Cultural Dimension Theory In International Business

Understanding one’s culture is a very important key factor for international business to be successful. Culture is an important part of International business as it defines the collection of beliefs, values, behaviour, customs and attitude of the members of the society. Gerard Hendrik (Greet) Hofstede, is a social psychologist who did noteworthy work in developing cultural dimension theory. On basis of five social issues, he classified five value dimensions - Power Distance, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity, Long-term Orientation. Each social issue has two extreme dimensions: Identity – Collectivism and Individualism, Hierarchy – Large Power distance and Short power Distance, Gender – Femininity and Masculinity, Truth- Strong Uncertainty Avoidance and Weak Uncertainty Avoidance, Virtues- Long Term Orientation and Short Term Orientation. Power Distance refers to “Degree to which a culture’s people are (should be) separated by power, authority and prestige”(Garcia, F., Mendez, D., Ellis, C. and Gautney, C., 2014, p.304). This dimension mirrors the results of force disparity and power relations in the public eye. It impacts hierarchy and reliance connections in the family and authoritative settings. Uncertainty avoidance refers to “The extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid these situations” (Soares, Farhangmehr, and Shoham 2007 p.280). Individualism dimension is described as -Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism is how much people are coordinated into …show more content…
America is one of the most influential cultures in the world. Power comes in numerous structures, yet it comes down to having an impact: over individuals, assets, and the global conversations. The US is an effective and powerful country having world’s most capable and fruitful