Hofstede's cultural dimension case study

Aim

• to examine the results of a world-wide survey of employee values by IBM in the 1960s and 1970s.

Procedure

• Between 1967 and 1973, he executed a large survey study regarding national values differences across the worldwide subsidiaries of this multinational corporation: he compared the answers of 117,000 IBM matched employees samples on the same attitude survey in different countries. He first focused his research on the 40 largest countries, and then extended it to 50 countries and 3 regions, "at that time probably the largest matched-sample cross-national database available anywhere

Findings: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions• Individualism-collectivism

• Masculinity-femininity

• Power distance

• Uncertainty avoidance

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (cont’d)• Work-related value dimensions

• Most influential effort to group by cultural values

• Created maps of pairs of dimensions

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

Individualism-Collectivism (cont’d)Individualism

• High value on autonomy

• Individual achievement

• Privacy

Collectivism

• High value on group– Family, clan,

organization

• Loyalty

• Devotion

• Conformity

Masculinity-FemininityDescribes Importance of Achievement versus Relationships• Success

• Assertive acquisition of money/power

• achievement

• Equality of genders

• Caring for disadvantaged

• harmony

Power DistanceAcceptance of differences in powerHigh-Power Distance

• Accept position

• Follow authority

• Concentrated & centralized authority

• Hierarchical

Low-Power Distance

• Avoid concentration of authority

• Decentralized

• Fewer layers of management

Uncertainty AvoidanceReaction to ambiguous

eventsLow UncertaintyAvoidance• Embrace

unpredictable• Less adherence to

rules, procedures, or hierarchies

• Risk taking desirable

High UncertaintyAvoidance• Threatened by

ambiguity• Need stable &

predictable workplace

• Reliance on rules

Cultural Maps

• Individualism-Collectivism & Power Distance

• Uncertainty Avoidance & Masculinity-Femininity

• Uncertainty Avoidance & Power Distance

Individualism-Collectivism & Power Distance• Large power distance and collectivism

– Asia and Latin America

• Small power distance and individualism

– Northern Europe and Anglo countries

Uncertainty Avoidance & Masculinity-Femininity• Achievement oriented-weak uncertainty

avoidance & masculine values

• Security Motivation-high uncertainty avoidance & masculinity

• Social Motivation-feminine values & high uncertainty avoidance

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

Limitation of Hofstede’s Dimensions• Missing countries

– Estimates values

• Ignores differences within clusters

Trompenaars’s Alternative Dimensions• Focus on values and relationships

• Survey of

– 15,000 managers

– Over 10-year period

– From 28 countries

• Bipolar cultural dimensions

Trompenaars’s Alternative Dimensions (cont’d)• Outer-directed—Inner-directed

• Universalism—Particularism

• Neutral—Emotional

• Specific—Diffuse

• Achievement—Ascription

• Individualism—Communitarianism