The Work of Geert Hofstede - Essay Example

Hofstede conducted his research amongst employees of IBM which he believed had a national representation of all cultures.  In this discussion, I am going to discuss Hofstede’s approach to country cultures using his proposed model.   First, there is the power or distance dimension. This dimension addresses the extent of inequality in society and the level of acceptance in a community without power. In this dimension, when there is a high score of power/distance (PD) it implies that the community acknowledges unequal dispersion of power in the society and that people accept their placement as dictated by running systems. A low indication of PD sends signals that power is well distributed among members of a community and that people perceive themselves as equals. In Canada, the PDI is approximately 40 according to Hofstede statistics. This is slightly lower than fifty percent implying that there is an unequal distribution of power though not to a large extent. The PDI of China is 80 which indicates the existence of high levels of unequal distribution of power compared to Canada.  The second indicator is Individualism (IDV) which refers to the level at which people maintain ties with others in the community. A big score of IDV implies that there is loose bonding among individuals in the community. In countries that are characterized by a high IDV, there is a low indication of interpersonal connection among people, and people shy away from sharing except for immediate family members and friends (Hofstede 101). A community that has got low IDV indicates that people have strong cohesion among themselves. In addition, people respect and value each other. Canada’s IDV index is placed at eighty percent which is a high score. This is an indication that there exists loose bonding among people in Canada compared to countries like China which has a score of 20. This shows that bonding among Chinese people is high compared to Canadians.    Masculinity (MAS) is another index described by Hofstede that refers to how people in the community stick to and value the customary roles of men and women. In countries that have a high score of MAS, men have the characteristic of toughness, breadwinners, and forcefulness in their decision-making. On the other hand, low MAS implies that men and women share roles in all tasks without limitation. Canada has a fifty percent score in MAS indicating that there is equal sharing of roles without limitation to female or male orientation. A score of fifty reveals that there could be some sectors of work that could be set aside either for men or women though it is not strongly followed. China’s MAS score is 70 which is slightly higher than Canada’s implying that people are more masculine than Canada and males are more likely to succeed in their dealings compared to women.  The uncertainty/avoidance index (UAI) describes the extent to which members of society get anxious when faced with complex situations. A high UAI implies that members of this society try to avoid uncertain situations using all the means possible. People strongly follow rules and orders which are set collectively. Low UAI means that differences are valued in the community and people have the liberty to discover what they think is the truth. Canada has a UAI of fifty percent indicating that there is a balance between what people believe is a common truth and what individuals think for themselves. China has a score of 30 which implies that people are freer to find their truth compared to Canada.     The last dimension is the long-term orientation (LTO) which refers to how members of the society emphasize what have been the long-term traditional values compared to the short-term values. Countries with high scores of LTO indicate that people are committed to meeting societal obligations to avoid embarrassment. Canada has a low score of LTO (20%) which means that anything is expected from people in this society due to the freedom to express themselves and their ideologies. China has a score of approximately 120 which clearly shows that people are committed to meeting what the society demands of them which is not a big issue in Canada.  These dimensions do not illustrate individual behavior but the averages of a collective group of people. Hence, the scores should not be used to conclude the behavior of a person.   Read More