NATIONAL CULTURES

Researching National Cultures

Introduction2

Concepts of Culture2

Theoretical Frameworks of Cultural Dimensions3

Approach to Power Distribution5

Approach to Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity/Femininity9

Conclusion11

References12

Researching National Cultures

Introduction

This assignment is based on the difference between India n Australia using the Hofstede Theory of Culture. The culture of a community is formed in a long process of development and subject to constant change. The integration into an existing community or a specific culture is associated with the learning of specific concepts such as values, norms, behaviour patterns, and language. However, it is also a fact that national culture is more influential on working and communication patterns. Every country has different regional and national cultural characteristics (Mead, 2005).

Similarly, Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions is an effective tool to assess the culture of any country. A Dutch social scientist and anthropologist, Geert Hofstede, formulated five cultural dimensions to assess the culture of any country. The five dimensions are: Power Distance, Individualism and Collectivism, Masculinity and Femininity, Uncertainty avoidance, and Long-term or Short-term Orientation.

Concepts of Culture

Culture is transmitted through the social environment rather than through heredity. It is moulded in accordance with human nature and is something that all humans have in common. On the other hand, personality is something that is unique in every human being. In every culture there are groups of people who share a common goal, or have or are expected to commit themselves to a common purpose. Same is the case with the culture of an organization.

Culture is defined as cumulative deposit of experience, knowledge, attitudes, religion, meanings, values, beliefs, notion of time, spatial relations, concepts of universe, hierarchies, and material objects acquired by individuals in the course of generation. Culture can also be defined as way of life of people that include their values, behaviours, symbols, beliefs. They are accepted by people without thing about them and that are passed along by imitation and communication from one generation to the next. Hofstede was one of the first sociologists who sought to classify cultural differences, According to Hofstede, Culture is a collective programming of mind which separated a person of the group from another. According to him, Cultures only exist by comparison. Some scholars identified culture as a relatively enduring quality of the country's environment experienced by individuals that influences the behaviour of its citizens. Culture is one of the most important factors that has huge impact on the outcomes and competitive development of a country (Hofstede, 2005).

Theoretical Frameworks of Cultural Dimensions

Cultural identity is thus defined by five universal dimensions of Hofstede. Power Distance is the dimension that indicates the power distance/inequality in the culture, this can be between parent and child, boss and employee or even husband and wife. An entire society or country can be classified according to the level of power distance. The people in a culture with high power distance are easier resigned to the fact that power is distributed unequally than in cultures with low power distance.

Uncertainty avoidance refers to the way in which members of a ...