Use of Hofstede's Five Dimensional Model to Analyze Indian Culture

The purpose of this paper is to do a personal assessment of Indian culture. I will also be explaining Hofstede's five dimensional model, will use it to analyze the Indian culture and talk about the five dimensional model from my own observations.

Hofstede has identified five different cultural dimensions. These dimensions include power-distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and lastly long term orientation. According to Hofstede, power distance is the first dimension which translates to how all individuals in a society aren't equal and there is a decent amount of inequality when it comes to the division of power. The second dimension involves the theme of individualism which translates to the degree of interdependence as well as how we identify ourselves in terms of "I" or "We". Additionally, Hofstede states that in individualist societies we tend to look only after ourselves and our blood family, however, in collectivistic societies individuals identify themselves as part of groups and take care of each other in exchange for loyalty. The third dimension would be masculinity/ femininity. A high score would translate to a masculine culture which demonstrates a culture driven by competition, achievement and success. On the other hand, a low score which demonstrates a feminine culture shows that the dominant traits involves caring for others and quality of life. The fourth dimension involves uncertainty avoidance which translates to how a society deals with not knowing how the future is going to turn out. This amount of vagueness brings about anxiety and different cultures deal with this issue differently. The fifth and final cultural dimension according to Hofstede is long term orientat...

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Throughout the course of this paper, I have discussed Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions where I broke down these dimensions. Additionally, I have stated how India tends to appreciate the hierarchical relationship structure, is a collectivist country and leans towards being a more masculine society. Additionally, India tends to possess a medium to low preference towards uncertainty avoidance and leans towards being a future oriented society. Having lived in the United States for almost a decade I think I have become more “Americanized”. India is a great country and I’ll always visit it in the future, but from the way things are going I am going to permanently settle down in New York where I would like to start my career and family.

References:

Hofstede, Geert. "THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE." India. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. .