HRMOB 300 Managing for Organization Effectiveness Professor Xiao-Ping Chen Session 2 International Dimensions of OB

Hofstede’s dimensions of culture Individualism/collectivism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Career success and quality of life

Individualism and collectivism Individualists have loose social networks, care for self and family hold individual goals and objectives emphasize self-esteem believe in universal values Collectivists distinguish between “in-group” and “outgroup” hold group goals and objectives emphasize harmony and fitting in acknowledge that values can vary across groups exchange loyalty for security

Power distance Vertical (large) Horizontal (small) accept unequal distribution of power title in organization important never bypass hierarchy Horizontal (small) egalitarian level in hierarchy less important OK to bypass direct superiors

Within culture vs. between culture differences

Culture shapes behavior and perception Cultural rules determine the message, and the way we send it Cultural rules determine how the receiver interprets the message

Culture shapes perceptions If you ask a collectivist what motivates other people, how are they likely to respond? What is a collectivist likely to think of an individual-based merit pay system?

Cross-cultural interactions have two components: ME YOU message sent message received

Culture and perception Culture provides a schema through which we make sense of information Once this schema is in place, it is difficult to see things otherwise We tend to interpret other’s behavior according to our schema when things don’t fit, our reactions are often highly visceral/emotional

Increasing your cross-cultural competency Acknowledge that differences exist Develop an explicit framework for identifying cross-cultural differences “dimensions of culture” remembering importance of individual differences Increase self-awareness what are my “rules”? how does this affect how I perceive others?