The meaning and dimensions of cultutre Culture as a concept the nature of culture The characteristics of culture

1. Multi-cultural and
Transnational
Management
Week 2 The Meanings and Dimensions of
Culture
Lecturer: Huyen Trang Nguyen
Huyentrang.nguyen@hud.ac.uk

2. Lecture
structure
1. The nature of culture
and cultural diversity
 Culture affects
managerial
approaches
2. Cultural dimension
 Hofstede’s Model
 Trompenaars’s Model
3. Integrating Culture
and Management
 The GLOBE project

3. Discussion
Question:
 “If aliens
landed on
Earth and
asked you to
explain your
culture using
only three
items from
your home or
three words…
what would
you choose?”

4. Culture as a concept
 A definition of culture:
Culture is ‘the collective programming of the mind
which distinguishes the members of one human
group from another’ (Hofstede, 1980: 25).
Culture is “a set of knowledge systems of tangible
and invisible values, norms, attitudes, beliefs, and
behavioural meanings that are shared by members
of a social group ( society) and that are learned
from previous generations”.
 the learned and collective nature of culture,
shaping individuals' perceptions and interactions

5.  Two other definitions of culture:
 “Culture consists of patterned ways of thinking, feeling
and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by
symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of
human groups, including their embodiment in artefacts;
the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e.
historically derived and selected) ideas and especially
their values.” (Kluckhohn, 1961, p73)
 “The subjective perception of the human-made part of
the environment. This includes the categorisation of
social stimuli, associations, beliefs, attitudes and values
that people share.” (Triandis, 1972)

6. The nature of culture
 The acquired knowledge that people use
to interpret experience and generate
social behaviour. Cultural
 knowledge forms values and norms,
creates attitudes, influences behaviour,
the way of thinking and
 The culture determines:
 How we see ourselves
 How we see the world
 Culture is not right or wrong, inherited,
about individual behaviour ...

8.  Hard-working?
 Emotions: Joy,
sad, anger,
anxiety??
 Religion?

9.  The concept of culture has three layers:
1) Artefacts: abstract, intangible, error-ish concepts, behavioural or explicit
e.g. the food, the houses, the architecture, the languages and also body
language and facial expressions
2) Norms (rules of the society) and values (what is important/unimportant):
the culture’s framework of reference; implicit and rarely discussed
3) Assumptions and beliefs: implicit; difficult to describe or explain
 E.g. seeing a black cat, open umbrella inside

16. The characteristics of
culture
1) Culture is shared: it describes groups rather
than individuals; (most) members of the group
perceive the world in a certain way;
 I.e.: In Japan, bowing is a shared norm to
show respect, with the depth conveying
different meanings. Similarly, in Western
cultures, shaking hands is widely understood
as a polite greeting.
2) Culture is learned: the group’s culture is
passed down from generation to generation;
children unconsciously learn the ‘dos’ and
‘donts’ as they grow up
 i.e. through language, art, folktales

17. National Culture Organisational Culture
Shared meanings Shared behaviours
Unconditional relationship Conditional relationship
Born into it Socialised into it
Totally immersed Partly involved

18. Why cultures differ and persist?
Survival – cultural
characteristics originally
developed to aid the survival
of groups in their environment
(e.g., handshakes in Western
cultures; laid back attitude
toward time in tropical
cultures)
The emergence of social
institutions– governing groups
reward desired behaviour and
punish unacceptable
behaviour; schools and
families teach children what is
good/bad, right/wrong,
ugly/beautiful, etc.

19.  Language plays a significant role in maintaining
cultural characteristics.
For example, speakers of languages based on pictorial
representations (e.g., Chinese characters) tend to see
the world more holistically than do speakers of
languages based on phonetic scripts (e.g., English,
German, French). Hence, language has a powerful role
of shaping behaviour and perpetuating our beliefs
(i.e., culture).
 Religions reflect beliefs shared by groups of people,
and religious traditions are closely related to
cultural values.

20. Group activity
Draw the following four
things individually, then
discuss, as a group, which
one(s) can be used as
metaphor(s) for culture?
https://www.mentimeter.com/app/
presentation/aln1a8c6yrgo43y85ijqy
9cybmpt9ay5/edit?question=hq2fzqs
avmus
LET Shake hands!!!

21. In-class discussion
 Why is it important to learn about cross-
cultural management in international
business?
 navigating the complexities of operating
in diverse cultural contexts
 fostering effective communication,
collaboration, and ultimately, success in
the global marketplace.
 enabling businesses to avoid costly
mistakes, building stronger
relationships, and adapting to local
market dynamics.

22. A quick discussion
💼 Scenario 1: The Gift Dilemma
 “You’re visiting a potential business partner in Japan. You bring a bottle
of wine as a gift. They look surprised and politely decline. What went
wrong?”
 → Opens discussion on gift-giving etiquette and cultural expectations.
🕒 Scenario 2: Time Is Money… Or Is It?
 “You arrive 10 minutes early for a meeting in Switzerland. Great! You do
the same in Mexico—and wait 45 minutes for others to show up. What’s
going on?”
 → Leads into cultural attitudes toward time (monochronic vs.
polychronic.
🤝 Scenario 3: The Silent Negotiator
 “During a negotiation in China, your counterpart pauses for long periods
before responding. You feel uncomfortable. Should you fill the silence?”
 → Perfect segue into high-context vs. low-context cultures.

23. Geert Hofstede
 Hofstede was one of the first researchers to analyse the influence of
national cultures on management practices.
 Using survey, he collected data between 1967 and 1973 from over 100,00
IBM employees in 40 countries. This survey asked questions concerned
values and opinions. This initial study suggests that national cultures can
be systematically compared in four dimensions: Power Distance (PDI),
Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), and
Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS).

24. Geert Hofstede (2)
 A fifth dimension (Long-term Orientation vs. Short-
term Orientation (LTO), or Confucian Dynamism) was
later added to the list. This dimension was discovered
by Hofstede and Bond in 1991 in a study of 23 countries.
These countries included many Asian countries that
were not in the first survey, for example, China.
 A sixth dimension (Indulgence vs. Restrained) was
added by Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov in 2010.

25. Figure 1:Hofstede's cultural dimensions
https://www.theculturefactor.com/country-comparison-tool

26. Power Distance (PDI)
 “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and
organisations accept and expect that power is distributed unequally”
 Which country has the highest vs. lowest PDI?
 https://clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-inde
x/
 High PDI countries: people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody
has a place, and which needs no further justification (e.g., China (80),
Vietnam (70), India (77), Russia(93)
 Low PDI countries: people strive to equalise power distribution and demand
justification for inequalities of power (e.g., U.K (35), Australia, New
Zealand (40), Austria (11)

27. Country PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO
Malaysia 104 26 50 36
Panama 95 11 44 86
Philippines 94 32 64 44 19
Mexico 81 30 69 82
Venezuela 81 12 73 76
China 80 20 66 40 118
Egypt 80 38 52 68
Iraq 80 38 52 68
Kuwait 80 38 52 68
Lebanon 80 38 52 68
Saudi
Arabia
80 38 52 68
United
Arab
Emirates
80 38 52 68

28. Country PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO
Germany 35 67 66 65 31
United
Kingdom
35 89 66 35 25
Switzerland 34 68 70 58
Finland 33 63 26 59
Norway 31 69 8 50 20
Sweden 31 71 5 29 33
Ireland 28 70 68 35
New Zealand 22 79 58 49 30
Denmark 18 74 16 23
Israel 13 54 47 81
Austria 11 55 79 70

29. Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
 “the extent to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable
with uncertainty and ambiguity”
 High UAI: people rely heavily on rules, laws and regulations to avoid
uncertainty and reduce risks; uncomfortable in ambiguous situations
and and insufficient information (e.g., Germany (65), Japan (92),
Greece(112)
 Low UAI: people more willing to accept uncertain, unusual and
innovative ideas and behaviour; conflict and competition are a part of
life (e.g., U.K.(35), Denmark(23), Vietnam (30), Singapore (8)

30. Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV)
 “the degrees to which individuals are integrated into groups”
 High IDV: individual interests > group interests; business-oriented and
profit-driven; children are taught how they uniquely can contribute to the
society (e.g., U.S., UK., Australia)
 Low IDV (i.e. high collectivism): group interests > individual interests;
relationship-oriented; group harmony and avoid in-group conflict (e.g.,
China, Vietnam, South Korea)

31. Masculinity vs. Femininity
(MAS)
 distribution of roles between the genders: “achievement, assertiveness and material
rewards for success” or “cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, and quality of
life”
 High MAS: students see grades and ranking as the main criteria to achieve success;
there is distinction between what men can/should do and what women can/should do
(e.g., Japan (95), Hungary (88), China(66)
 Low MAS: people value equality, solidarity and quality of life; there is little distinction
between men and women (e.g., Netherlands (14); Norway (8); Sweden (5).

32. Long-term
vs. Short-
term
Orientatio
n (LTO)
 Describes how society maintains
some links with the past and
deals with the future.
 Societies with low LTO (e.g., U.S.
(29); UK (25); Philippines (19)
have a short-term view; focus on
achieving quick results; a
relatively small propensity to
save for the future
 Societies with high LTO (e.g.,
China (118), Japan (80), S.Korea
(75) take a pragmatic approach in
life; they encourage thrift and
efforts in preparing for the
future; truth depends on
situation, context and time;
perseverance & persistence in
achieving results

33. Figure 2: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Framework

34. https://www.theculturefactor.com/country-comparison
-tool?countries=united+kingdom%2Cvietnam
Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty
Avoidance
Longterm
orientation
Indulgence
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
VIETNAM vs. UK Country Comparison
index
Vietnam The UK

35. Trompenaars’s Dimensions
 A value questionnaire to over 15,000
managers in 28 countries.
 Mainly used in consultancy and less in
scholarly research
 Derived primarily from North American
sociologists and anthropologists
 Seven dimensions

36. 1. Universalism (absolute rules apply) vs. Particularism
(circumstances and relationship are more important)
e.g., the role of business contract
2. Individualism (personal welfare and fulfilment) vs.
Collectivism (social concern)
e.g., the goal of business negotiations
3. Neutral vs. Affective relationships (emotional
orientation in relationships)
e.g., should emotions be exhibited in business relations?

37. 4. Specific (company employees are hired to be part of a system)
vs. Diffuse relationships (company employees are members of a group
working together)
e.g., being result-oriented or process-oriented
5. Achievement (performance evaluated) vs. Ascription (status ascribed)
e.g., promotion based on performance or status
6. Sequential vs. Synchronic (do one thing at a time vs. multi-tasking)
e.g., keeping to schedule or being easily distracted
7. Inner (internal control to the environment) vs. Outer Directed
(external control to the environment)
e.g., decision-making driven by personal conviction or external influence
(such as seeking for harmony)

38. The GLOBE Programme
 Global Leadership and
Organisational Behaviour
Effectiveness Research
Programme (GLOBE)
 GLOBE project examined the
relationship between culture and
successful leadership and
management patterns in sixty-
two countries around the world

39. The GLOBE Programme
 Inspired by the work of Hofstede and Trompenaars, etc.
 A world-wide team of scholars: Robert J. House, Paul J.
Hanges, Mansour Javidan, Peter W. Dorfman and Vipin
Gupta
 The outputs of the programme:
 9 cultural dimensions measured in the form of
practices (as things are) and values (as things should be).
 Cultural perspectives on leadership effectiveness
(universally acceptable, universally undesirable and
culturally contingent)
 10 culture clusters based on the effects of 9 cultural
dimensions on expectations of leaders and on
organisational practices in each society

40. The GLOBE Nine Dimensions of
Culture
(1) Uncertainty Avoidance
(2) Power Distance
(3) Collectivism I: Societal
Collectivism
(4) Collectivism II: In-Group
Collectivism
(5) Gender Egalitarianism
(6) Assertiveness
(7) Future Orientation
(8) Performance Orientation
(9) Humane Orientation
 Define aspects of a
country’s culture that
distinguish one society
from another.
 Have managerial
implications.
Javidan et al. (2006)

41. GLOBE criteria for leader effectiveness
 Based on the 9 cultural dimensions leadership attributes: universally
acceptable across cultures; universally undesirable and culturally
contingent (their desirability or lack of desirability as culturally
dependent)

42. Universal Attributes
 GLOBE study and the universality of leader behaviours.
Charismatic/Value-
based Leadership
Reflects the ability to inspire, to motivate, and
to expect high performance outcomes from
others.
Team Orientation
Leadership
Reflects effective team-building and
implementation of a common purpose or goal
among team members.
Participative Leadership Reflects the degree to which managers involve
others in making and implementing decisions.
Humane Orientation
Leadership
Reflects supportive and considerate leadership
but also includes compassion and generosity.
Autonomous Leadership Refers to independent and individualistic
leadership.
Self-protective
Leadership
Focuses on ensuring the safety and security of
the individual.

43. GLOBE Culture Clusters
The clusters
represent how
people from
different cultures
view effective
leadership and how
it is influenced by
their culture.

44. 10 GLOBE Geographic Culture Clusters

45. GLOBE leader dimensions
Steers et al. 2016

46. Exercise
In your view, do men and
women approach leadership in
fundamentally different ways?
If so, is culture or gender
more important in
determining a leader’s style?
Discuss.

47. Critical
thinking and
discussion…
What are the theoretical and
practical advantages and
limitations of these
frameworks?

48. Groups discussion
Discussion
Activities

49. On-going debate 1: National Culture
 National culture: ‘a constant thread [...] through our lives which makes us
distinguishable from others, especially those in other countries: this
thread is our national culture’ (Tayeb, 2003:13).
 Cross cultural management research is predominately about ‘national
culture’ because they are ‘political entities’ (Hofstede, 1983) and many
nations are small enough to have relatively similar geographical and
ecological conditions which promote cultural homogeneity (Smith, Bond, &
Kagitcibasi, 2006)

50.  From an international business perspective, national culture is the most
logical level of analysis from which to begin to understand the cultural
environment
 But is the nation state a suitable proxy for culture?
 It is often used, but is misleading
 Multiple cultures can exist in one nation
 National identity is often symbolic

51. On-going debate 2: Convergence or
Divergence?
 Are we becoming more and more similar (convergence) because of
globalisation, or is globalisation driving us further and further apart
(divergence)?
 Convergence:
- Cultures are not static but develop over time
- Globalisation promoting English as the lingua franca and a common set of
business practices
- Similar consumer tastes and preferences
- Mass media promoting certain values and norms
 Westernisation?

52.  Divergence:
-developing nations distinguish themselves from the West and
assert their cultural uniqueness
-modernisation proceeds at different speeds and holds different
meanings in different cultures
e.g., McDonald’s
-Path dependent: although economic development brings
pervasive cultural changes, the historical basis or a society has
an enduring effect on the character of its development (e.g.,
Hong Kong Chinese)

53. On-going debate 3: Organisation
vs. National Culture
 Organisational culture: “stable attitudes, beliefs, and values held in
common by organisation members” (Williams, Dobson & Walters, 1993), or
“consciously held values about an organisation’s strategies, goals, and
philosophies” (Schein, 1985).
 People enter organisations after their national cultural values, attitudes,
and fundamental beliefs are well developed, whereas organisational
practices are learned through workplace socialisation (Hofstede et al.,
1990).
 The effect of organisational culture is probably weaker than national
culture and has limited lasting impact (Triandis, 1995).

54. Group Activity
Schein’s definition of organisational culture
 a) a pattern of basic assumptions b) invented, discovered or developed by
a given group c) as it learns to cope with its problems of external
adaption and internal integration, d) that has worked well enough to be
considered valid and, therefore e) is taught to new members as the f)
correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to chosen problems.
Using Schien’s definitions: Think about the Vietnam National University!
A) what are the basic assumptions within the organisation
B) where do you think these assumptions come from
C) To what extent could the national culture have an influence on the
organisational behaviour of this organisation?

55. THANK YOU!
Any questions?