Hofstede: Culture and Workplace

Geert Hofstede in his book, Cultures and

Organisations: Software of the Mind, focuses on the
1980a, 1984a, and 1991 versions of his IBM studies
involving 1,16,000 employees in 70 counties and 3
regions, namely East Africa, West Africa and Saudi
Arabia. By restricting research to one company, he
tried to eliminate the impact of changing
organisational cultures and analysed the influence of
difference national cultures.

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 Hofstede: Culture and Workplace …Contd.

The findings demonstrate that:

o Work-related values are not universal;
o Underlying values persist when a multinational
company tries to impose the same norms on all its
foreign interests;
o Local values determine how the headquarters’
regulations are interpreted;
o By implication, a multinational that tries to insist
on uniformity is in danger of creating morale
problems and inefficiencies.
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 Hofstede: Culture and Workplace …Contd.

The four well-known dimensions that Hofstede

examined were:
o Power distance
o Uncertainty avoidance
o Individualism
o Masculinity
Comparisons between different cultures are plotted
across these four dimensions, largely independent of
each other.
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 Power Distance

It is ‘the extent to which less powerful members of

organisations accept that power is distributed
unequally.’ It is the distance between individuals at
different levels of hierarchy. Countries in which
people blindly obey the orders of their superiors
have high power distance. Examples would include
Mexico, South Korea and India. In such societies,
lower-level employees tend to follow orders as a
matter of procedure. Even at higher levels, strict
obedience is the practice.
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 Power Distance …Contd.

Hofstede found that power distance is greatest in

Malaysia and least in Austria and Israel. This
dimension shows desirability of equality and
inequality in the society or dependence versus
interdependence. Organisations in low power
distance countries are usually decentralised and have
flatter structures. The proportion of supervisory
personnel are less and the workforce will often
consist of highly qualified people in high power
distance countries.
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 Power Distance …Contd.

The salary gap between levels will be higher. Power

will be reflected through status symbols. Status will e
highly valued and have higher motivational appeal.
Management is more by control than by
participation.

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 Uncertainty Avoidance

It is ‘the extent to which people feel threatened by

ambiguous situations, and have created beliefs and
institutions that try to avoid these.’ This dimension
measures how far cultures prepare or socialise their
members into accepting ambiguous situations and
tolerating uncertainty about the future. High
uncertainty-oriented nations tend to have a high
need for security and a strong belief in experts and
their knowledge.

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 Uncertainty Avoidance …Contd.
Examples would include Germany, Spain and Japan.
Members in such countries are more anxiety-prone
and have high job stress. Employees place high
premium on job security, career planning, health
insurance and retirement benefits. Clear rules and
regulations are welcomed and those managers who
decide and give clear instructions are highly
respected.
Countries with low uncertainty culture are more
entrepreneurial, innovative and exhibit less
emotional resistance to change.
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 Uncertainty Avoidance …Contd.

Swedes, for instance, suppress emotions and see

shyness as a positive trait and talkativeness as a
negative one. In business they opt for the rational
than the emotional course. Swedes are avid appliers
of new technology and are ruthless in scrapping what
is old and inefficient. Trade unions, which find a place
on the board, will accept job cuts if they find rational
arguments in favour. In such countries managers are
of lower average age in higher-level jobs.

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 Uncertainty Avoidance …Contd.
Little value is attached to loyalty to the boss. Generalist
careers are preferred over specialist ones. Inter-
organisational conflict is considered natural and
compromise is an accepted route to reconciliation. The
manager breaks formal rules and bypasses authority if
necessary. Organisations in such countries have less
restructuring activities, fewer written rules and more
risk-taking managers. Organisations encourage personnel
to use their own initiative and to assume responsibility
for their actions. Sweden, the US and UK are examples of
countries with low uncertainty avoidance.
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 Individualism versus Collectivism
Individualism is the tendency of people to look after
themselves and their immediate families only.
Hofstede measured this cultural difference on a
bipolar continuum with individualism on one end and
collectivism on the other. Collectivism is the
tendency of the people to belong to groups and to
look after each other in exchange for loyalty.
Individualist cultures stress individual achievements
and rights and expect the individual to focus on his /
her needs. Competition is expected.
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 Individualism versus Collectivism …Contd.

Americans, high on individualist score, readily go to

court against authority and each other to claim their
rights. Individual decisions are valued over group
decisions and individuals have the right to differ from
majority opinion. The manager aims for variety
rather than conformity in work and does not have
strong emotional bond with the company. He/she is
loyal for as long as it suits his / her interests.

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 Individualism versus Collectivism…Contd.

Social philosophies reflect universalistic concerns

with the society, rather than with the need of any
particular group or family. There is a sense that one
should be fair to all.
Individualism cannot be equated with greed.
Distinction between individualism and collectivism
can be best understood by knowing who makes the
decision, individual or the group, and how this affects
performance.

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 Individualism versus Collectivism…Contd.

In collectivist cultures children are taught to think in

terms of ‘we’. Employer and employee are seen as
members of one family; relationship prevails over
task and duty. Promotions and advancements are
often based on seniority and loyalty rather than on
performance. Employee performance is better when
he / she works in an in-group than when working
alone or in an out-group.

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 Individualism versus Collectivism…Contd.

Hofstede found that wealthy countries have higher

individualism scores, and poorer countries have
higher collectivism scores. Countries like the USA,
Canada, Denmark, and Sweden have high
individualism and higher gross national product.
Japan is an exception. Conversely, countries like
Pakistan, or those in Latin America have low
individualism (high collectivism) and low gross
national product.

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 Masculinity versus Feminity
Masculinity is defined by Hofstede as ‘a situation in
which the dominant values in society are success,
money, and things.’ Hofstede measured this
dimension on a continuum ranging from masculinity
to femininity. Contrary to some stereotypes,
femininity is the term used by Hofstede to describe ‘a
situation in which the dominant values in society are
caring for others and the quality of life.’ Countries like
Japan, with a high masculinity index, place great
importance on earnings, recognition, advancement
and challenge.
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 Masculinity versus Feminity …Contd.
Individuals are encouraged to be independent
decision-makers, and achievement is defined in
terms of wealth. The workplace is characterised by
high job stress and managers believe that their
subordinates don’t like working, hence requiring
some amount of control.
Countries like Norway, with a low masculinity index,
tend to place great importance on cooperation,
friendly atmosphere, and employment security.

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 Masculinity versus Feminity …Contd.
Individuals are encouraged to be group decision
makers and achievement is defined in terms of
human contacts and living environment. The
workplace has a cordial atmosphere and managers
give more credit to employees and freedom to act.
Cultures with a high masculinity index like Germany
and Spain favour large-scale enterprises. Economic
growth is more important than conservation of
environment. Young men expect to have careers, and
those who do not often view themselves as failures.

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 Masculinity versus Feminity …Contd.
Fewer women hold higher-level jobs and they often
find it necessary to be assertive. Industrial conflict is
common.
Cultures with high femininity tend to favour small-
scale enterprises and place great importance on
conservation of environment. The school system is
designed to teach social adaptation. Many women
hold higher-level jobs and they do not find it
necessary to be assertive. Industrial conflict is less
and workplace has less stress.
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Annexure Slides

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 What is Organisational Culture
A Definition
There seems to be wide agreement that
organisational culture refers to a system of
shared meaning held by members that
distinguishes the organisation from other
organisations. This system of shared meaning
is, on closer examination, a set of key
characteristics that the organisation values.

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 What is Organisational Culture …Contd.
A Definition …Contd.
The research suggests that there are seven
primary characteristics that, in aggregate,
capture the essence of an organisation’s
culture.
1. Innovation and risk taking: The degree to
which employees are encouraged to be
innovative and take risks.
2. Attention to detail: The degree to which
employees are expected to exhibit precision,
analysis, and attention to detail.
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 What is Organisational Culture …Contd.
A Definition …Contd.
3. Outcome orientation: The degree to which
management focuses on results or outcomes
rather than on the techniques and processes
used to achieve these outcomes.
4. People orientation: The degree to which
management decisions take into consideration
the effect of outcomes on people within the
organisation.

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 What is Organisational Culture …Contd.
A Definition …Contd.
5. Team orientation: The degree to which work
activities are organized around teams rather
than individuals.
6. Aggressiveness: The degree to which people
are aggressive and competitive rather than
easygoing.
7. Stability: The degree to which organisational
activities emphasize maintaining the status
quo in contrast to growth.
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 What is Organisational Culture …Contd.
A Definition …Contd.
Each of these characteristics exists on a continuum
from low to high. Appraising the organisation on
these seven characteristics, then, gives a
composite picture of the organisation’s culture.
This picture becomes the basis for feelings of
shared understanding that members have about
the organisation, how things are done in it, and
the way members are supposed to behave.
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Innovation and attention to detail are key characteristics of Gillette
Company’s organisation culture. Gillette’s development of new
shaving breakthroughs like the Sensor razor involves thousands of
shaving tests and design modifications. The company’s team of
research scientists use microscopes to examine razor blades at
atomic level and high-speed video to capture the act of a blade
cutting a single whisker. Gillette’s CEO Alfred Zeien devotes 2.2
percent of the firm’s annual sales to research and development –
about twice the average of other consumer product companies.
Zeien predicts that his huge investment in R & D will result in 50
percent of Gillette’s sales coming from products introduced within
the past five years.

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Culture is a Descriptive Term
Organisational culture is concerned with how
employees perceive the characteristics of an
organisation’s culture, not with whether or not they
like them. That is, it’s a descriptive term. This is
important because it differentiates this concept from
that of job satisfaction.
Research on organisational culture has sought to
measure how employees see their organisation: Does
it encourage teamwork? Does it reward innovation?
Does it stifle initiative?
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Culture is a Descriptive Term …Contd.
In contrast, job satisfaction seeks to measure
affective responses to the work environment. It’s
concerned with how employees feel about the
organisation’s expectations, reward practices, and
the like. Although the two terms undoubtedly have
overlapping characteristics, keep in mind that the
term organisation culture is descriptive, while job
satisfaction is evaluative.

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 Culture’s Functions
Culture performs a number of functions within an
organisation.
First, it has a boundary-defining role; that is, it
creates distinctions between one organisation and
others.
Second, it coveys a sense of identity for
organisation members.
Third, culture facilitates the generation of
commitment to something larger than one’s
individuals self-interest.
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 Culture’s Functions …Contd.

Fourth, it enhances social system stability. Culture

is the social glue that helps hold the organisation
together by providing appropriate standards for
what employees should say and do.
Finally, culture serves as a sense-making and
control mechanism that guides and shapes the
attitudes and behaviour of employees. It is this last
function that is of particular interest to us.

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 Culture’s Functions …Contd.
As the following quote makes clear, culture defines the
rules of the game:
Culture by definition is elusive, intangible, implicit, and taken for
granted. But every organisation develops a core set of
assumptions, understandings, and implicit rules that govern day-
to-day behaviour in the workplace…. Until newcomers learn the
rules, they are not accepted as full-fledged members of the
organisation. Transgressions of the rules on the part of high-level
executives or front-line employees result in universal disapproval
and powerful penalties. Conformity to the rules becomes the
primary basis for reward and upward mobility.

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 Culture’s Functions …Contd.

The role of culture in influencing employee

behaviour appears to be increasingly important in
today’s workplace. As organisations have widened
spans of control, flattened structures, introduced
teams, reduced formalisation, and empowered
employees, the shared meaning provided by a
strong culture ensures that everyone is pointed in
the same direction.

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 Culture’s Functions …Contd.
Who receives a job offer to join the organisation,
who is appraised as a high performer, and who gets
the promotion are strongly influenced by the
individual – organisation “fit” – that is, whether the
applicant or employee’s attitudes and behaviour
are compatible with the culture. It’s not a
coincidence that employees at Disney theme parks
appear to be almost universally attractive, clean,
and wholesome looking, with bright smiles.

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 Culture’s Functions …Contd.

That’s the image Disney seeks. The company

selects employees who will maintain that image.
And once on the job, a strong culture, supported
by formal rules and regulations, ensures that
Disney theme-park employees will act in a
relatively uniform and predictable way.

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