Hofstede Model

What is Culture?
Culture is a set of beliefs or standards,
shared by a group of people, which help
the individual decide what is, what can be,
how to feel, what to do and how to go
about doing it

What is Culture? From a

Business
Point of View
Culture is about different ways of doing
business and different client expectations
in different business communities .

Hofstedes Framework for

Assessing Culture
Hofstedes studies of the interactions between
national cultures and organizational cultures
demonstrated that there are national and
regional cultural groupings that affect the
behaviors of societies and organizations, and
that are very persistent across time.

Five factors

Low vs. High Power Distance

Individualism vs. Collectivism
Uncertainty Avoidance
Masculinity vs. Femininity
Long term orientation vs Short term
orientation

Low vs. High Power Distance

The extent to which the less powerful members
of institutions and organizations expect and
accept that power is distributed unequally
Low PD (Austria, Israel, Denmark, New Zealand)
expect power relations which are more
consultative or democratic. A sense of equality as
human beings prevades
High PD (Malaysia): autocratic and paternalistic
structures. Power is centralized

Power Distance at Work

Hierarchy
Centralization
Salary range
Participation
Ideal Boss
Privilege & status symbols

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualist societies: ties are loose and
everyone looks out for himself or herself
Collectivist societies: people integrated into
strong, cohesive groups; protection is
exchanged for loyalty

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Refers to the extent to which people are expected to

stand up for themselves and to chose their own
affiliations, or alternatively act predominantly as a
member of a life-long group or organization
In individual societies people tend to be motivated by
personal preferences, needs and rights; personal goals
and rational analysis take precedence
In collectivist societies people tend to be motivated by
norms and duties imposed by the group; ingroup goals
and relational analysis takes precedence.

Implications

Employee-employer relationship
Hiring and promotion decisions
Managerial focus
Task vs. relationship priority

Masculinity vs. Femininity

Refers to the value placed on traditionally
male or female values .
Masculine cultures: competitiveness,
assertiveness, ambition, personal
achievement accumulation of wealth(US)
Feminine cultures: caring for others,
nurturing roles, quality of life. ( Japan)

Implications

Centrality of work
Ways of managing & decision making
Fem: equality, solidarity, quality of work life
Mas: equity, compete, performance Conflict
resolution

Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which members of a society
attempt to cope with anxiety by minimizing
uncertainty.
High UA societies: avoidance of ambiguous
situations, preference of known stable situations,
uncertainty-reducing rules and procedures ( Latin
America, Japan)
Low UA societies: ambiguity is more accepted.
Uncertainty = opportunity. People as individuals
are the engine of change

Implications

Necessity of rules
Time orientation
Precision & punctuality
Interpretation of What is different
Appropriateness of emotional displays

Long-Term Orientation
It is the fifth dimension of Hofstede which was
added after the original four to try to distinguish
the difference in thinking between the East and
West. From the original IBM studies, this
difference was something that could not be
deduced. Therefore, Hofstede created a Chinese
value survey which was distributed across 23
countries. From these results, and with an
understanding of the influence of the teaching of
Confucius on the East, long term vs. short term
orientation became the fifth cultural dimension.

Traits of Long Term

emphasis on persistence.
relationships ordered by
status.
personal adaptability
important .
face considerations common
but seen as a weakness.
leisure time not too important

Short Term
emphasis on quick results.
status not a major issue in
relationships.
personal steadfastness and s
protection of ones face is
important ability important.
leisure time important

Thank you!