Hofstede’s Cultural Model (Part 2)


Coming to directly Hofstede’s Cultural Onion, for him there are six dimensions for this. Hofstede studied people who worked for IBM in more than 50 countries according to these dimensions.
These are:
1-      Power Distance Index (high versus low). - This refers to the degree of inequality that exists – and is accepted – between people with and without power.

2-      Individualism VS Collectivism. - This refers to the strength of the ties that people have to others within their community.


3-      Masculinity VS Femininity. - This refers to the distribution of roles between men and women.


4-      Uncertainty Avoidance Index (high VS low). - This dimension describes how well people can cope with anxiety.

5-      Long- VS Short-Term Orientation. - It refers to the time horizon people in a society display.


6-      Indulgence VS Restraint.
Although these 6 dimensions are not enough and limit us today, it can be seen that cultural norms play a large part in interpersonal relationships at work. When you grow up in a certain culture, you take the behavioral norms of your society for granted, and you don't have to think about your reactions, preferences and feelings, provided that you don't deviate too much from the central tendency in your society. So when we enter a foreign world, we can definitely evaluate ourselves with these 6 dimensions to see how we react to the new culture.
To give an example, when I first came to Finland, it was a cultural shock to see the children just wandering around freely without their parents. In my culture, such a thing is very wrong. Another cultural shock was the way of food because I realized that Finnish people were eating healthier than my country. Or another shock was to learn that there was no Halloween but at Easter time, children would dress up and go out as a witch to celebrate it that way. Even these can count in Hofstede’s model!




I have also come upon a web page that you can compare countries according to these 6 dimensions by just choosing them! Click here to compare the countries!


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