Culture is typically used to describe the behaviors and actions of people from a large group perspective. In business, culture is used to describe behaviors at a national level in order to better understand the differences between people in different parts of the world. So while many languages may be spoken in a single country, there usually is a single national language that can be expected to be spoken by business people in that country. But the culture of a country has many other components besides language which Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner explore and compare in their book, “Riding the Eaves of Culture.” A similar examination of culture was done in the article: “The Cultural relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories”
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Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner use term Individualism for people “who decide alone, achieve alone and expect rewards alone” as oppose to Communitarianism where people “will seek group approval for actions, will act as a group and expect to be rewarded as a group.” These concepts are similar to Hofstede’s definition of Individualism and Collectivism where Individualists “look after the self-interests or small groups, while collectivists look after the interests of the group, tribe or village.” For both set of authors, Individualists will seek to act based on what they see as best for themselves often without consultation with others whereas Communitarians and Collectivists will seek approval and consensus from the group before taking action and they will think how their actions will benefit the group more than how it will effect …show more content…
This leads to an inequity of power distribution where people of high status are able to exert greater power and enjoy more benefits than those without status. In the terms of Hofstede, this is seen as “Power Distance” but how the status is achieved matters less to him than how the power is exerted. In high power distance cultures, authority figures must by respected due to their title or position, while people in lower power distance cultures may question the decisions of people in high positions. The authors share similarities in how power is used but differ in the meaning of its
Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner use term Individualism for people “who decide alone, achieve alone and expect rewards alone” as oppose to Communitarianism where people “will seek group approval for actions, will act as a group and expect to be rewarded as a group.” These concepts are similar to Hofstede’s definition of Individualism and Collectivism where Individualists “look after the self-interests or small groups, while collectivists look after the interests of the group, tribe or village.” For both set of authors, Individualists will seek to act based on what they see as best for themselves often without consultation with others whereas Communitarians and Collectivists will seek approval and consensus from the group before taking action and they will think how their actions will benefit the group more than how it will effect …show more content…
This leads to an inequity of power distribution where people of high status are able to exert greater power and enjoy more benefits than those without status. In the terms of Hofstede, this is seen as “Power Distance” but how the status is achieved matters less to him than how the power is exerted. In high power distance cultures, authority figures must by respected due to their title or position, while people in lower power distance cultures may question the decisions of people in high positions. The authors share similarities in how power is used but differ in the meaning of its