Understanding Differences in Values Across Cultures By, Jeremiah LaPlante Kaplan University MT302 Organizational Behavior

Italian Values Looking at the country of Italy we first have to look at the ratings given by Hofstede which has been recognized as the standard for over eighty years (Robbins & Judge, 2013). We also will look at how managers with employees from Italy need to take into consideration their value system and what they consider as important.

Italy Ranks 4 th on the Masculinity versus Femininity Attribute Hofstede’s research shows that because of the high regard in the Italian society for masculine attributes they tend to hold being driven by competition, achievement and success very high in their value system. Children are taught early that being a winner is very important. Italians like to show their success through expensive cars, big houses and things that are extravagant (Hofstede, 2013). Manager’s need to consider this attribute when hiring Italians or placing them in positions. They tend to be driven by a winning mentality and need to be given positions or tasks where they can feel they personally accomplished the task above all others.

Masculinity by Country Manager’s need to consider this attribute when hiring Italians or placing them in positions. They tend to be driven by a winning mentality and need to be given positions or tasks where they can feel they personally accomplished the task above all others. Italians hold a lot of personal pressure on themselves to succeed. This attribute should be nurtured by an organization to have them be a value. (Macdonald, 2013)

Individualism Italians hold Individualism as the 2 nd highest ranking for them in their value system. They are Ranked 7 th in this attribute and have an index of 76. In this type of society, people are supposed to look after themselves rather than relying on a group to take care of everyone like in a collectivist society. Italians are a “me” type people in that they tend to not consider the good of the group rather what is best for that one person. When managers speak to an Italian employee they should consider that they prefer to work alone, and hope to achieve goals themselves instead of in a group setting.

Individualism by Country (Macdonald, 2013)

Uncertainty Avoidance Italians Rank 23 rd of the countries looked at by Hofstede, and is 75 on the Index scale. Italians even though very individualistic, prefer to not live in ambiguous situations. They prefer to live in formal style society with lots of bureaucracy. Italians tend to plan out details when it comes to work. Having both a masculine and high uncertainty avoidance society increases the stress for the Italian people to succeed. Manager’s need to keep in mind when dealing with Italian workers that they tend to be detail oriented and want to plan out their actions prior to proceeding on a project, and place a lot of stress on themselves to succeed (Hofstede, 2013)

Uncertainty Avoidance by Country (Macdonald, 2013)

Power Distance Italians score a 50 on this attribute. This index recognizes that not all people in a society are created equal. Italians with a individualistic nature tend to have a high disregard for authority. Many of the younger Italian workers are interested in a open management style of supervisor. Managers need to consider this when working with Italian employees, that they already feel a separation of power and should watch how they speak to them to not come across as a dictator.

Pragmatism Italians are a very pragmatic society. They tend to believe that things are the way the are and don’t tend to question why. Most Italians are Catholics and this could add to the reason for this value. Catholics tend to rest their beliefs on the fact that all things were created by Jesus Christ, and do not question it to be different. As I was raised Catholic I can speak to this belief system. Pragmatic people tend to not need to question everything and are ok with the fact that many things in life are unexplainable. Managers need to consider this when speaking to an Italian employee, they will usually not question most things, and will be adaptable to changing conditions. Managers when speaking to Italians need to understand that they will persevere to achieve results.

Indulgence Italians lean towards a restrained value system. Italians rate a 61 on this index by Hofstede. Italians tend to be pessimistic in their outlook and do not put much need on leisure time and tend to feel guilty or wrong if they indulge themselves. Managers who deal with Italian employees and offer them vacation time or company trips may be making a wrong approach in rewarding them as they do not put much emphasis on this need as other cultures do.

Indulgence by Country (Macdonald, 2013) Italians see Indulgence low on importance in their value system much different from us here in the US as seen above in the chart at 68. Italians view restraint as a higher priority than other countries and tend to feel bad when they indulge.

Conclusion Managers in todays world have to deal with multiple cultures within their organizations. They need to consider the differences in values amongst their employees, and communicate and deal with them using the standards researched by Hofstede. When managers deal with different cultures they should keep in mind that all have different attributes and some could lean towards a more masculine view rather than a feminine, or that they are more individualistic compared to wanting to rely on a group like collectivism for example. These are important to consider when hiring or placing a employee on a certain task or position.

Conclusion Continued Managers who deal specifically with Italian employees compared to American need to take into account that their society values a more masculine style which so does the US, as well as they are very individualistic and tend to not like to work as a collective. Italians are also less concerned with indulgence, they see this as unneeded and some feel wrong for taking vacation time. When considering an Italian for hiring, a manager may want to consider eliminating or reducing the amount of vacation time for these employees as it isn’t as important and offer rewards for tasks on time, as they hold this to a much higher regard in their society. They also tend to enjoy flashy cars and expensive toys, which could be an incentive offered to Italian employees rather than vacation time. Italians also tend to be pragmatic and against the constrains of authority. When a manager works with Italians they should look for ways to avoid seeming as a huge separation of power and allow them to offer feedback. Italians will tend to not question why things are the way they are but want to be included in the decision making process.

Conclusion continued Now knowing what I know about the differences in cultures and how different people from different countries deal with life through their value system. Now after this case study I will have a better understanding of how to deal with people I meet in life and take into consideration that they may not consider the same things as important as I do, and I may not for certain things that they hold very important. In the United States, we tend to be a melting pot of different cultures and we as citizens have to deal with these differences. Many times people from other cultures do things differently, but now that they are considering themselves American they should learn to alter their value system to conform to where they live. This is obviously easier said than done and being that the world is now an open economy, it is always best to treat one another with respect and consider the differences in each others value systems that they grew up with.

References Hofstede, G. (2013). The Hofstede Centre. Retrieved from Macdonald, S. (2013, September 11). The psychology of effective conversion rate optimization [Web log message]. Retrieved from conversion-rate-optimization.html Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge. Organizational Behavior, VitalSource for Kaplan University. 15th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, VitalBook file. Bookshelf. Uncertainty Avoidance [Print Photo]. Retrieved from sell-online-uncertainty-avoidant-cultures [Print Photo]. Retrieved from [Print Photo]. Retrieved from effective-conversion-rate-optimization.html