The Man Who Put Corporate Culture On The Map Almost

The man who put corporate culture on the map—almost literally—Geert Hofstede (born 1928) defined culture along five different dimensions. He measured each of these dimensions in numerous countries and then made cross-country comparisons. In the age of globalization, managers trying to understand the differences between workforces in different environments have used this model extensively. Early in his career he worked for IBM, during which he carried out the research on which his career and reputation successively rests. Now known as the Hofstede Cultural Orientation Model is based on his study between 1967 and 1973 of IBM employees in 40 different countries. Conducting business on a global basis requires a good understanding of different†¦show more content†¦PDI dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power be distributed unequally. The fundamental issue in this dimension is how a society handles in equalities among people. Individualistic society can be defined as a loosely knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of only themselves and their immediate families while collectivistic society represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The Masculinity side represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success (society at large is more competitive), while femininity stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life (society at large is more consensus-oriented). UAI dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The vital issue in this dimension is how a society deals with the fact that the future is unknown. Hofstede later added a fifth dimensio n after carrying out a study of Chinese managers in Honk Kong known as the Long-term