Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions in International Business

This assignment provides an overview of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, which is a framework that revolves around cross-cultural communication. The six dimensions of culture include power distance index, individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, uncertainty avoidance index, long vs short-term orientation, and indulgence vs restraint. The importance of understanding these dimensions in international business is highlighted, particularly in terms of organizational culture, hierarchy, distribution of power, and maintaining business relationships.

ANALYSING AND
INTERPRETING
INFORMATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
Overview................................................................................................................................3
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions............................................................................................3
Different dimensions of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions.....................................................3
Importance of Hofstede's cultural..........................................................................................4
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Analysing an information has always been important in order to interpret data.
Interpretation of data can be done by statistical analysis, graphing etc. There are various types
of techniques that can be used to analyse an interpret information (Beugelsdijk, Maseland and
Van Hoorn, 2015). In this assessment Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on international
business has been discussed.
MAIN BODY
Overview
It is important to understand to understand culture in international business as it helps
the organization’s in doing business globally. Things that work in one country might not
work in another country. So, it’s important to raise awareness in an organization regarding all
the cultural issues within a business in order to ensure effectiveness.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
It is a framework which revolves around cross cultural communication. In simple
words it collectively portray the impact of culture ingrained in the society which impacts the
values of all the members of the society. This theory was developed by Greet Hofstede. This
theory describes a society’s cultural effect on values of its members and ways its values relate
to the behaviour using structure derived from factor analysis (Dartey-Baah, 2013). This
theory says that cultural differences act as a barrier in communication. It can work as an
hinderance for an organization and their ability to build connections with other organization’s
and motivate their employees. According to this theory there are six dimensions of culture
which helps in working effectively with variety of people from different culture and
geographical background.
Different dimensions of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
These six dimensions of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, which are:
 Power distance Index (high verses low)
 Individualism versus Collectivism
 Masculinity versus Femininity
 Uncertainty Avoidance Index (High versus low)
 Long versus Short term orientation
 Indulgence versus restraint
When Hofstede analysed all the dimensions, he found a similar pattern of similarities and
differences in these dimensions. He attributed those patterns according to national differences
and with the help of these he successfully minimized the impact of company’s culture.
Power Distance Index: This dimension explains the extent till which all the less powerful
people in the society are accepted as well as expect that power distribution take place
unequally. In other words, it can be said that this dimension indicates the degree of inequality
that exist in the world which is accepted by or between the people with both with or without
the power (García-Sánchez, Rodríguez-Ariza and Frías-Aceituno, 2013). If this PDI score is
high then that means society accepts the unequal hierarchical distribution of the power as
well as it also indicates that people understand their place in the system. If the PDI score is
low then that means power distribution within the society or organization is distributed

equally and widely dispersed. This also means that society or people within an organization
do not accept the situation where power is distributed unequally.
Individualism verses collectivism: This dimension mainly focuses on the question that
whether people have preference to be left alone so that they can look after themselves or they
want to be in a closely knitted network. In other words, it can be said that it is a strength in
which people tie themselves with others within their community (Khlif, 2016). High score of
this dimension indicates that interpersonal connection within the group members, where
people take least responsibility for their outcomes and actions and respect each other’s
privacy and freedom. If this score is low then the main emphasis is given on team building
skills and in order to become master of something, people mainly work for intrinsic rewards.
Masculinity versus Femininity: In masculinity, people’s preferences for heroism,
assertiveness and various other rewards for success achievement. On the other hand, feminist
represents the preferences for cooperation, modesty, quality life, Quality of life and carrying
business for weak. IF this score is high then that shows strong egos or proud feeling. In this
high dimension achievements and money are always important.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index: This dimension mainly describes the extent till which people
in the society are not at ease with uncertainty and ambiguity. If this UAI index is high then
more flexibility in attitude is required with many social conventions as well as people in this
dimension are expressive and are allowed to show emotions.
Long versus Short term orientation: Long term orientation escribes society inclination
towards virtue searching (Lee, Trimi and Kim, 2013). Whereas short term orientation
describes strong inclination of society towards establishment of absolute truth. In long
term orientation people wonder ways of knowing the truth with modesty whereas in short
term orientation people find the reasons to know the reason, values where rights are
emphasised.
Indulgence versus restraint: This dimension revolves around the degree to which societies
or organization can exercise control over their desires and impulses. In high indulgence
people within an organization are optimistic, people focus on their personal happiness and
know the importance of speech. In high restraint people within an organization or society are
optimistic and have more controlled and rigid behaviour. In this people only express
negativity about the world in informal meetings.
Importance of Hofstede's cultural
 It is important to notice the PDI score in the country for the score of international
business. Like if the PDI score is high then the team members will not take any
actions and will like to be guided in order to complete any task. High PDI is normally
seen in centralized organizations with very complex hierarchies, while low PDI is
seen in flatter organizations where all the employees and superiors are considered
almost equal.
 For international business it is important to understand and know the preferences of
the society and their members. So, that relationship among them can be maintained.

CONCLUSION
From the above assignment it has been summarized that it is important to understand
different dimensions of Hofstede’s culture especially in international business as it helps in
understanding the organizational culture, hierarchy, distribution of power as well as helps in
maintaining business relationship, preferences of the society as well as of all the other
members of the society.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Beugelsdijk, S., Maseland, R. and Van Hoorn, A., 2015. Are Scores on H ofstede's
Dimensions of National Culture Stable over Time? A Cohort Analysis. Global
Strategy Journal. 5(3). pp.223-240.
Dartey-Baah, K., 2013. The cultural approach to the management of the international human
resource: An analysis of Hofstede's cultural dimensions. International Journal of
Business Administration. 4(2). p.39.
García-Sánchez, I.M., Rodríguez-Ariza, L. and Frías-Aceituno, J.V., 2013. The cultural
system and integrated reporting. International business review. 22(5). pp.828-838.
Khlif, H., 2016. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in accounting research: a review. Meditari
Accountancy Research. 24(4). pp.545-573.
Lee, S.G., Trimi, S. and Kim, C., 2013. The impact of cultural differences on technology
adoption. Journal of world business. 48(1). pp.20-29.