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In today’s global marketplace, it’s important to understand the differences between
cultures, as well as how those differences affect the way you do business. One of the
ways to understand culture is to look at it in the four dimensions established by
Hofstede:
1. Individualism vs. Collectivism
2. Small or Large Scale Power Distance
3. Uncertainty Avoidance
4. Masculinity vs. Femininity
The first dimension is Individualism vs. Collectivism. The issue in this
dimension is the relation between an individual’s interests and the interests of the
group. In individualist societies, the individual exercises loose ties between others,
is concerned with his own self-interests, and possibly the interests of his immediate
family. Individualist societies normally have a large degree of freedom and liberty,
which encourages people to pursue personal goals and ambitions. In collectivistic
societies, individuals are not so much concerned with their own interests as they are
the interests of their group, which can include immediate and extended families.
Every country theoretically fits somewhere along the Individualist-Collectivist
continuum.
FYI! Position or title does not equate to leadership. Just because you may be the CEO, President or a department head does not mean you have leadership attitudes or ability.
The second dimension measures Small or Large Scale Power Distance. The
fundamental idea is how each society deals with inequality. All societies suffer from inequality, but some are more unequal than others. Some of the variables which
contribute to inequality are physical size, intellectual giftedness, wealth, and
heredity. In organizations, scholars like Hofstede contend that the degree of Power
Distance is associated with centralization and autocratic leadership.
FYI! The problem-solving style of leadership goes under various names.
Uncertainty Avoidance is the third dimension. In short, this dimension deals
with how each society copes with the uncertainty of an unknown future. Some
societies accept more readily this uncertainty without much fear. These “Weak
Uncertainty Avoidance” societies take life as it comes, do not work as hard, are
willing to take risks, and are very tolerant of almost any behavior and opinion. On
the other hand, other societies experience anxiety because of an uncertain future.
Also known as “Strong Uncertainty Avoidance” societies, these cultures are marked
by emotional stress and aggressiveness.
Finally, the fourth dimension is Masculinity vs. Femininity. The issue is role
divisions between men and women in society. In every society, men and women
perform certain roles; men normally take more dominant roles, while women are
concerned with more caring and supportive roles. One can use these types of roles
to describe similarities between cultures. “Masculine” cultures value a high degree of
achievement, money, and work first. More “feminine” societies value quality of life,
relationships, and helping others before power and money.
FYI! Many organizations ensure that their most talented employees receive formal leadership assessments and attend leadership training programs. These can be conducted in the organization’s own educational facilities, at a college or university, through a computer simulation program managed by human resource companies that play the trainers’ role.
From these four dimensions, we can understand why it is wrong to assume or
assign one management theory to work for all cultures and societies. Much of the
writing on management over the past couple of decades, especially about
leadership, models of organization, and motivation, have been written from an
American point of view. Economically, this points to the importance of the US
economy during this period, but culturally it does not consider the impact on other
societies.
While more works needs to be done to understand the entire scope of the role
culture plays in management, understanding that there are differences, and using
these dimensions to explore them, is the first step.
Carmelo Di Salvo was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and received his B.A
in economics from the State University of New York in Buffalo. He graduated from
Regent University in 1995 with his M.B.A. In the years following, he spent time
working for businesses like Liberty Tax Service and RBC Centura, as well as several
years in the hospitality industry. He returned to Regent in 2003 to pursue a
Doctorate in Strategic Leadership. His current focus is on teaching and consulting in
the areas of strategic leadership, foresight analysis and creativity in the workplace.
Check out more on this topic at http://www.northstarconsultingllc.com.
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This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 9:47 am
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