored fitness programs and culturally sensitive targeted marketing thereby increasing overall club membership. A thorough understanding of Japanese organizational culture will improve management’s ability to effectively mesh Snap’s organizational culture in the operation of the new fitness club.

| * 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

Hofstede’s model (1980) has been used widely in research in the past two decades. The