Hofstede’s Model

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory has been widely used to understand differences in national cultures. It describes how a society’s culture affects the values and ultimately behavior of its members and helps us understand and communicate more effectively with people from different national cultures.

The theory analyzes cultural values based on six basic dimensions:

• power distance
• individualism versus collectivism
• masculinity versus femininity (now known as achievement versus nurturing)
• uncertainty avoidance
• long-term orientation, and
• indulgence versus self-restraint

Watch this video on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Next, get into your assessment groups. Read the case and look for information to find out the differences in national cultures which highly influence how both the US expatriates and BVI employees act or behave using four of the six cultural dimensions.

Decide whether the US expatriates and BVI employees, on the whole,:

• have high or low power distance.
• are individualistic or collectivistic.
• are masculine or feminine.
• have high or low uncertainty avoidance.

Next, look for specific instances of action or behavior in the US expatriates and BVI employees which you think exemplify the values Hofstede identified. Use the table given below.

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