Summary: Hofstede's Dimensions: An Examination And Critical Analysis

Read the summary and the most important questions on Hofstede's Dimensions: An Examination and Critical Analysis

• 1 Introduction

• What does Geertz Hofstede suggest?

  Human beings carry "mental programs" that are inherited biologically (e.g. individual or universal human programming) or developed and reinforced socially via family, institutions, and culture.

• Where are the different values among people of different cultures expressed according to Hofstede?

  Within the socially learned, or "collective" mental programs.

• What do the culture-specific or "emic" approahces attempt?

  To examine similarities and differences between or among two or more specific cultures.

• What does the culture-general approach seek to?

  It seeks to identify universal patterns of values and behaviour that differentiate among cultures generally.

• 1.1 Power Distance

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• Where does human inequality exist?

  In differing wealth, prestige, and laws, and it composes all relationships including family, friends, colleagues, etc.

• What does the power distance index (PDI) indicate?

  Whether a particular culture is high power-distance or low power-distance.

• What describes high PDI cultures?

  Authority, subordination, and little tolerance for individual freedom. People view power as a fact of society, not to be judged as good or evil and uses of coercive or referent power are common.

• What described low PDI cultures?

  There exists much less feat of confrontation and a higher concern for equality. De-emphasis of power. People regard hierarchy as an inequality of roles primarily for convenience. People believe that only legitimate or expert power should be used, and it can be judged as good or evil.

• 1.2 Uncertainty Avoidance

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• What is the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension (UA)?

  It refers to the level of ambiguity a particular culture can tolerate. It plays an important role in the way an organization or culture manages novel circumstances.

• What does the Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) describe?

  How a culture contends with uncertainty along a continuum from low to high structure. Those cultures registering high on the continuum have a tendency to rely on structure and rules to cope with uncertainty.