StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Dimensions of national culture - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Introduction The term culture refers to the total way of life of a people (Jary, &Jary. 1991). Organizational culture is the term used to describe the way of life of the people within a given social organization. There are many things that differentiate people in an organization form another.For instance people within the military or police have strong discipline and instantly obey orders unlike people in a business organization who have the luxury of questioning and giving their own suggestions on almost everything…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.1% of users find it useful
Dimensions of national culture
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Dimensions of national culture"

Download file to see previous pages

Music, theatre, fine arts, language and literature are developed in order to add some color and entertainment in everyday living, as well as improve on communication. Sports and educational syllabuses are also developed for entertainment and improvement of skills. All these facets of life among others keep on changing from one form the other thus enriching culture (Marcus, 1995). All of these developments are recorded for future references in different symbols including writing, drawings, cave paintings or passed from one person to another orally.

As this culture is passed on it is modified through innovation, borrowing from others. Elements like language therefore constantly improve and diversify as time goes by (Cohen, 1985). This paper sets out to analyze the development of national culture and to explain why people within a certain nationality or region typically develop traits that are unique to themselves. The paper looks at how different cultural backgrounds affect persons working within an organization. It also explains the effects impede or support the realizations of the objectives of the said organization.

Elements of Organizational Culture Every nation is renowned for certain things. For instance the vast majority of people of Britain enjoy association football [also known as soccer] whose rules were founded in that country in 1863; very much. This is different when compared to Americans who prefer their own version of football which is closer to the Rugby that is also loved a lot in Britain (Maccambridge, 2004). This same case applies to organizations. According to Hofstede(1980), national culture directly influences organizational culture.

Organizations exist within countries and are therefore influenced by the prevailing culture within them. In his study of national cultural influences he identified four dimensions of culture. These he classified as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism vs individualism and masculinity vs femininity (Hofstede, 1980). The first dimension, power distance, refers to the difference of power allowed by the society between the highest and lowest echelons of power. A high power difference score means that there is a great difference between the power wielded and the privileges enjoyed by people high ranking individuals and their lower ranking counterparts within the organization (Schein, 2005).

A low score on the other hand means that everybody in the organization enjoys almost equal rights to anybody else (Schein, 2005). The measure of power distance in different nationalities revealed that countries such as Australia, Austria, Denmark and Israel had some of the lowest power distance levels while sub-Saharan African and Malaysia among others had the highest (Hofstede, 1980). The second one uncertainty avoidance refers to extent of anxiety about the unknown in a society. In cultures where there is strong uncertainty avoidance, people prefer operating with explicit rules and laws that govern labor and social relations.

Employees in this system tend to keep the same job for long since they feel less uncertain about the future and feel strongly that the rules guarantee their rights. The societies with weak

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Dimensions of national culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1419184-dimensions-of-national-culture
(Dimensions of National Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1419184-dimensions-of-national-culture.
“Dimensions of National Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1419184-dimensions-of-national-culture.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Dimensions of national culture

Japan's cultural environment

While businesses have been guided by Hofstede's Dimensions of national culture, this paper evaluates if changes have taken place since the 1960s and 1970s when data was collected by Hofstede.... hellip; In order to work and interact successfully in Japan, an understanding of its national culture is considered important.... In order to work and interact successfully in Japan, an understanding of its national culture is considered important.... Hofstede defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another”....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Cultural Dimensions by Greet Hofstede

He is renowned for his contribution in developing the earliest experiential replica ‘Dimensions of national culture'.... After recognizing the five different dimensions of culture Hofstede categorized them as being generalize able for every society or region of the world.... The most important factor influencing an organization's value system is its culture.... In 1980, Professor Greet Hofstede published his book ‘culture's Consequences' after rigorous research and deep analysis of how values are inclined by the culture....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

A self assessment on intercultural negotiating skills

Hofstede's framework of cultural diversity mainly influences different types of studies that are related to cross cultural communication and management which include the following four Dimensions of national culture: “individualism versus collectivism, power distance which is concerned with how power is distributed, uncertainty avoidance which talks about how uncertainty is found to be uncomfortable, quality versus quantity of life” (Robbins, 1993, p.... Lin & Miller (2003) suggest that negotiation approach is influenced by factors which include national culture, commitment as well as the quality of relationship that exist between the two....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas

To expend its activities in Czech Republic, an American-based company, Chicago Style Pizza, should pay a special attention to food preferences and cultural values of people, their life styles and income. The main differences between the US and Czech culture are found in food preferences and style of life.... The major risks are underdeveloped fast food culture and strong cultural eating and food patterns.... However, the benefits of achieving such objectives are weighed against the cost of changing a product's design and testing it in the market (Czech culture Overview 2005)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Managing People and Organizations

This will include the fundamental blocks for managing culture and the values that we acquire in our socialization Apart from this is the personality that we also possess to include human inadequacies, creativeness, eccentricity and everything that makes us unique.... The most common issues concerning stereotyping center on culture and race....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

So the primary concern of the contemporary managers is to assure that not only In the recent times there has been a tremendous surge in the analysis and study of diversity and Geert Hofstede happens to be an important diversity expert who propounded the concept of Dimensions of national culture that could have a tremendous impact and influence on the management of modern day organizations and institutions.... The paper tends to explore and understand the managerial implications of Hofstede's Dimensions of national culture and extends pragmatic recommendations that could yield effective diversity management within organizations....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Analysis of Article about the Validity of the Two Main Projects of National Culture by Steven Voss

It is interesting to note that the GLOBE study and Hofstede model are the only two major projects that have attempted to quantify the Dimensions of national culture.... In this article, the main aim of the author is to compare the validity of the two main projects of national culture: Hofstede's cultural dimension and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study.... According to the author, members of a civilization are characterized by higher-order identity, and therefore there are Lecturer Essay # Article summary Civilization in the Balance: A Comparative Validation of Hofstedean and GLOBE Cultural Dimensions Against the Toynbee-Huntington Civilization Model by Richard Steven Voss In this article, the main aim of the author is to compare the validity of the two main projects of national culture: Hofstede's cultural dimension and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment

Two Different Theories about the Dimensions of National Culture

The author of this essay "Two Different Theories about the Dimensions of national culture" describes Chapman and Hofstede's theories.... This paper outlines 4 main dimensions that, according to Hofstede, summarised a culture: The power distance, Individualism and Collectivism, Masculinity and Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Chapman who divides culture according to its level or type....  This fact, in turn, leads to the process of understanding the notion of 'culture' itself assuming enhanced importance to ensure efficient and effective and thus profitable participation in the world where all trans-national boundaries are being reduced to only geographical distinctions over time....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us