Hofstede's Five Dimensions Framework For Assessing Culture

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Hofstede’s Five Dimensions Framework for Assessing Culture
Dutch social psychologist Dr. Geert Hofstede revolutionized how cultures are compared, with significant help given to international business executives who wish to expand their corporations overseas. He collected data over the course of approximately seven years (1967-1973) and analyzed this information to create primary cultural values that are influenced by individual cultures. This study demonstrates that different cultural groups affect the behaviours of societies and organizations, which is essential for multinational corporations when expanding into international markets. This allows these organizations to create various management methods to cater to the host country’s work environment.
Hofstede deemed five primary dimensions that are important to differentiating cultures from others: individualism, power distance, gender equality, uncertainty tolerance, and orientation towards tradition. Individualism (IDV) looks at the amount of integration an individual endures. Power Difference (PDI) looks at the degree of equality (or lack thereof) among individuals in the country’s society. Masculinity (MAS) vs Femininity focuses on whether the country’s community reinforces traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power. Uncertainty …show more content…

Men and women in the workplace are welcome, and both genders can achieve higher positions in corporations. Both still do delineate gender roles on both males and females, but there is a slight difference regarding how their cultures value them. In Brazil, these gender roles place a higher value on cooperative efforts and service. While in Canada, there is a more significant emphasis on individual competitiveness and brings gender roles in as a way of creating said

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