Milgliore (2011) stated that “Hofstededefines culture as, the collective programming of the mind that distinguishesthe members of one group or category of people from another”. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory is a frameworkfor cross-cultural, developed by Geert Hofstede. The five cultural dimensionsare Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism versus Collectivism,Masculinity versus Femininity and Long-term versus Short-term orientation. Everycountry can score ranging from 1 to 100. A score of greater than 70 isconsidered being high, and a score below 40 is considered low. This will showus whether that country has a high or low score on the Hofstede’s five culturaldimensions.Power Distance Index (high versuslow)The dimension of PowerDistance is defined as people belonging to a specific culture how they viewpower relationships.
High power distance score “indicates that a societyaccepts an unequal, hierarchical distribution of power and that peopleunderstand their place in the system” (“Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions:Understanding Different Countries”, 2018). This can also mean when thereis a large gap in compensation, authority and respect. Low power distance scoremeans that “power is shared and is widely dispersed, and that society membersdo not accept situations where power is distributed unequally”(“Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: Understanding Different Countries”,2018). This can also be when its flatter organization meaning supervisors andemployees are considered almost as equal.Uncertainty Avoidance Index (high versus low)Thedimension Uncertainty Avoidanceis where the outcome and conditions of a results is unknownor unpredictable.
Some people are more comfortable with uncertainty thanothers, and the degree to which individu/.alsparticipate in certain behavior to stay in comfortable situation is calleduncertainty avoidance. A low score on theuncertainty avoidance index indicates that the people in the country are more comfortable withambiguity, more entrepreneurial, more likely to take risks, and lessdependent on structure rules. Countries with high uncertainty avoidance scoresdesires more stability, more structured rules and social norms, and are lesscomfortable taking risks. Individualism Versus CollectivismThe dimension Individualismversus Collectivism can be defined as two opposite ways of thinking in acountry’s culture. The first way is individualism, which states that eachindividual is acting on his or her own.
This can be explained by them makingtheir own choices and the extent to which they interact with the rest of thegroup. Whereas collectivism is the second way and it views the group as theprimary entity. They would like to work with groups.
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High individualistcultures believe individual is most important and they identify everyone in theworkforce as individuals. They make decisions based on individual needs andthey have the “I” mentality. High collectivistic cultures believe group is mostimportant they think that working as a group is better then doing it alone.They identify as a social system, they make decisions based on what is best forthe group and they have the “we” mentality.Masculinity Versus FemininityThe dimension ofMasculinity versus Femininity according to the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions,the masculine/feminine dimension has mainly to do with the degree ofdifferentiation between gender roles. A high score on this dimension indicatesthat the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, withsuccess being defined by the “winner” or “best-in -the-field”.
This valuesystem starts in school and continues throughout one’s life. A low score on thedimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others andquality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is notadmirable. (“Country Comparison- Hofstede Insights”, 2018) Long-term Versus short-term orientationThedimension Long-term versus Short-term orientation is where your culturalperspective is either you focus on getting quick results or focus on the futureresults. Short term orientation is where you focus on the present or past andconsider them more important than the future. Whereas Long term orientation isonly focusing on the future. If you use short term orientation you valuepersistence, perseverance, saving and being able to adapt. “You should note that the concepts of long-term orientationand short-term orientation address the different ways cultures view time andthe importance of the past, present and future” (“Hofstede LongTerm /Short Term Traits”, 2018).
