Cultural Dimensions Theory (68-72)

 Overview  Background  Application  Methodology  4 Dimensions  UK examples

 Social action (mental programs)- 40 Nations  childhood learnt- reinforced in schools & organisations (culture)  Express different values- different countries  4 main dimensions- dominate values (predictability)

 Empirical data, survey 1968 & ,000 questionnaires  Four main dimensions (theoretical reasoning & statistical analysis empirical) incl. additional studies  Power distance  Uncertainty avoidance  Individualism  Masculinity

 Significant meaningful correlations- geographic, economic, & political indicators  Divided into cultural areas e.g. southern Europe  Some case point to historical reasons e.g. cold war  Profound consequences for the validity of theories & working methods  Collaboration issues

 Measurement of “mental programs”- values & culture  indicate universal, collective & individual levels  values defined- desired & desirable values  Culture: collective programming of the mind  Human behaviour- not random!!

 Accuracy & predictions (mental programming)  Social science vs. natural science

 Unable to be touched; not having physical presence: the moonlight made things seem intangible

 For example, the concepts of intelligence and motivation are used to explain phenomena in psychology, but neither is directly observable  Level of subjectivity

OBJECTIVESUBJECTIVE  (Of a person or their judgement) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts:  historians try to be objective and impartial  Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions:  his views are highly subjective there is always the danger of making a subjective judgement

Mental Programming origins

 Shared by most of mankind- most basic  Includes expressive behaviour

 Shared with some not all- specific to certain groups  Language- we express ourselves  Respect we show to elders  Physical distance we maintain to feel comfortable  Perception of human activity e.g. eating, making love, defecating, etc

 Everyone's programmed differently  individual personality  within collective culture

Passing on mental programs from generation to generation with an obstinacy which people tend to underestimate

Most likely entirely inherited Partly inherited- personality Mental programming origins- Hofstede Majority MP learned e.g. America mixed gene pool common depicts a collective mental programming

 degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally  fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people

 People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification  In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power. 

 Interestingly is that research shows PD index lower amongst the higher class in Britain than amongst the working classes. luxury brands as status symbols in high power distance cultures

 way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen?  This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways.

 At 35 the UK has a low score on UA  as a nation they are quite happy to wake up not knowing what the day brings and they are happy to ‘make it up as they go along’  the term ‘muddling through’ is a very British way of expressing this

 The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.  It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”.

 score of 89 the UK is amongst the highest of the individualistic scores, beaten only by some of the commonwealth countries it spawned i.e. Australia and the USA.  The British are a highly individualistic and private people.  Children are taught from an early age to think for themselves and to find out what their unique purpose in life is and how they uniquely can contribute to society.

 A high score (masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner/best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour.

 At 66, Britain is a masculine society – highly success oriented and driven.  A key point of confusion for the foreigner lies in the apparent contradiction between the British culture of modesty and understatement which is at odds with the underlying success driven value system in the culture  Critical to understanding the British is being able to ‘’read between the lines’’ What is said is not always what is meant.  In comparison to feminine cultures such as the Scandinavian countries, people in the UK live in order to work and have a clear performance ambition

 Conditioned by western perceptions  How can a national score be used to explain cultural influence on individual behaviour

 Sought to extend Hofstedes work  Expand on individualist/ collectivist culture dimension Example

 Overview  Background  Application  Methodology  4 Dimensions  UK examples