Cross-Cultural Dimensions

Résumé du document

The Value Orientations Frameworks is a tool for 'mapping' differing patterns of beliefs held by different cultures. It can also promote deeper cultural awareness but it must be used prudently. In fact it pre-supposes understanding of concepts underlying culture and assumptions underlying the framework itself. There are a limited number of common fundamental challenges that different societies face over time. Six universal challenges or dimensions are identified by K & S as being faced by all societies. Different societies developed different ways or solutions to cope with each of these issues/challenges.

Extraits

[...] (mode of activity) How do I see/use space? How do I see/use and time? According to Hofstede, culture can be classified according to five dimensions. Power distance is the extent to which people accept unequal distributions of power. In higher power distance cultures, there is a wider gap between the powerful and the powerless. Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which the culture tolerates ambiguity and uncertainty. High uncertainty avoidance leads to low tolerance for uncertainty and a search for absolute truths. [...]

[...] Individualism leads to self-reliance and individual achievement. Masculinity is the extent to which assertiveness and independence are valued. High masculinity fosters high sex-role differentiation and focuses on ambition, independence, and material goods. Long-term orientation is the extent to which people focus of the past, the present, or the future. Present orientation focuses on short-term performance. Hofstede's five dimensions can help managers classify cultures and predict organizational and managerial styles. But while his model provides a general ranking for a country, there may be many differences among the groups within a country. [...]

[...] It can also promote deeper cultural awareness but it must be used prudently. In fact it presupposes understanding of concepts underlying culture and assumptions underlying the framework itself. There are a limited number of common (universal) fundamental challenges that different societies faced over time: Six universal challenges or dimensions are identified by K & S as being faced by all societies (five dimensions by Hofstede). Different societies developed different ways or solutions to cope with each of these issues/challenges. There are a limited number of alternatives that exist for dealing with these problems and all alternatives exist in a given culture, but some are preferred over others. [...]