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Hofstede quick guide Cheat Sheet by

Hofstedes cultural dimensions

Dimensions of national cultures

Power distance index
Acceptance and expect­ation power distri­buted unequally.
Indivi­dualism vs collec­tivism
Degree to which indivi­duals are integrated into groups
Uncert­ainty avoidance index
Tolerance for uncert­ainty and ambiguity
Mascul­inity vs femininity
Masculine = compet­iti­veness, assert­ive­ness, materi­alism, ambition and power. Feminine = relati­onships and quality of life.
Long / short term orient­ation
Societies' time horizon. Long term = pragmatic, short term = past and present.
Indulgence versus restraint
Attempt to control desires and impulses

Mascul­inity vs femininity

Masculine culture
Values compet­iti­veness, assert­ive­ness, materi­alism, ambition and power. Difference in gender roles are more dramatic.
Feminine
Value relati­onships and quality of life
AKA: Quantity of Life vs. Quality of Life

Culture definition

Collective progra­mming of the mind which distin­guishes one group from another via values, rituals, modelling against heros and through unders­tanding symbols

Long / Short Term Orient­ation

Short term
Prefers immediate rewards. Horizon focus is relatively close
Long Term
Can put in effort now to wait for rewards to come later.
 

At a glance

Framework for cross-­cul­tural commun­ica­tion. Major resource in cross-­cul­tural fields
Developed in response to a world-wide survey of employee values by IBM in 60s & 70s
Originally 4 dimens­ions: indivi­dua­lis­m-c­oll­ect­ivism; uncert­ainty avoidance; power distance and mascul­ini­ty-­fem­ininity
5th added (long term orient­ation) because of indepe­ndant research from HK
6th added in 2010 = indulgence versus self-r­est­raint, as a result of co-author Michael Minkov's analysis of data from the World Values Survey.

Indivi­dualism vs collec­tivism

Indivi­dualism
Stress is put on personal achiev­ements and individual rights. Focus on immediate family.
Collec­tivism
Indivi­duals act predom­inantly as members of a lifelong and cohesive group or organi­zation. Focus on extended family.
Australia
Individual
Italy
Collective
Japan
Collective

Indulgence versus restraint

Indulgence
No control of desires and impluses
Restraint
Control of desires and impulses
 

Power distance index

High power distance
Heiarc­hial, high dependance on boss
Low power distance
Horizo­ntal, high indepe­ndance from boss
Australia
Low. Hierarchy establ­ished for conven­ience, superiors accessible and managers rely on employees and teams for their expertise.
Asia
High: lower level employees defer to higher level employees
Europe
Power distance tends to be lower in northern countries and higher in southern and eastern parts
America
Low
Problems with high: Makes innovation difficult, people do not speak up with ideas. People seem to have low self esteem but really they are just accepting the norm. Snr level get no inform­ation. Exposes company to risk. To change you need to start at the top.

Drawbacks / arguments against

Averages do not = indivi­duals of country. Hofstede assumes homoge­neity.
Relevancy: questi­onn­aire, biases, context of questions
National divisions: Cultures are not bound by borders
Political influence: context of timing (Cold war in Europe, Communism in Asia etc)
One company approach: IBM only, cannot provide valid data for entire culture. What about small business, what about farm hands
Out dated: 1980, too old to be of value
                   
 

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