Masaryk Uni, Brno Intercultural Management 2 ●The work and influence of Geert Hofstede ●Some other theoretical approaches to Culture MU Brno 2018 1 Preamble: question 1 ●You are going to work in: - Canada - France - Singapore - Mexico………….. Predict some of the deeper and less visible cultural differences which you might encounter in the workplace MU Brno 2018 2 Preamble: question 2 ●You are working in Brno and a new colleague is coming from: - Sweden - USA - China - Brazil Predict some of the deeper and less visible cultural differences between their culture and France which they might encounter in the workplace MU Brno 2018 3 Hofstede’s Background ●Born in Netherlands in 1928 ●Founded and managed the Personnel Research Department of IBM Europe ●Co-founder of IRIC (Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation) ●Most cited living non-American in the field of Management in the US Social Sciences Citation Index! MU Brno 2018 4 Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture ●Geert Hofstede’s cultural typology is the most often used. ●It is based upon a study (questionnaire) of 100,000 IBM employees who worked in IBM divisions throughout the world. ●Here is a sample questionnaire – complete it carefully and we will then look at the results MU Brno 2018 5 Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture ●Hofstede’s survey revealed four underlying dimensions of culture ❖ Power Distance (PD) ❖ Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) ❖ Individualism/Collectivism (IND) ❖ Masculinity/Femininity (MAS) MU Brno 2018 6 Power Distance (PD) ●Power Distance is the extent to which hierarchical differences are accepted in society and articulated in terms of deference to higher and lower social and decision levels in an organization. ●Artifacts of high PD: –Centralization –# Org. Levels – steep organisational pyramid –# Supervisors – multi-layered pyramid –Differing Values, White & Blue Collar Work MU Brno 2018 7 POWER DISTANCE LOW PD culture HIGH PD culture N N+1 N N+1 MU Brno 2018 8 POWER DISTANCE LOW PD cultures ●Subordinates expect to be consulted ●Bosses are accessible ●Initiative is expected ●Inequalities should be minimised ●Privilege & status symbols discouraged MU Brno 2018 9 POWER DISTANCE HIGH PD cultures ●Subordinates expect to be told what to do ●Privilege & status are normal ●Superiors « inaccessible » ●Inequalities accepted MU Brno 2018 10 POWER DISTANCE ●So what would you expect??? LOW PD HIGH PD …………………? …………………? …………………? …………………? …………………? …………………? MU Brno 2018 11 POWER DISTANCE LOW PD HIGH PD Denmark Malaysia Sweden Mexico Ireland France MU Brno 2018 12 Power Distance: case 1 ●What problems might a manager from a low PD culture have working with an assistant from a high PD culture? « Empowerment » ●What problems might a manager from a high PD culture have working with a team from a low PD culture? MU Brno 2018 13 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE ●The degree to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid it = high UA MU Brno 2018 14 Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) ●Uncertainty Avoidance is the extent to which uncertainty and ambiguity are avoided/tolerated. ●Artifacts of high UA: –Standardization –Structured activities –Written rules –Specialists –Low risk tolerance –Ritualistic behavior MU Brno 2018 15 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE Weak/Low UA ●Apparently relaxed environment, minimal stress ●Initiative encouraged ●Relatively few rules & regulations ●Pragmatic ●Tolerance of deviant, innovative ideas ●People can seem quiet, easy-going or « lazy » to those from a different background MU Brno 2018 16 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE Strong/High UA ●Anxious, higher stress levels at work ●Risk-averse – need to avoid failure ●Need for rules & regulations ●Resistant to change ●Low tolerance of deviant, innovative ideas ●People can seem busy, emotional, aggressive or unfriendly to those from a different background MU Brno 2018 17 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE ●So what would you expect??? Weak UA Strong UA Singapore Greece Denmark Japan UK France MU Brno 2018 18 Uncertainty Avoidance ●Strong (high) uncertainty avoidance vs. Weak (low) uncertainty avoidance ●Uncertainty avoidance ~ ≠ ~Risk avoidance ●Stress at work rises with higher UA ●High UA = fear of “failure” MU Brno 2018 19 Uncertainty Avoidance: case 2 ●What problems could affect a multi-cultural team composed of members from high & low UA cultures? ●How could these problems be dealt with? MU Brno 2018 20 INDIVIDUALISM /COLLECTIVISM ●Individualism – ties between individuals are loose; people look after themselves and their immediate family ●Collectivism – people are integrated into strong, cohesive groups in exchange for unquestioning loyalty MU Brno 2018 21 INDIVIDUALISM /COLLECTIVISM High Individualism ●Identity is based on the individual ●Task prevails over relationship ●Work relationship – contract of mutual advantage ●« self-respect » important ●Correlates .82 with GNP MU Brno 2018 22 INDIVIDUALISM /COLLECTIVISM Collectivism (a low score on Hofstede’s index for IND) ●Identity is based on social network ●Relationship prevails over task ●Work relationship – family model ●« face » & maintenance of harmony ●Management of groups not individuals MU Brno 2018 23 INDIVIDUALISM /COLLECTIVISM High IND High COLL ????????? ????????? USA HK UK Guatemala NL Japan MU Brno 2018 24 MASCULINITY / FEMININITY ●The dominant values in society are: MASC – material success, achievement, FEM – quality of life, caring for others MU Brno 2018 25 MASCULINITY / FEMININITY High MAS ●Ambition, assertiveness ●Competition & performance important ●« Live to work » ●« Size matters » ●Distinct gender roles ●Managers are expected to be assertive Note: High MAS often correlates positively with % of GNP spent on defence MU Brno 2018 26 MASCULINITY / FEMININITY High FEM (low score on MAS index) ●Quality of life issues are important ●Equality & solidarity are important ●« Work to live » ●« Small is beautiful » ●Overlapping gender roles ●Managers often strive for consensus Note: High FEM often correlates positively with % of GNP spent on overseas aid MU Brno 2018 27 Masculinity vs. Femininity Masculinity ●Earnings ●Recognition ●Advancement ●Challenge NOT…machismo Femininity ●Managing ●Cooperation ●Living space ●Employment security MU Brno 2017 28 MASCULINITY / FEMININITY ●So what would you expect??? High MAS Low MAS=High FEM Japan Sweden USA NL Germany France MU Brno 2018 29 Long-Term Orientation (LTO) ●Originally called Confucian Dynamism because of anchoring in the Confucian value system. ●Represents such values as thrift, persistence, and traditional respect of social obligations. ●Organizations likely to adopt longer planning horizon, with individuals ready to delay gratification. MU Brno 2018 30 Confucian Dynamism ●aka long-term vs. short-term orientation ●5th dimension revealed through another study - Chinese value survey (CVS) ●Administered to 100 students in 23 countries! ●Findings of study ●Related to economic growth MU Brno 2018 31 Confucian Dynamism (Ratings) Long-term orientation ●Persistence ●Ordering and observing relationships by status ●loss of “face” = weakness ●Save, be thrifty ●Invest in real estate ●Oriented towards future rewards Short-term orientation ●Change is encouraged ●Emphasis on quick results ●Personal steadfastness important ●Spend ●Invest in funds ●Oriented towards present & near future MU Brno 2018 32 Some Examples 1 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/graphs/5dgraph.php?c1=France&pdi1=68&idv1=71&mas1=43&uai1=86<p1=0&c 2=Germany&pdi2=35&idv2=67&mas2=66&uai2=65<p2=31 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/graphs/5dgraph.php?c1=France&pdi1=68&idv1=71&mas1=43&uai1=86<p1=0&c 2=United+Kingdom&pdi2=35&idv2=89&mas2=66&uai2=35<p2=25 MU Brno 2018 33 Some Examples 2 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/graphs/5dgraph.php?c1=France&pdi1=68&idv1=71&mas1=43&uai1=86<p1=0&c 2=United+States&pdi2=40&idv2=91&mas2=62&uai2=46<p2=29 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/graphs/5dgraph.php?c1=France&pdi1=68&idv1=71&mas1=43&uai1=86<p1=0&c 2=Japan&pdi2=54&idv2=46&mas2=95&uai2=92<p2=80 MU Brno 2018 34 Some Examples 3 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/graphs/5dgraph.php?c1=France&pdi1=68&idv1=71&mas1=43&uai1=86<p1=0&c 2=Denmark&pdi2=18&idv2=74&mas2=16&uai2=23<p2=0 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/graphs/5dgraph.php?c1=France&pdi1=68&idv1=71&mas1=43&uai1=86<p1=0&c 2=Mexico&pdi2=81&idv2=30&mas2=69&uai2=82<p2=0 MU Brno 2018 35 What might happen when companies merge? Case 1: Renault-Volvo 1992 FRANCE SWEDEN PDI 68 31 UA 86 29 IND 71 71 MAS 43 5 MU Brno 2018 36 What might happen when companies merge? Case 2: ASEA Brown-Boveri 1988 SWEDEN SWITZERLAND PDI 31 34 UA 29 58 IND 71 68 MAS 5 70 MU Brno 2018 37 Discussion ●What are the practical implications of these findings? ●Do you think national values can change over time? ●Do you think that increasing globalization and advancements in technology will lead to a narrowing of cultural differences? ●Is it possible for someone to identify with more than one national culture? MU Brno 2018 38 Criticism of Hofstede ●In what ways can Hofstede’s classification be criticised? MU Brno 2018 39 Criticism of Hofstede Hofstede has been subject to broad criticism. Among the criticisms: ●Focus on national culture ●Single company data, with a large Multinational Enterprise having a strong corporate culture. ●Time dependent results, which are an artifact of the time of data collection and analysis. ●Business culture, not values culture, representing a reflection of business culture at IBM and not national culture of the countries IBM operates within. MU Brno 2018 40 Criticism of Hofstede ●Non-exhaustive, doesn’t identify all the cultural dimensions possible, but just a few. ●Partial geographic coverages, cover only a portion of the world’s cultures and countries. ●Western bias, which values western business ideals. ●Attitudinal rather than behavioral measures, with no connection between employee attitudes and employee behaviors. ●National level data generalized into individual behavior. MU Brno 2018 41 Criticism of Hofstede ●BUT, despite these criticisms (many of which I agree with): ●Hofstede has been, and still is, very influential (remember slide 4….most cited…) MU Brno 2018 42 Some other models ●National Culture Clustering ●Civilisation clustering ●Hofstede’s corporate culture definitions ●Hall – Space, Time & Context (class 1) ●Trompenaars variable’s (next class!) MU Brno 2018 43 National Cultural Clustering 6-14 Ronen and Shenkar’s culture clustering MU Brno 2018 44 National Cultural Clustering 6-15 Huntington’s civilization clustering MU Brno 2018 45 Corporate Culture ●Corporate Culture is the culture adopted, developed and disseminated in an organization. ●Corporate culture can deviate from national norms, but that depends upon the strength of culture and the values and practices tied to it. MU Brno 2018 46 Classifications of Corporate Culture ●Hofstede et al: –Value dimensions (factors) ●Need for security ●Work centrality ●Need for authority –Practices ●Process-oriented vs. results-oriented ●Employee-oriented vs. job-oriented ●Parochial vs. professional ●Open system vs. closed system ●Loose control vs. tight control ●Normative vs. pragmatic MU Brno 2018 47 Classifications of Corporate Culture ●Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner –The Family – personal, hierarchical, power-oriented –The Eiffel Tower – specific relations, ascribed status, rational authority –The Guided Missile – egalitarian, impersonal, and task oriented –The Incubator – individual self-fulfillment, personal and egalitarian relations MU Brno 2018 48 Other Layers of Culture ●Ethnicity – significant ethnic communities exist in many countries; can affect a myriad of issues ●Occupation – important layer of culture ●Demographics – education, age, seniority and hierarchical level affect difference in values ●Ideology – not always consistent with cultures, can vary with time and across regions ●Social class – differences within cultures, similarities across cultures (Marxist analysis) MU Brno 2018 49 Key Cultural Issues ●Cultural Etiquette – the manners and behavior that are expected in a given situation ●Cultural Stereotypes – our beliefs about others, their attitudes and behavior –Ethnocentric – looking at the world from a perspective shaped by our own culture –Auto-stereotypes – how we see ourselves as a group distinguished from others –Hetero-stereotypes – how we are seen by others. MU Brno 2018 50 Key Cultural Issues ●Cultural Distance –The extent to which cultures differ from each other –Hofstede stated that uncertainty avoidance was the most important dimension of FDI ●Convergence and Divergence –Convergence hypothesis – assumes that the combination of technology and economics is making countries more alike –Divergence hypothesis – assumes that counties will continue to maintain their distinctive characteristics MU Brno 2018 51