Hofstede27sfivedimensionsofculture-

HofstadterFiveDimensionsofCultureThedifferentsocialcustoms,stylesofdress,attitudestowardstime,toleranceforconflict,etc.,areonlythetipoftheculturaliceberg.Underlying潜在的whatmightappeartobeidiosyncrasies特质个性inbehaviorareanumberoffundamentalvaluesthatshapethewaymembersofaculturethink,feel,andact.Weneedtoknowhowandwhypeoplefromdifferentbackgroundsbehaveastheydo,andweneedtohaveideasofhowwecanadapttoimprovingthequalityofourmunicationwithinternationalbusinesspeople.Themostinfluencialcross-culturaltheoryisHofstede'sfivedimensionsofculture1.IndividualismIDV2.Powerdistanceindex指数PDI3.Masculinity男子气概MAS4.UncertaintyavoidanceindexUAI5.Long-termorientation方向LTOIndividualismversus与对抗Collectivism集体主义Individualism(IDV)focusesonthedegreethesocietyreinforces加强individualorcollectiveachievementandinterpersonal人际关系relationships.1)AHighIndividualismrankingindicates表明thatindividualityandindividualrightsareparamount主要的至高无上的withinthesociety.Individualsinthesesocietiesmaytendtoformalargernumberoflooserrelationships.Membersinthiscultureareinclined倾向于toputtheirowninterestsandthoseoftheirimmediatefamilyaheadofsocialconcerns.Itsmembersareofferedagreatdealoffreedom,thebeliefbeingthatthisfreedommakesitpossibleforeachpersontoachievepersonalsuccess.2)ALowIndividualism(Collectivism)rankingtypifiessocietiesofamorecollectivistnaturewithclosetiesbetweenindividuals.Theseculturesreinforceextendedfamiliesandcollectiveswhereeveryonetakesresponsibilityforfellowmembersoftheirgroup.Itsmembersareexpectedtobelievethatthewelfareoftheorganizationisasimportantastheirown.Thiscollectivistculturehastightsocialframework框架结构inwhichmembersofagroupfeelprimaryloyalty忠诚towardoneanotherandthegrouptowhichtheybelong.Japan,likemostEastAsiancultures,ishighlycollective.Thisorientation方向isclearatcorporateeventswhereemployeesoftensingtheirpany'santhem,国歌whichishardtoimagineinindividualisticculturesliketheU.S.andCanada.Workersincollectivistculturesarelesslikelytostrive努力tobeeorganizational“stars”,sincethatapproachwoulddishonorothermembersoftheteam.PowerDistancePowerDistanceIndex(PDI)focusesonthedegreeofequality,orinequality,betweenpeopleinthecountry'ssociety.1)AHighPowerDistancerankingindicatesthatinequalitiesofpowerandwealthhavebeenallowedtogrowwithinthesociety.Thetermreferstoattitudestowarddifferencesinauthority.Cultureswithhighpowerdistanceacceptthefactthatpowerisdistributedunequally,thatis,somemembershavegreaterresourcesandinfluencethanothers.Inthesecultures,differencesinorganizationalstatusandrankareclear-cut.Employeeshaveagreaterofrespectsforthoseinhighpositions.Thesesocietiesaremorelikelytofollowacaste(社会等级)systemthatdoesnotallowsignificantupwardmobility流动性ofitscitizens.Suchcountriesare:China,Philippines,Mexico,etc.2)ALowPowerDistancerankingindicatesthesocietyde-emphasizesthedifferencesbetweencitizen'spowerandwealth.Itdownplays淡化differencesinpower.Incountrieswithlowpowerdistance,supervisorsandmanagersmayhavepower,butitisnotflaunted(炫耀)oremphasized.Inthesesocietiesequalityandopportunityforeveryoneisstressed.Suchcountriesare:Israel,Denmark,theUSA,Austria,etc.MasculinityversusFemininity女性气质Masculinity(MAS)focusesonthedegreethesocietyreinforces,ordoesnotreinforce,thetraditionalmasculineworkrolemodelofmaleachievement,control,andpower.1)AHighMasculinityrankingindicatesthecountryexperiencesahighdegreeofgenderdifferentiation.Inthesecultures,malesdominateasignificantportionofthesocietyandpowerstructure,withfemalesbeingcontrolledbymaledomination.InAsiancountriesandMuslimcountries,womenmayfindtheyareomitted省略fromconversationoroverlookedinnegotiationsbecauseofdesignatedgender性别roles.Evenawomanoutranksaman,sheisnottreatedthatwaybythepeoplefromsuchculturalbackground.Theymaystillspeaktoandprefertonegotiate交涉withthemale,assumingthemaleishersuperior.上级2)ALowMasculinityrankingindicatesthecountryhasalowlevelofdifferentiationanddiscriminationbetweengenders.Inthesecultures,femalesaretreatedequallytomalesinallaspectsofthesociety.Societieswithsupposedly“masculine”valuesappreciateaggressiveness攻击性andassertiveness自信whilerespectingthegoalofmaterialacquisition.获得Themore“feminine”culturesvalueinterpersonalrelationships,putqualityoflifebeforematerialacquisitionandactivelyexpressconcernforthelessfortunate.Agovernmentthatpromotesaprehensive全面的socialwelfaresystemrepresentsahighlyfemininesocietythatdemonstratesconcernforthedowntrodden(被压制的).Asgovernmentsmoveawayfromhighertaxesandwelfaresystemsitcouldbesaidthattheyareexhibiting表现出amoremasculineapproachtosocialresponsibilities.UncertaintyAvoidanceIndexUAIfocusesontheleveloftoleranceforuncertaintyandambiguity含糊模棱两可withinthesociety-i.e.unstructured非结构化situations.It'sameasureofhowacceptingacultureisalackofpredictability.1)AHighUncertaintyAvoidancerankingindicatesthecountryhasalowtoleranceforuncertaintyandambiguity.Thiscreatesarule-oriented确定的方位societythatinstitutes研究院学院建立laws,rules,regulations,andcontrolsinordertoreducetheamountofuncertainty.Forexample,Suchcultures(e.g.,Japan,Greece,andPortugal)areunfortablewithchange.Theyvaluetraditionandshun(avoid)changes.Organizationsintheseculturesarecharacterizedbymoreformalrulesandlesstolerancefordifferentideas.2)ALowUncertaintyAvoidancerankingindicatesthecountryhaslessconcernaboutambiguityanduncertaintyandhasmoretoleranceforavarietyofopinions.Thisisreflectedinasocietythatislessrule-oriented,morereadily容易乐意acceptschange,andtakesmoreandgreaterrisks.Suchcultures(e.g,SingaporeandChinaHongKong)arefortablewithchange.Theiracceptanceofuncertaintyallowsthemtotakerisks,andtheyarerelativelytolerantofbehaviorthatdiffersfromthenorm.Chanceisariskybusinessforthelowuncertaintyavoidancesociety,suchastheUnitedStates.ThisexplainswhyU.Sexecutivesmightdolittleformalpreparationinadvanceofakeymeeting.ItalsoexplainswhyaJapaneseexecutivewillmakepainstakingpreparationforasimilarmeeting.WhiletheJapanesemaymakeahighlystructuredpresentation,theAmericanmanagerismorelikelytobeabletohandlequestions,interruptions,中断andagenda议程changes.LongTermOrientationLTOfocusesonthedegreethesocietyembraces拥抱,ordoesnotembrace,long-termdevotion奉献totraditional,forwardthinkingvalues.Membersofsomecultureslookforquickpayoffs回报,whilepeoplefromdifferentbackgroundsarewillingtodefergratificationinpursuitoflong-rangegoals.1)HighLong-TermOrientationrankingindicatesthecountryprescribestothevaluesoflong-termmitmentsandrespectfortradition.Thisisthoughttosupportastrongworkethicwherelong-termrewardsareexpectedasaresultoftoday'shardwork.However,businessmaytakelongertodevelopinthissociety,particularlyforan"outsider".ThewillingnesstoworkhardtodayforafuturepayoffisespeciallymoninEastAsiancultures,includingChina,Japan,andSouthKorea.2)ALowLong-TermOrientationrankingindicatesthatthecountrydoesnotreinforcetheconceptoflong-term,traditionalorientation.Inthisculture,changecanoccurmorerapidlyaslong-termtraditionsandmitmentsdonotbeeimpediments(barrier)tochange.Westernindustrializedculturesaremuchmorefocusedonshort-termresults.Aslongasallgroupmemberssharethesameorientationtowardpayoffs,thechancesforharmonyaregood.Whensomepeoplepushforaquickfixwhileothersurgepatience,conflictsarelikelytoarise.EdwardHall'sHigh-versusLow-Contextdimension方面weiHigh-versusLow-Context1)Low-contextculture:Peopleinthiscultureuselanguageprimarilytoexpressthought,feelings,andideasasclearlyandlogicallyaspossible.Tolow-contextmunicators,themeaningofastatementisinthewordsspoken.Peoplewithlow-contextculturegenerallyvaluestraighttalkandgrowimpatientwith“beatingaroundthebush”.MainstreamcultureintheUnitedStatesandCanadafallstowardthelow-contextendofthescale.2)High-contextculture:Itreliesheavilyonsubtle,微妙oftennonverbalcuestoconveymeaning,saveface,andmaintainsocialharmony.Peopleinthesesocietieslearntodiscovermeaningfromthecontextinwhichamessageisdelivered,提供forexample,thenonverbalbehaviorsofthespeaker,thehistoryoftherelationship,andthegeneralsocialrulesthatgoverninteractionbetweenpeople.MostMiddleEasternandAsianculturesfitthehigh-contextpattern.InmanyAsiansocieties,forexample,maintainingharmonyisimportant,somunicatorsavoidspeakingdirectlyifthatwouldthreatenanotherperson'sdignity.OtherculturaldimensionsRelationship-DrivenversusTask-DrivenThisclassificationdealsmorewiththebusinessculturewithinasocietybutitdoeshaveapplicationtosocietiesasawhole.Knowingwhichsideofthefenceyourpotentialbusinesspartnersitsonwillallowyoutoprioritizeyourpresentationandgiveyouafairestimateofthetimeframeneededforclosingapotentialdeal.Task-drivencultures(Hofstede'sfeminineculture)areusuallylow-contextcultures.People'smainconcernswillbeprice,qualityandguaranteesassociatedwithaproductorservice.Asalecanbeclosedonthefirstmeeting.Attemptingtorelysolelyonfriendshipinatask-drivensocietyisofminimaluse.Relationship-drivencultures(Hofstede'smasculineculture)arehigh-contextcultures.Whenpresentingtopeoplefromarelationship-drivenculture,youaredoomedtofailureunlessyouhaveestablishedapersonalrelationship.Youhavetosellyourselvesbeforeyouaretrusted.Conceptoftime(promptness)Monochromicorientation:societieswiththisorientationvaluepunctuality(Americans,Germansaretime-precise).Germanlawspecifiesdefiniteopeningandclosinghoursforbusinessanddictateswhichevening(s)retailstoresmaybeopen.Polychromicorientation:societieswiththisorientationtreattimecasually(LatinAmerica,TheMiddleEast,etc.).Insomeculturesbusinesspeopletakeafternoonnaps,closeshops,andpostponetimesforbusinessmeetingsanddinner.Itshouldnottakeyoulongtorecognizewhichisthetime-consciouscultureandwhichistheonelessconcernedwithprecisionintime.Knowingculturalperceptionsoftimehelpsyouunderstandwhysomeresponsesareslowbyyourstandard.