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  • Essay / Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory

    Dr. Geert Hofstede, after a decade of research, studying people who worked at IBM in over 50 countries, initially identified the four-dimensional model that could distinguish a culture from another in the 1970s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThe first is Power Distance. This refers to the social distance between people with and without power and how they react to their power. The second is uncertainty avoidance. It refers to how people in this country react to an unknown future, to things that are not made clear, and to the fact that they cannot always control the future. The third is individualism. This concerns the degree of individualism or collectivism of the members of a society, whether they think only of themselves and their family, or whether they think of the whole group. The fourth is masculinity. This refers to the characteristics of a society: Masculine, meaning the society is driven by achievement, success and competition; or Feminine, is when work and personal life are kept in balance. And the fifth dimension is long term/short term orientation. When a society is short-term oriented, it means that it wants to respect traditions, is religious, has its eyes on the past and is wary of any future changes. On the other hand, if a society is long-term oriented, it means that it expects changes, is pragmatic and modest. (Laurie J. Mullins, 2016, p.24) Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Starting with the first one, Power Distance, Netherlands' score is low (38), meaning there is a good understanding of the hierarchical structure. As for individualism, it scores 80, which shows that society is very individualistic and always thinks of itself before everyone else. When it comes to masculinity, the Netherlands only scores 14, showing that Dutch citizens are more interested in quality of life than success and being first. But when it comes to uncertainty avoidance, the Netherlands scores 53, meaning they are afraid of the future, of what they cannot control and that they always need to have rules, to work hard and that safety is important to them. And the last one, in the dimension "Long-term/short-term oriented", the Netherlands scores 87, which means that they are pragmatic in nature, trying to ensure that things are practical more than in the traditional way and that they are not afraid of change. (Mindtools.com, 2017)