CULTURE

Culture

Introduction

Culture has a number of varying definitions, and each country has its own culture and values. According to Stephen Roberts,” Culture is the framework in which we communicate”. The culture of a country is a combination of various factors with different dimensions. These factors include language, environment, technology, social organization, the perception of authority and nonverbal communications (Hofstede, 1986).

The culture of a country can have a huge influence on the working and the culture of an organization. The primary reason for study culture is to help organizations better understand the variations of job stress for people with different background (Thomas, 2008). Having the ability to assess these variables is vital in ensuring for managers to convey messages and conduct business across a wide range of cultures.

This paper aims at presenting a brief description of the concept of culture with special reference the work of Geert Hofstede in the article “The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories”. The article also discusses the cultural dimensions of Japan in the light of the Hofstede model.

Discussion

Every country of the world has a distinct culture of its own. People living in a country relate to the norms and values of the society. There are values that are drastically different in various cultures and societies. The dressing pattern, languages spoken, colours, buildings, architecture et al differ in different cultures (Hofstede, 2001). For example, people to America have different values as compared to the values in Russia. Existing cultural theories are followed to guide cross-cultural research on the management of cultural differences.

Hofstede's Model of Cultural Dimensions

Hofstede's model for understanding Cultural Dimensions is a very useful tool for understanding the basis for intercultural dimensions of a country through indicating preferences in a large spectrum of values. These are classified under the following four categories.

Power distance

Individualism

Masculinity / Femininity

Uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 1986)

Here, the model is used to describe the different aspects of the Japanese culture.

Japanese Culture As Described By Hofstede's Model of Cultural Dimensions

Japan is a country of geisha, samurai, electronics, cars of outstanding quality and smiling tour groups relentlessly shooting their cameras. It is true that geishas were part of its history but today we can say that they are well introduced into European culture.

Power distance

The power dimension implies the fact that not all the people in the society enjoy equal rights and opportunities and establishes the cultural attitudes encompassing these inequalities (Hofstede, 1986). The ...