Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

1. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions • Individualism-collectivism • Masculinity-femininity • Power distance • Uncertainty avoidance

2. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (cont’d) • Work-related value dimensions • Most influential effort to group by cultural values • Surveyed over 116,000 employees in more than 70 countries • Created maps of pairs of dimensions

3. Individualism-Collectivism • Self-perception as individual or part of a group • Most widely studied • Most complex • Dimensions different across cultures • i.e., Asian vs Latin American collectivism

4. Individualism High value on autonomy Individual achievement Privacy Collectivism High value on group Family, clan, organization Loyalty Devotion Conformity Individualism-Collectivism (cont’d)

5. Success Assertive acquisition of money/power achievement Equality of genders Caring for disadvantaged harmony Masculinity-FemininityDescribes Importance of Achievement versus Relationships

6. High-Power Distance Accept position Follow authority Concentrated & centralized authority Hierarchical Low-Power Distance Avoid concentration of authority Decentralized Fewer layers of management Power DistanceAcceptance of differences in power

7. Low Uncertainty Avoidance Embrace unpredictable Less adherence to rules, procedures, or hierarchies Risk taking desirable High Uncertainty Avoidance Threatened by ambiguity Need stable & predictable workplace Reliance on rules Uncertainty AvoidanceReaction to ambiguous events

8. Cultural Maps • Individualism-Collectivism & Power Distance • Uncertainty Avoidance & Masculinity-Femininity • Uncertainty Avoidance & Power Distance

9. Individualism-Collectivism & Power Distance • Large power distance and collectivism • Asia and Latin America • Small power distance and individualism • Northern Europe and Anglo countries

10. Culture Map for Power Distance and Individualism

11. Uncertainty Avoidance & Masculinity-Femininity • Achievement oriented-weak uncertainty avoidance & masculine values • Security Motivation-high uncertainty avoidance & masculinity • Social Motivation-feminine values & high uncertainty avoidance

12. Culture Map for Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity-Femininity

13. Uncertainty Avoidance & Power Distance • Family-large power distance & weak uncertainty avoidance • Pyramid of People-large power distance & strong uncertainty avoidance • Well-Oiled Machine-small power distance & strong uncertainty avoidance • Village Market-small power distance & low uncertainty avoidance

14. Culture Map for Power Distance and Uncertainty Orientation

15. Limitation of Hofstede’s Dimensions • Missing countries • Estimates values • Ignores differences within clusters

16. Trompenaars’s Alternative Dimensions • Focus on values and relationships • Survey of • 15,000 managers • Over 10-year period • From 28 countries • Bipolar cultural dimensions

17. Trompenaars’s Alternative Dimensions (cont’d) • Outer-directed—Inner-directed • Universalism—Particularism • Neutral—Emotional • Specific—Diffuse • Achievement—Ascription • Individualism—Communitarianism