This guide has been created to help students successfully complete the course assignment to demonstrate an understanding of another's culture.
Hofstede's 6 Dimensions of National Culture
Gerard Hendrik Hofstede (1928 - Feb. 12, 2020) was a Dutch social psychologist, IBM employee, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, well known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups and organizations.
Social psychologist Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. He defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others. National culture cannot be changed, but you should understand and respect it.” The application of this research is used worldwide in both academic and professional management settings.
The Hofstede model of national culture consists of six dimensions. The cultural dimensions represent independent preferences for one state of affairs over another that distinguish countries (rather than individuals) from each other. The country scores on the dimensions are relative, in that we are all human and simultaneously we are all unique. In other words, culture can only be used meaningfully by comparison.
