Geert Hofstede Essay

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Geert Hofstede is a Dutch professor, and former IBM employee, who spent the years between 1967 and 1973 conducting research on IBM employees in over 40 different countries. His work was intended to highlight cultural differences so that managers could learn to adapt to different cultures in such a multi-national business climate (The Economist, 2008, p. 1). Hofstede’s initial work created a model of 4 separate dimensions, which is essentially, an empirical and quantitative way to categorize general mindsets of a collective group of people. His work has grown much over the years, and the model has evolved to include two more dimensions.
Cultural Dimensions
The most recent model of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions is comprised of six separate categories to include Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation (LTO), Indulgence versus Restraint (IND) (the hofstede center, n.d., p. 1). These dimensions can be useful to leaders who need to understand, and connect with employees across diverse cultures; situations where a one size fits all approach is not sufficient. Because of the astounding levels of diversity …show more content…
Hofstede specifically describes groups that are high on the masculine dimension as being performance driven and achievement oriented (Dartey-Baah, 2013). The main incentive to succeed is for the rewards that are given for performance. Leaders tend to be dominate, assertive, and results driven. On the opposite end of the MAS scale is femininity, which emphasizes a more holistic view. Competition is not as fierce, and unquantifiable factors such as quality of work-life balance are sought after rather than simply results (Dartey-Baah, 2013). These characteristics comprise the MAS cultural

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