Transcript Document

What Is Culture?
- is a technical term used by anthropologists to refer to a system
for creating, sending, storing, and processing information
developed by human beings, which differentiates them from
other life forms (Hall 1990).
- is "to human collectivity what personality is to the individual"
(Hofstede 1984, p.21).
- it consists of ideals, values, and assumptions about life that are
widely shared among people and that guide specific behaviors.
(Brislin 1993)
GEERT HOFSTEDE’S
DIMENSIONS OF CULTURAL VARIABILITY
• Individualism-Collectivism
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Masculinity-Femininity
• Confucian Dynamism / Long
Term Orientation
Power Distance
• Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the
less powerful members of organizations and institutions
(like the family) accept and expect that power is
distributed unequally.
• This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined
from below, not from above.
• It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by
the followers as much as by the leaders.
• 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than
others'
Power Distance Ind
ex PDI
"Hierarchy"
High
Hofstede Score
Malaysia
Mexico
China
Indonesia
India
Average
World Average = 55
104
81
80
78
77
Korea, S.
Taiwan
Spain
Japan
Italy
Low
Hofstede Score
60
58
57
54
50
U.S.
Australia
Germany
U.K
Israel
40
36
35
35
11
Masculinity-Femininity
• refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which
is another fundamental issue for any society to which a
range of solutions are found.
• The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less
among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from
one country to another contain a dimension from very
assertive and competitive and maximally different from
women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and
similar to women's values on the other.
• The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the
modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine
countries have the same modest, caring values as the men;
in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and
competitive, but not as much as the men
Masculinity (MAS)"Gen
der"
High
Hofstede Score
Slovakia
Japan
Hungary
Austria
Average
World Average = 50
110
95
88
79
China
Germany
U.S.
Australia
Low
Hofstede Score
66
66
62
61
South Korea
Finland
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
39
26
16
8
5
Individualism-Collectivism
• Individualism (IDV) on the one side versus its opposite,
collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are
integrated into groups.
• On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties
between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look
after him/herself and his/her immediate family.
• On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people
from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive ingroups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and
grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange
for unquestioning loyalty.
Individualism - IDV
"Identity"
High
Hofstede Score
U.S.
Australia
U.K.
Netherlands
New Zealand
Average
World Average = 43
91
90
89
80
79
Spain
India
Japan
Brazil
Low
Hofstede Score
51
48
46
38
China
Singapore
Thailand
S. Korea
Taiwan
Indonesia
20
20
20
18
17
14
Uncertainty Avoidance
• a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It indicates to
what extent a culture programs its members to feel either
uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations.
Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from
usual.
• Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such
situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and
on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth;
• People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional,
and motivated by inner nervous energy.
• The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant
of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as
few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level
they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side.
• People within these cultures are more phlegmatic and contemplative,
and not expected by their environment to express emotions.
Uncertainty Avoida
nce Index UAI
"Truth"
High
Hofstede Score
Greece
Portugal
Japan
S. Korea
Mexico
Average
World Average = 64
112
104
92
85
82
Germany
Thailand
Indonesia
U.S.
China
India
Low
Hofstede Score
65
64
48
46
40
40
U.K.
Hong Kong
Sweden
Denmark
Singapore
35
29
29
23
8
Confucian Dynamism / Long Term Orientation
• this fifth dimension was found in a study among students in
23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire
designed by Chinese scholars
• It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth.
• Values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and
perseverance; values associated with Short Term
Orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social
obligations, and protecting one's 'face'.
• Both the positively and the negatively rated values of this
dimension are found in the teachings of Confucius, the most
influential Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 B.C.;
however, the dimension also applies to countries without a
Confucian heritage.
Long-Term Orientati
on - LTO
"Virtue"
High
Hofstede Score
China
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Japan
S. Korea
Average
World Average = 45
118
96
87
80
75
Thailand
Singapore
Netherlands
Low
Hofstede Score
56
48
44
Australia
U.S.
U.K.
Philippines
Ghana
31
29
25
19
16
• http://www.geert-hofstede.com/