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Power distance The power distance dimension, which is one of the parameters of culture's influence on organizations, can help us explain the political phenomena that occur in some countries.
For example, there is a big difference between Americans' perception of power and that of Arabs. Americans do not attach much importance to power, they pay more attention to the play of personal ability, and their pursuit of power is much inferior to that of Arab countries; Due to the relationship between the state system, the Arab countries pay attention to the binding force of power, and as a result, the institutions of the Arab countries, whether they are the first departments or enterprises, are more or less colored by power.
Even within the same region, people's expectations of power distance can vary widely. In Malaysia, for example, Mahathir, the former leader of the ruling Umno, came to power in 1981 and served as prime minister for more than 20 years.
In Israel, Peres, known as Israel's "evergreen", has a very different political career: when his Labor Party wins the campaign, he can enter the cabinet and become a minister or even prime minister, while when the Labour Party loses, he is likely to exert political influence only as the leader of the opposition party.
Degree of uncertainty avoidance.
China is a high country, which is reflected in the trust in the authority of experts, and the need to avoid risks and uncertainties is stronger; Germany, on the contrary, is open to different things, listening to different voices, adventurous and accepting new and strange things.
Individualism and collectivism.
China is a country where collectivist culture prevails, emphasizing collective interests over individual interests, paying attention to social relations between people, and having a long history of clans. However, Germany pays more attention to individualism, pursues the expression and realization of self-consciousness, and pursues the self more.
Masculine and feminine.
China is deeply influenced by traditional Confucian culture, emphasizing moral norms and self-consciousness, human value through introspection and self-denial to express, the formation of Chinese introverted character, which seems more feminine, but with the deepening of reform, Chinese culture and German culture have pursued career success, but compared with Germany, less attention is paid to the improvement of the quality of life of individuals and families, Chinese are willing to pay more for career success than Germans, sometimes even at the expense of parents and family.
In short, face up to this gap, promote communication, innovative thinking,
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Hofstander's cultural analysis framework is one of the most complete and systematic cultural analysis models in the field of international business management research, which is a powerful tool for us to understand cultural phenomena and their impact on management.
a) It provides a benchmark for people to identify and understand cultural phenomena.
A cultural phenomenon is a complex social phenomenon. At present, there is no unified definition of culture, and people's knowledge and understanding of cultural phenomena are naturally very different. The Hofstead cultural model reflects the common basic characteristics of cultural values, which can serve as a benchmark for people to better recognize and understand cultural phenomena, through which people can recognize and understand the culture of any country.
2) It provides a powerful tool for people to analyze and compare different cultural phenomena.
In cross-cultural communication, people often have to analyze and compare different cultural phenomena in order to be able to identify the differences between different cultures. Because the Hofstead cultural models provide a benchmark for people to recognize and understand cultures, they can be a powerful tool for people to analyze and compare different cultures. The model uses qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze cultural phenomena, so that people can get a clearer understanding of the differences in cultural values in different countries.
3) It provides a solid foundation for cross-cultural management in international businesses.
With the advancement of economic globalization, it has become very common for international enterprises to carry out business activities in different national cultural backgrounds. Different national cultural values will have different understandings of the same issue, which will lead to different patterns of behavior. This poses a serious challenge to the management of international businesses:
That is, international enterprises are required to adopt corresponding management behavior models according to different national cultures. Because the value orientation model and the national culture model provide a powerful analytical tool for people to analyze and compare the cultural differences of different countries, they can help international business managers to effectively recognize and understand the differences between different cultures and the connotation of management, so as to adopt the corresponding management behavior model in a targeted manner.
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Hofsted's cultural model is not flawless, and its limitations are manifested in:
1 Culture consists of two parts: the subtle values and the imperceptible patterns of behaviour. Models provide a powerful tool for people to recognize and understand the values part of culture that is necessary for people to recognize and understand culture.
However, the cultural values part is not subtle, and it must be analyzed and judged through the perceptible external behavior patterns, and the model does not provide a powerful tool for people to recognize and understand the behavior patterns part of the culture.
2 The Hofstander model is only applicable to the level of national culture, and is not fully applicable to different aspects of culture, such as the analysis of corporate culture as a subculture.
3 Hofstead's study of culture is a static study that does not involve an analysis of cultural evolution and the factors that influence the change of cultural values, and his research focuses on managers rather than employees.
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Hofsted's model of national culture refers to Hofsteadt's definition of culture: "culture" is a "common mental process" of people in the same environment.
Culture, therefore, is not an individual trait, but a mental program shared by many people with the same social experience and the same education. The reason why people in different groups and different countries or regions have different common mental programs is that they have always received different educations, different societies and jobs, and thus have different ways of thinking.