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Hofstede

Hofstede looked for national differences between over 100,000 of IBM’s employees in different parts of the world, in an attempt to find aspects of culture that might influence business behaviour. He found four traits or ‘cultural dimensions’:
 Individualism (vs. collectivism) – looks at the extent to which people are integrated into groups. Some cultures are more cohesive than others. e.g. Anglo Saxon cultures are generally more individualistic than the collectivist cultures of South America. High individualism indicates that staff expect to be assessed on their own achievements and performance. Low individualism (or collectivism) would mean that staff expect to be assessed on a group basis and prefer the organization to set group goals.
 Uncertainty avoidance (UA) index – deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity – e.g. France and Japan use bureaucracy to reduce uncertainty because they dislike it. High UA cultures will not like to act outside their normal job descriptions or roles. They prefer to be directed by management and like formal rules and guidelines. Low UA cultures will be prepared to take more risks and go beyond their ‘comfort zones’. They tend to dislike bureaucracy as it stifles initiative.
 Power distance (PD) index – the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally – e.g. in South American societies, differences in power were tolerated more than in North European cultures. High PD cultures expect to answer to powerful managers and do not expect to have any democratic input into decisions that are made. Low PD cultures expect to be involved with the decision-making process and want less direct supervision by managers.
 Masculinity (vs. femininity) – a masculine culture is one where the distinction between the roles and values of the genders is large and the males focus on work, power and success (e.g. in Japanese culture) whereas in feminine cultures such as Finland, the differences between the gender roles is much smaller. Employees in masculine cultures can be motivated by offering them job titles, increased status and pay rises, as this is what the culture values. Staff in feminine cultures will be motivated more by work life balance, quality of life and relationships at work.
More recently, two additional dimensions have been added to Hofstede’s model:
 Long-term orientation (vs. short-term orientation) – societies with a long-term orientation focus on future rewards, with a particular focus on saving, persistence and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Short-term oriented cultures focus on past and present concerns, such as respect for tradition, social obligations and saving ‘face’.
 Indulgence vs. restraint – indulgent societies allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun. More restrained societies suppress gratification of needs and regulate it by means of strict social norms.

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