CHAPTER 2

DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE IN BUSINESS

Dimensions of culture
 Hofstede’ Cultural
Dimension
Dutch Scientist, has analyzed cultural
dimension in IBM Employees (1,16,000)
in 70 countries and in 3 regions
like E. Africa, W .Africa and Saudi
Arabia.

Hofstede tried to eliminate the impact of

changing organizational cultures and
analyzed the influences of different
national cultures.
Hofstede provides a useful framework for understanding
the workforce diversity. His main findings were:

• Work related value are not universal

• Underlying values continues when a multinational company tries

to impose the same norms on all its foreign interests.

• Local value determine how the headquarters regulations are

interpreted;

• By implication, a multinational that tries to insist on uniformity is

a danger of creating morale problems and inefficiencies.
 Hofstede’s framework for Assessing
culture
Hofstede’s 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
 Dimensions of Hofstede’s framework
of assessing culture:

 Low and High Power Distance

 Individualism and collectivism

 Masculinity v/s Femininity

 Uncertainty avoidance

 Long and short term orientation

Power Distance:
unequal power of distribution.

It is the distance between individuals at different levels of hierarchy.

Hofstede observed two types of distance:

1. High power distance
2. Low power distance
High Power distance Low power distance

Countries in which people blindly obey the Countries which people (supervisors and
orders of their superior, employees subordinates) are apt to regard one another
acknowledge the boss’s authority simply by equal in power.
respecting that individual’s formal position in
the hierarchy, and they seldom bypass the
chain of command

Results
• Less Harmony and less cooperation • More harmony and cooperation.
• Centralized order • Decentralized structure
• Autocratic Leadership • Democratic leadership
• Taller Organization structure • Flatter organization structure

Maxico, South Korea and India. Austria, USA, UK, Denmark

Uncertainty Avoidance
High uncertainty avoidance
Countries with a high level of uncertainty
avoidance tend to have strict laws and
procedures to which people adhere closely,
and there is strong sense of nationalism.
In a business context this value results in
formal rules and procedures designed to
provide more security and greater career
stability
so
• Managers have inclination for low risk
decisions,
• employees exhibit little aggressiveness
• lifetime employment is common
• Taller organization structure
Japan, Austria, Pakistan
Low uncertainty avoidance
In countries with lower levels of uncertainty
avoidance nationalism is less pronounced, and
protests and other such activities are tolerated.
As a consequence, company activities are less
structured and less formal.
• Managers take more risk, and there is
high job mobility
• Peoples have risk taking attitude and
high labour turnover.
• Flatter organizational structure
India, USA, UK etc.
 Individualism and Collectivism
Individualism
Interest of Self and Family
‘I’ consciousness
Independence of Individual from organization.
Greater Individual Initiatives
Promotions are based on Merit and
performance
USA, UK, Australia
Collectivism
Interest of Group
‘We’ consciousness
Dependency on organization
Less Individual initiatives
Promotions are seniority based
Japan, Taiwan and Pakistan
Masculinity v/s Femininity
Traditionally, ‘masculine’ values – assertiveness, materialism, aggressiveness and a
lack of concern for others that prevail in society, femininity emphasizes feminine values – a
concern for others, for relationships, nurturing, care for weak and for quality of life. The degree of
masculinity affects in the following characteristics way:
High Masculinity Low Masculinity

• Career is considered as most • Importance is placed on cooperation

important
• Work needs take precedence
• Individual decision-making is emphasized
• Achievement is given importance and
is defined in terms of money and
recognition
and friendly atmosphere.
• Employee security gets precedence.
• Group decision – making is emphasized
• Achievement is defined in terms of
human contacts and living Environment

Countries with high masculinity – India, Countries with low masculinity – Denmark,
Japan,USA, UK etc. Norway, Sweden etc.
Short and Long Term Orientation
KLUCKHOLN -
STRODTBECK
This theory is based on the ‘Patterns of
behavior and thinking’ in different
cultures. The researchers distinguish and
compare cultures based on the following
dimensions
1. What is the nature of people – Good, evil or mixed
2. What is a person’s relationship to nature – Dominant,
Harmony, subjugation.
3. What is a person’s relationship to – Hierarchical, collectivist
or others?
Individualistic.
4. What is the modality of human activity? – Doing, being or
containing
5. What is the temporal focus of human activity? Future,
present or past.
6. What is the conception of Space? Private, public or mixed.
HALLS AND HALLS

Halls and Halls in 1987 provided another basis for cross

cultural classification. They divided
the world into two cultures:

A) Low context Culture

B) High context Culture
􀂄 Members of high – context cultures depend heavily on the
external environment, situation and non – verbal behavior in
creating and interpreting communication. Members of this
culture group learn to interpret the covert clues when they
communicate – so much meaning is conveyed indirectly.
􀂄 Examples – Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, where indirect
style of communication and ability to understand the same is
highly valued.
In low – context cultures like the US, Sweden, and Britain, the
environment is les important and non-verbal behavior is often
ignored.
􀂄 Therefore, communication has to be explicit and clear.
􀂄 A direct and blunt style is valued and ambiguity is disliked
in managerial communication.
TROMPENAARS

cultural dimension model

Research produced following cultural dimensions that are based on relationship
orientations and attitudes toward both time and the environment

a) Individualism vs. Communitarianism

b) Universalism vs. particularism (rules)
c) Neutral vs. emotional
d) Specific vs. diffused involvement
e) Achievement vs. ascription (status)
f) Time
g) Environment
h) Cultural Patterns or Clusters
Universalism vs. Particularism

Universalism - belief that ideas and Particularism - belief that

practices can be applied everywhere circumstances dictate how ideas and
in the world without modification practices should be applied and
something cannot be done the same
everywhere

Focus on formal rules and rely on Focus on relationships, working things

business contacts out to suit the parties
 Individualism vs. Communitarianism
􀂃 Individualism - people regard 􀂃 Communitarianism - people regard
themselves as individuals themselves as part of a group

􀂃 Rely on individuals to make decisions 􀂃 Seek consultation and mutual

consent before making decisions

Neutral vs. Emotional

􀂃 Neutral - culture in which emotions 􀂃 Emotional - culture in which
are held in check emotions are expressed openly and
naturally

􀂃 People try not to show their feelings 􀂃 People smile, talk loudly, greet each
other with enthusiasm
 Specific vs. Diffuse
􀂃 Specific - culture in which Diffuse - culture in which both public and
individuals have a large public space private space are similar in size and
they readily share with others and a individuals guard their public space
small private space they guard closely carefully, because entry into public space
and share with affords entry into private space as well
only close friends and associates

People often are open and extroverted People often appear indirect and
introverted, and work and private life
often are closely linked

Work and private life are separate

 Achievement vs. Ascription

Achievement - culture in which Ascription - culture in which status is

people are accorded status based on attributed based on who or what a
how well person is
they perform their functions

For example, status may be accorded

on the basis of age, gender, or
social connections
 Time
􀂃 􀂃 Sequential approach to time - 􀂃 􀂃 Synchronous approach -
people do one thing at a time, keep people do more than one thing at a
appointments strictly, follow plans to the time, appointments are approximate
letter

Environment
􀂃 Inner-directed 􀂃 Outer-directed
􀂃 People believe in controlling 􀂃 People believe in allowing things
environmental outcomes to take their natural course

Cultural Patterns or Clusters

Defined groups of countries that are similar to each other in terms of the five
dimensions and the orientations toward time and the environment
ADLER LAURENT’S
Laurent analyzed the values of managers
in nine European countries and the US in
1983 and 1989
in China, Indonesia and Japan.
 Laurent used four parameters

 Perceptions of the organizations

 Authority systems
 Role formulation systems
 Hierarchical systems
 This research treated management as a process by which managers
express their cultural values – like how far manager caries his / her
status into the wider context outside the workplace Therefore, the
international manager needs cross – cultural competence to manage
multiculturalism.
 Cross cultural competence includes skills, awareness and Knowledge. In
order to be culturally competent, an individual needs to:
1. Possess a strong personal identity
2. Have knowledge of and facility with the beliefs and values
of the culture;
3. display sensitivity to the effective process of the culture.
4. Communicate clearly in the language of the given culture
group.
5. Perform specially sanctioned behavior.
6. Maintain active social relations within the cultural group
7. Negotiate the institutional structures of that culture.