The fifth dimension of culture: Michael bond (1988):
Hofstede’s initial research stimulated other culture related studies and the fifth cultural dimension was isolated in association with Canadian researcher Michael bond (1988). whose research was conducted from a Chinese perspective. (Cole,2003, p129)
Short term orientation is when you are focused on the present or past and consider them more important than the future. This means you value tradition, social hierarchy and fulfilling your social obligations. (LTO vs STO,2015) Long term orientation is when you encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future. (Geert hofested,2012)
Countries that scored high on Long term orientation includes china, Taiwan,
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To explore culture theories and how it effects management nationally as well as internationally.
2. To examine management theories and effect of culture.
The research is to gather many aspects on how culture can effect management within a nation and globally. Theories of both culture and management are collated through journals, books and the internet.
Relevant data required and Data collection methods:
The strategy that will be used to collect data are questionnaires. Questionnaires will be given out manually and through the self administered electronically based questionnaires via email to managers of several supermarkets. The supermarkets will range from Tesco, See woo, Taj stores, asda, Sainsbury and a few more. This is to ensure that data has cultural range.
The questionnaires will accumulate questions that facilitate drawing a relation between culture and management. Questionnaire’s are chosen because it is a way of collecting both quantitative and qualitative data.
Accessibility, Reliability, Validity and Ethics:
• Accessibility is not difficult as there are so many supermarkets manager’s to choose from. Also emails are always available on the website. I can also always go into a supermarket and give questionnaire’s out
Based on his research, Hofstede prescribed five dimensions for understanding international differences and similarities of culture, taking into account many macro and micro-level factors affecting culture, like ”demographic, goegraphic, economic and political aspects of society (Kale and Barnes, 1992).” The five dimentstions described by Hofstede are: Individual-collectivism, Uncertainty avoidance, Power distance, Feminitiy-masculinity, and Long-term orientation.
Dr. Wagner-Marsh, F. (2013). Organizational Culture . Retrieved from Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd edition: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Organizational-Culture.html
Triandis, H., & Wasti, S. (2008). Culture. In D. Stone, & E. Stone-Romeo, The influence of culture on human resource management processes and practices (pp. 1-24). Psychology Press
Schneider, S. C. and Barsoux, J. 2003. Managing across cultures. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Organisational culture is a result of many factors, some of which are the type of business the organisation is in, its products, it customers, its size and location and its methods of operating. An organisation’s culture is an expression of its personality: its characteristic way of doing things (Jacques 1951). An organisation’s culture reflects the things its staff value, the goals they collectively pursue, and the way they prefer to operate and to manage themselves (Bennis & Nanus 1985, Hofstede 1980, Kanter 1983, Kast & Rosenzweig 1985, Kilman et a1 1985, Peters & Waterman 1982)
The definitions of culture are numerous and wide ranging. The subject of culture can be examined from a sociological, psychological or managerial standpoint (LUNDY & COWLY 1996). It is estimated that here are some 200 different definitions of this term. Two popular scholars Furnham & Gunter summed up many of these definitions and highlighted several commons traits or aspects of the many definitions of Culture.
To study whether there is any relation between the demographic profile of the consumers and family attributes play a role in selection of preferred retail formats. There is a need for study of the problems faced by consumers in purchasing groceries from organized as well as traditional retail outlets.
A report studied on the grocery market was conducted on the behaviors of the public in buying retail goods (Consumer Council,
Schein (1990) has noted that culture is thought to permeate the organization on at least three fundamental levels. At the surface, one may observe visible artifacts of the organization, which is, its structure, technology, rules of conduct, dress codes, records, physical layout, stories, and rituals. Beneath this dimension is a second level, organization values, and finally, underlying assumptions about the nature if organization "reality" that are deeper manifestations of values. Of course investigating process of culture at the later level is more difficult, as they can not be directly observed and measured.
The Hofstede model of national culture differences, based on research carried out in the early seventies, is the first major study to receive worldwide attention. This influential model of cultural traits identifies five dimensions of culture that help to explain how and why people from various cultures behave as they do. According to Hofstede (1997) culture is Ù[ collective programming of the mind? This referring to a set of assumptions, beliefs, values and practices that a group of people has condoned as a result of the history of their engagements with one another and their environment over time. In this study, culture refers to a set of core values and behavioural patterns people have due to socialisation to a certain culture. The author̼ theoretical framework will be applied to compare differing management practices in China and the West. The five measurements of culture identified by the author are:
Hofstede (1997) identifies five dimensions of national culture important to management. These are: Power Distance - acceptance of unequal distribution of power, Individualism – the strength of ties between individuals, Masculinity – the distinction of gender roles, Uncertainty avoidance – how threatened people feel by the unknown, and Confucian dynamism – long vs short term orientation. Understanding different cultural values allows more effective management. This means a manager in a country with high uncertainty avoidance such as Germany (“Germany” n.d.) would expect better performance if clear processes, procedures and expectations were provided. In matching management styles to host countries’ culture, management impacts the successful globalization of
Gerard Hofstede is a social psychologist and a Professor Emeritus of Organisational Anthropology and International Management at the University of Maastricht. Hofstede’s theory is based on the study of over 160000 IBM employees from all over the world to see how their cultures affect their business behaviour. He found that cultural differences influence the way employees think and act on a social level. Geert Hofstede discovered, through his studies, that the most significant difference between national cultures are their level of values, whereas the main difference between organisational cultures was the level of practices. Hofstede decided to create 4 (fifth created in future study) cultural dimension theories to explain the behaviour of organisations and national cultures. These are: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism vs Collectivism, Masculinity vs Femininity, and Long vs Short term Orientation.
Organisational culture is emergent and socially created by constant interactions of organisational members with their environment as well as with each other. Looking at the former, Schein (1985) defines culture as learned solutions to problems that arise from positive problem-solving situations, be it problems of “external adaptation” or “internal integration”. Essentially, when confronted a problem that threatens the continuing survival of an organisation, members of the organisation would try out various responses until they discover one that most effectively remedies the situation. This solution, once accepted, is absorbed into the culture and becomes a cultural norm. For the latter, culture also emerges as a way for members to cope with environmental anxieties. For example, in order to cope with the stress of their occupational responsibilities and develop an effective way to communicate their points with each other, members of an organisation may develop their own jargon and language, which then becomes an implicit cultural
There are specific differences between cultures, particularly in the behaviours, attitude and values of individuals. These differences have a direct effect on the leadership styles in organisations, and increasing
...ociety makes decisions with a focus on the near future or the long term result. A culture that has a long term orientation embraces a long term commitment to traditional values or goals. The long term orientation has a respect for tradition that is coupled with a work ethic that believes that the hard work of today will be enjoyed tomorrow. In short term oriented cultures, change can happen more rapidly because there is less fixation on tradition.