The Dimensions of Culture

Hofstede and the HERMES Project

Geert HofstedeHofstede is a native of the Netherlands and acquired his doctorate in the field of social psychology. Beginning in 1966, he undertook a massive research project involving a major multinational corporation identified only by the pseudonym HERMES. In the course of this project some 116,000 questionnaires were completed by HERMES employees at all levels (unskilled workers to top managers) located in 50 developed and less developed nations. The questionnaires were administered in the language of each country. A total of 20 languages were employed. The principal difference among the respondents was culture; all of them were otherwise similar because they were carefully matched for other characteristics such as age, sex, and job category, and all worked for the same corporation.

Power Distance

This dimension indicates the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally among individuals.

Power Distance

LARGE SMALLHigh dependence needs Low dependence needs

Inequality accepted Inequality minimized

Hierarchy needed Hierarchy for convenience

Superiors often inaccessible

Superiors accessible

Power-holders have privileges

All have equal rights

Change by revolution Change by evolution

Uncertainty Avoidance

This dimension indicates the extent to which a society feels threatened by ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them by providing rules, believing in absolute truths, and refusing to tolerate deviance.

Uncertainty Avoidance

STRONG WEAKAnxiety, high stress Relaxed, lower stress

Inner urge to work hard Hard work not a virtue per se

Showing emotions accepted

Emotions not shown

Conflict is threatening Conflict & competition seen as fair play

Need for consensus Acceptance of dissent

Need to avoid failure Willingness to take risks

Need for laws and rules There should be few rules

Individualism vs Collectivism

This dimension indicates the extent to which a society is a loosely knit social framework in which people are supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families, instead of a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups and expect their in-group to look after them.

Individualism vs Collectivism

INDIVIDUALISM COLLECTIVISM

“I” conscious “We” conscious

Private options Relationships over tasks

Fulfill obligations to self

Fulfill obligations to group

Loss of self-respect, guilt

Loss of “face”, shame

Masculinity vs Femininity

This dimension indicates the extent to which the dominant values in society tend toward assertiveness and the acquisition of things, and away from concern for people and the quality of life.

Masculinity vs Femininity

MASCULINITY FEMININITYAmbitious and a need to excel

Quality of life serving others

Tendency to polarize Striving for consensus

Live in order to work Work in order to live

Big and fast are beautiful Small and slow are beautiful

Admiration for the achiever Sympathy for the unfortunate

Decisiveness Intuition

Confucian Dynamism

This dimension indicates the extent to which a society exhibits a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historic or short term point of view.

Confucian Dynamism

LOW HIGHAbsolute truth Many truths (time,

context)

Conventional/Traditional

Pragmatic

Short term orientation Long term orientation

Concern for stability Acceptance of change

Quick results expected Perseverance

Spending for today Thrift for investment

Cultural Constraints on Transfer of Technology Across Nations

Proposition 1:

Process- and person-embodied technologies are more difficult than product-embodied technologies to transfer and diffuse across nations because cultural differences at the organizational, as well as societal, level play greater roles in such transfers.

Proposition 2:

Transfer of technology is easiest between two organizations that are similar in terms of their societal/national culture-based tendencies to either avoid or embrace uncertainty generated in their organizational contexts to such transfers.

Proposition 3:

Technologies that might introduce significant changes in the distributions of power, status (real and symbolic), and rewards in the recipient organization of the developing country that emphasizes power distance are least likely to be effectively transferred.

Proposition 4:

a) Organizations located in individualistic cultures are more successful than organizations located in collectivistic cultures in their propensity to absorb and diffuse imported technology.

b) However, collectivistic cultures that are fairly masculine also are effective in such matters.

Proposition 5:

Masculine cultures are more effective than feminine cultures in absorbing and diffusing imported technology in organizational contexts.

Associative vs Abstractive CulturesASSOCIATIVE People utilize

associations among events that may not have much logical basis.

Communication is characterized by face-to-face contact, and it takes place among individuals who share a large body of information based on both historical and contextual modes.

Context is very important.

ABSTRACTIVE Cause-effect

relationships or rational Judeo-Christian types of thinking are dominant.

A vast amount of communication tends to be conveyed through mass media and related technological mechanisms.

Proposition 6:

Abstractive cultures are more effective than associative cultures in their ability to absorb and diffuse imported technology.

Negotiated Order1) The number of negotiators, their

experience, and whom they represent.2) The sequence and frequency of

negotiations.3) The relative balance of power among the

concerned parties.4) The stakes and visibility of the outcome of

the negotiations.5) The complexity of the issues.6) The alternatives to avoiding or

discontinuing negotiations.

Proposition 7:

Differences in the negotiated orders of the cultures of the organizations involved in the transfer and diffusion of technology across nations adversely affects the effectiveness of such transfers.

Absorptive Capacity

1) Local versus cosmopolitan orientation.

2) The existence of a sophisticated technical core in the recipient organization.

3) The differences in strategic management between the transacting organizations.

Proposition 8:

Cosmopolitan organizations in societies that also have a sophisticated technical and an appropriate strategic management orientation are more effective than local organizations in systematically managing technological transfers.