Hofstede's Six-Dimension Model Handout

Probably the most influential of all the ‘dimensionalists’, Hofstede uses the following six dimensions
to analyze cultural characteristics.
Power Distance
This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses
the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power Distance is defined as the
extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect
and accept that power is distributed unequally.
High power-distance culture can be characterized by a strong hierarchical structure within
their organizations. In such societies, managers are respected in and out of the organization and are
rarely publicly contradicted. By contrast, low power-distance societies tend to value notions of
empowerment for employees and consensual decision-making.
Individualism Versus Collectivism
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”. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and
their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in
exchange for loyalty.
Individualism reflects the degree to which individual beliefs and actions should be
independent of collective thought and action. Individualism contrasts with collectivism, which is the
belief that people should integrate their thoughts and actions with those of a group (for example,
extended family, or employer).
Uncertainty Avoidance
The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the 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. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or
unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in
the score on Uncertainty Avoidance.
Masculinity Versus Femininity
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 organizational life.
A low score (Feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are
caring for others and quality of life. A Feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of
success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what
motivates people, wanting to be the best (Masculine) or liking what you do (Feminine).
Long-term Versus Short-term Orientation CDI (Confucian Dynamism Index)
This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past
while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and societies prioritize these two
existential goals differently. Normative societies. which score low on this dimension, for example,
prefer to maintain time-honored traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion.

1
Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragmatic approach: they
encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future.
Long-term cultures focus on the distant future and emphasize the importance of saving,
persistence and achieving goals that may only come to fruition after several generations. Short-term
cultures emphasize the past and the present, and there is respect for fulfilling social obligations and
a consistent understanding of morality.
Indulgence Versus Restraint
One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small
children are socialized. Without socialization we do not become “human”. This dimension is defined
as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were
raised. Relatively weak control is called “Indulgence” and relatively strong control is called
“Restraint”. Cultures can, therefore, be described as Indulgent or Restrained.

2
Four Cultural Incidents Handout
Read the four short incidents described below. Underline any sentences that suggest cultural
differences were at work and answer the following questions:
● How would you explain these differences in terms of Hofstede's cultural dimensions?
● What hints or tips would you give to each of the people below to overcome cultural
barriers?

Incident 1 _ Sarah
Sarah Marshall is head of the business development group at a US-based law firm. Recently
she was assigned the task of winning a contract for a new project with the Colombian government.
She was competing with teams from Spain and France.
Sarah had quite a lot of background information on the proposed project and on the
packages her competitors were offering. On the basis of this information and her organization's
extensive resources she felt confident that the company would win the contract.
Sarah drew up a proposal that was time and cost-effective and designed a presentation
based on convincing numbers and a persuasive argument. Arriving in Bogota the day before, Sarah
personally made the sales pitch in which she detailed all the relevant facts, highlighted the various
ways forward and made a clear recommendation of the best solution. She eventually lost the project
to the Spanish team, even though her Columbian counterparts acknowledged the quality of her
proposals.

Incident 2 _ Richard
Richard, a 50-year-old Australian, is part of a team of lawyers based in Paris. Claude, who is
48, serves as a member of Richard's team. Claude works from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with an hour and a
half for lunch.
Richard is very pleased with the quality of Claude's work and her commitment to the team.
Unfortunately because of his extensive travel commitments abroad he has never had the
opportunity to have lunch with her or spend any time with her and the team outside the work
environment. After a while Richard asks to be addressed by his first name and the informal
expression. Several months later, however, Claude is still calling him “Monsieur Lafleur” and
addressing him with “Voulez-vous bien…” (formal expression for “would you mind…”) although
Richard calls her ‘Claude’ and addresses her with “Veux-tu” (informal expression for “could you…”).
Richard is puzzled and decides to talk to Claude about this matter in order to clarify the
situation. To Richard's amazement, Claude replies that she prefers to call him by his surname and
refer to him with the formal expression “vous”.

Incident 3 _ Karl
Karl, a Dutch lawyer, felt that his first business trip to Japan was going fairly well. He was
determined to get to know his colleagues better and was particularly pleased to be invited out for
drinks after work with most of the team, including the senior managers.

3
 At the bar, everyone was expected to entertain; even the senior staff got to sing karaoke
songs or tell jokes. Everything seemed fairly informal and cooperative, with Karl's karaoke version of
"Imagine" winning rapturous applause from the group. One of the senior managers even asked Karl
for a repeat rendition later in the evening.
Keeping this informality in mind, Karl scheduled a team meeting early the next morning to
present a proposal for resolving a minor logistics problem he had noticed. He was surprised to be
met with a wall of embarrassed silence and was noticeably excluded from informal exchanges as
people left the meeting.

Incident 4 _ Rebecca
Rebecca, a recently recruited British executive in an international law firm, was asked to
chair a meeting with her French and British colleagues.
From Rebecca's point of view, the meeting went well. She did her utmost to make sure that
everyone was heard and the relevant issues discussed and summarized in a diplomatic way. She
even changed the agenda and extended the meeting to accommodate new issues that some British
delegates had brought up.
At the end of the meeting, Rebecca was shocked to hear one French colleague whisper to
another, “Typical British, just typical. No proper preparation.” She was even more surprised to hear
the reply, “Yes, and they never say what they mean, do they?”