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CHAPTER 2
CULTURAL FRAMEWORKS:
UNDERSTANDING ATTITUDES,
VALUES, AND BEHAVIOR
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
I tried to integrate the strengths of both Western and Eastern management
approaches, but without losing the essential qualities of each culture. –
Stan Shih, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Taiwan’s Acer Group, on
Acer’s management system.
CHAPTER REVIEW OUTLINE
GRASPING CULTURE: INFLUENTIAL FRAMEWORKS
I. The Development of and Need for Culture Frameworks
If used judiciously, cultural frameworks can be helpful. Managers must remember all
cultural frameworks have limitations, e.g., three key influential frameworks reviewed
in this chapter attempt to capture cultural differences through sets of bipolar
dimensions (e.g., individualism–collectivism). Nations can then be categorized based
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on where they tend to fall on each cultural dimension, but this reductionism cannot
fully capture the complexities and apparent paradoxes in specific cultures.
II. Hofstede’s Seminal Effort: Clustering Countries by Cultural Values
Hofstede developed his framework using questionnaires collected from over 116,000
A. Individualism-collectivism: Do people in a culture tend to see themselves as
individuals or as part of a group? In cultures where individualistic values hold
sway, a common belief is that people should take responsibility for themselves.
Consequently, autonomy, personal achievement, and privacy are highly valued. In
cultures where collectivism tends to dominate, group membership is highly
B. Achievement–nurturing: Are people more likely to value the assertive acquisition
of material success (such as money, power, etc.) or quality of life and good
relationships with co-workers? The achievement side of this dimension comes
from Hofstede’s observation that in most cultures, men were more likely to value
the assertive (masculine) side of things. People in nurturing (feminine) cultures
C. Power distance: This dimension captures whether or not people accept wide
differences in power between individuals, i.e., is the culture accepting of having
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the dictates or directions coming from those in positions of authority. When a
firm’s structure involves large gaps in authority where power is dispersed
unequally, it can be regarded as normal. Generally, executive authority and
discretion is more centralized in cultures where power distance is large.
D. Uncertainty avoidance: People tend to react differently to ambiguous or uncertain
events. Hofstede’s framework contends that culture, in the form of uncertainty
avoidance, partly determines those reactions. In cultures where uncertainty
avoidance is small, people are more likely to believe life has an inherent level of
unpredictability or uncertainty. People tend to be less enamored with, or
concerned about, complying with procedures, following rules, or respecting
organizational hierarchies. Taking risks, particularly when seeking personal
achievement, is encouraged.
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III. Mapping Hofstede’s Cultural Framework
By crossing pairs of cultural dimensions and plotting scores by country, Hofstede
developed useful culture maps, which identify countries whose scores cluster together
in one of four quadrants that reflect different combinations of the cultural dimensions.
Table 2.1 lists the country abbreviations used in Hofstede’s culture maps. As Table
2.2 illustrates, Costa Rica is the only country combining collectivism and small power
distance. Much more common is collectivism and large power distance—many of the
nations in this quadrant are either Asian or Latin American.
Table 2.4 displays the final map crossing uncertainty avoidance and power distance.
Most nations in the family quadrant are Asian—where loyalty to strong, paternal
leaders has traditionally been more important than policies and procedures. Countries
in the pyramid of people quadrant tend to have cultures that embrace powerful
A. Long-term versus Short-Term Orientation
Hofstede added a fifth cultural dimension: long-term versus short-term
orientation. Evolving out of his work on Asian societies, this dimension
distinguishes cultures with a forward-looking view on life (long-term) from those
more concerned with the past and present (short-term).
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IV. Limitations of Hofstede’s Framework
Despite its obvious pluses, Hofstede’s framework does have drawbacks. An obvious
limitation is that his framework is missing a variety of countries. Hofstede’s latest
work does include cultural value estimates for new emerging market powerhouses
such as China and Russia, but some areas of the world remain underrepresented.
V. Trompenaars’s Cultural Dimensions
Fons Trompenaars’s more recent framework makes similar distinctions (e.g., on
individualism) as Hofstede. On other cultural dimensions Trompenaars presents an
alternative perspective, due in part to newer data and use of different methods. He
collected data from over 15,000 managers in 28 nations across a decade-long period
and identified several bipolar cultural dimensions that constitute the heart of his
framework—many of which focus on relationships.
A. Outer-directed versus inner-directed views of the environment
People who are outer-directed tend to believe that what happens in life is not
B. Universalism versus particularism
This dimension relates to rules and whether relationships or situations should
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subscribe to particularism believe that rules should be adapted or adjusted
depending on the situation or person.
C. Neutral versus emotional
Stoicism and suppression of emotional displays are tendencies on the neutral side
D. Specific versus diffuse
Compartmentalization is typical in the United States and other specific cultures.
Work and family roles tend to be treated separately. In specific cultures,
E. Achievement versus ascription
The U.S. is a good example of an achievement culture, where an individual’s
status is a function of how he or she has performed or what goals have been
F. Individualism versus communitarianism
This dimension seems identical to Hofstede’s view of individualism (you see
yourself as an individual first) and collectivism (communitarianism means you
see yourself as part of a group first). There are real differences between the two,
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VI. The GLOBE Cultural Framework
The most comprehensive and far-reaching efforts to identify cultural dimensions and
use them to classify countries is the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) project. The major tool used by GLOBE was a survey
designed to assess nine cultural dimensions. These dimensions were developed from
A. The first three dimensions listed in Table 2.6 parallel those in Hofstede’s
framework. The fourth dimension in Table 2.6 focuses on a specific type of
collectivism that emphasizes loyalty and closeness to “in–groups” such as the
family or coworkers as opposed to “societal” collectivism (GLOBE dimension
#3). In-group ties are common and fundamental for understanding how business
operates and deals get done in a variety of nations (e.g., the Philippines, South
Korea).
B. Two dimensions listed in Table 2.6 (gender egalitarianism and future orientation)
also have roots in Hofstede’s work, but the final three dimensions in Table 2.6 are
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The last dimension in Table 2.6, humane orientation, reflects the extent to which
a culture encourages and rewards people who are kind, fair, and considerate to
others (e.g., Ireland, the Philippines, and Thailand). In such nations, people tend
C. Looking Ahead: The Future of the GLOBE-Hofstede Debate
The GLOBE effort is comprehensive and impressive in many ways, but it has not
escaped criticism. One concern is that while GLOBE was designed to replicate, if
not extend, Hofstede’s earlier work, it nonetheless defined and measured key
concepts quite differently. Some have suggested that GLOBE’s findings cannot
be directly compared with Hofstede’s, or that it is not completely clear what
GLOBE was actually measuring. GLOBE participants have argued that their
changes were designed to respond to, and improve on, shortcomings in Hofstede’s
MANIFESTATIONS OF CULTURE IN THE WORKPLACE
Relatively little has been said about specific ways that cultural differences can impact
international managers or how they should respond. Culture plays a role in virtually everything
associated with business, often in surprising ways. This section focuses on individual employees,
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I. How Culture Shapes Work-Related Perceptions
Culture can shape how we perceive the world and those around us in a variety of
ways. Three sets of examples of the impact of culture on perception—about people,
about events, and about time can have important implications for managers and
employees in the workplace.
A. People
In one study, Chinese and Australians were asked to read detailed descriptions of
fictitious people that included attributes related to conscientiousness, sensitivity,
and so on. Next, respondents were asked about how they expected these people to
behave. The two groups of respondents were selected because of their cultural
B. Events
Culture also shapes the perceptions of events. In a study comparing more
individualistic Australians with their more collectivistic Chinese counterparts,
both groups were asked to rate a list of common events (such as eating lunch and
C. Perceptions of People and Events
Culture operates like an automatic filtering and organizing process when shaping
people’s perceptions. We tend to use cultural filters to quickly form perceptions
of coworkers and business partners without really understanding how those filters
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work so most of us have a hard time understanding or appreciating cultural filters
other people are using.
D. Time
To underscore the pervasive influence of culture on perceptions, consider
something as “objective” as time. Time is seen as a commodity (e.g., “time is
money”) in many Western cultures, but in Eastern cultures, time is often
perceived as something more fluid and flexible. This distinction is referred to as
“event time” versus “clock time.” Event time is more characteristic of Asian and
Middle Eastern cultures, where scheduling revolves around people and events
rather than specific times. Clock time is emphasized in Western cultures and
events are scheduled closely and strictly by the clock.
E. Classifying Countries by Time Orientation
Researchers have distinguished between monochronic and polychronic
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In cultures with a monochronic orientation, schedules tend to be exact and time is
seen as a commodity to be measured precisely—with plenty of economic
terminology used (e.g., time must be “saved” or “spent”). The monochromic
perspective characterizes the US and some European nations.
II. Culture and Key Work Attitudes
While work is clearly an enormously important activity for people world-wide,
culture shapes how they feel about and react to their jobs. Culture can impact key
work attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
A. Job Satisfaction
Despite occasional press reports to the contrary, large-scale studies show that
Americans tend to be quite satisfied with their jobs compared to people in other
countries. One study found Japanese employees much less satisfied with their jobs
than their American counterparts—even after controlling for the American
tendency to be overly positive and the Japanese tendency to be less expressive or
more modest. About 70% of the Americans in the study indicated that they would
take their current job again compared to less than 25% of the Japanese.
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engagement anywhere in the world, with the US placing third. China placed
twelfth in the study, with Japanese workers scoring quite low in the rankings.
B. Organizational Commitment
Another key work attitude is organizational commitment. Less well-studied than
job satisfaction, we know how it plays out across cultures. In one study American
workers displayed higher organizational commitment than either Japanese or
Korean employees. This seems to contradict the commonly held view that Asian
employees, particularly from Japan, are more committed to their firms than
supposedly self-interested Americans.
Some research suggests that occupation level plays a bigger role in shaping work
commitment than national culture. Across 20 countries, work commitment was
similar, when broken down by occupation level. As workers rise through the
ranks in companies—regardless of their country and culture—work commitment
also seems to rise. Another complicating factor in all research on commitment
(and job satisfaction), is that measurement methods vary and measures may be
perceived differently across cultures, making it challenging to know whether
culture or measurement differences are driving the results.
C. Culture and perceptions and views on leadership
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The source of leaders may also vary across nations thanks to cultural influences.
As a classless society, merit basically determines who achieves leadership
positions in Japan. But in other nations, business executives tend to emerge from
powerful families or specific classes or strata in society. For instance, in some
Arab countries, strong leaders typically come from successful tribal families with
long histories of wielding power and influence.
III. Combating Stereotypes and Making Better Sense of Culture
Any discussion of culture involves generalizations and this may lead to trouble. Even
if our views about culture are useful, as “sophisticated stereotypes” they may already
be outdated and lag reality. While stable in the short run, cultures are constantly
evolving and changing. Stereotypes that some managers have about certain parts of
the world can create huge problems if not contained or sidestepped. To be truly
effective around the world, international managers must effectively grasp how culture
shapes the attitudes and behaviors of their employees. Managers and the
multinationals they work for can better develop an accurate understanding of the
cultures in which they must operate by using the following concrete advice:
• Engage with other cultures to test any “sophisticated stereotypes.” Think about
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• Find help from cultural mentors. Ideal mentors grasp a culture’s nuances,
paradoxes, and logic and are eager to share their insights. The better you
understand a culture, the more tolerant and effective manager you become.
• Developmental maps that will improve your effectiveness. Cultures can be thought
of as complex roadmaps for understanding how people think and act. That does
not mean you have to figure out everything about a culture and all of the rules,
implicit and explicit, governing it. High priority should be placed on
understanding core values or major “signposts” that provide the foundation for the
mental maps used in a culture. As the comparison of U.S. and Thai business
values in Table 2.9 suggests, some values are a surprise to most Americans
IV. Advice for corporations interested in improving the cultural savvy of their managers:
• Stress in-country training for people working abroad. Too much cultural training
happens in a classroom context at home and focuses on concepts instead of
experience. People should be trained in the locations where they are going to
work so they can be challenged to figure out answers to real cultural issues in the
local environment.
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CHAPTER SUMMARY
Culture has a pervasive impact on human resource practices, strategy formation, conflict
management, and leadership. Culture is a complex concept. The “collective programming of the
mind” of a particular culture can have roots in historical events, geography, shared traditions,
economic developments, language, and religion, among other things. Cultures are constantly
evolving.
Three prominent efforts to cluster countries by cultural values were discussed. Hofstede argued
that all cultures could be described in terms of four basic dimensions:
a) Individualism–collectivism
Hofstede produced valuable cultural maps that have many implications for managing employees
in different countries. Later he introduced a fifth cultural dimension, long-term versus short-term
orientation. Recent efforts by Trompenaars and others to cluster countries by cultural values
generally support Hofstede’s views and have added to knowledge about developing countries.
Culture influences important workplace attitudes, including job satisfaction, organizational
commitment, and an individual’s view about leadership.
Specific suggestions for moving beyond the “sophisticated stereotyping” that comes with the
limitations of culture frameworks are as follows:
Individuals:
• Approach other cultures with the idea of testing such stereotypes
Firms:
• Select people with “cognitive complexity” for international positions
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Describe the basic cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede and GLOBE. What are
their similarities, differences, and limitations? How might international managers use
the information from these cultural dimensions?
• See Tables 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 (Hofstede), and 2.6 (GLOBE)
• See II, III and VI – GRASPING CULTURE: INFLUENTIAL FRAMEWORKS
2. What are ways that culture can influence work-related perceptions and attitudes?
• The cultural importance of power distance can shape perceptions of managers
3. What is your own orientation toward time? Are you more monochronic or
polychronic? What challenges could this present for you in an international context?
4. How can firms and international managers go beyond the “sophisticated stereotyping”
that a superficial understanding of cultures might produce?
• Approach other cultures with the idea of testing such stereotypes
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CHAPTER ACTIVITIES
DEVELOPING YOUR INTERNATIONAL CAREER – What are Your Attitudes
towards Individualism and Collectivism?
BOXED FEATURES
CULTURE CLASH – Japanese Management Practices Rub Chinese Employees the
Wrong Way
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Table 2.1 –
Table 2.2 –
Table 2.3 –
Table 2.4 –