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

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

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

7. Uncertainty AvoidanceReaction to ambiguous events 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

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