Management Hall of Fame
Most Respected Management Gurus
Geert Hofstede
Cultural Diversity (1928-Present)
- "Management in a global environment is increasingly affected by cultural differences." (Geert Hofstede)
Key Work
- Graduates from Delft Institute of Technology.
- Receives Ph.D. from University of Groningen.
- Undertakes massive research project into IBM.
- Publish "Culture's Consequences" & "Cultures and Organizations books"
In his work, Hofstede defines (group, organization, nation) culture as being collective, but often intangible.
n his view, it is made up of two main elements:
- Internal values, which are invisible (right and wrong, individualism and collectivistic etc.)
- External elements, which are more visible and are known as practices from greeting rituals to hero figures
He identify 4 dimensions for defining work-related values associated with national culture:
- power distance : How much a Society accept and how they Handles Inequalities and thus centralization or distribution of power, resources, salary, privileges, and status symbols.
- individualism/collectivism : The degree of loyalty and the level of group welfare integration where everyone is expected to look after him/herself versus the welfare of the group they are within.
- masculinity/femininity: Gender role and control
- uncertainty avoidance
He also devised the "values survey module" for use in researching cultural differences, and as a frame work to understand the differences in Multinational teams, which become a valuable tool to avoid conflict in international management.
Books & References:
- Culture's Consequences, International Differences in Work-Related Values (Cross Cultural Research and Methodology). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1980.
- Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991.
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