Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context

Indulgence vs restraint

It focuses on aspects not covered by the other five dimensions, but known from literature on "happiness research

Short term orientation

Personal steadiness and stability: a good person is always the same

Restraint

Restraint stands for a society that controls gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.

Long-term orientation

Traditions are adaptable to changed circumstances

Power Distance

as the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally

Organizational cultures

culture that reside rather in (visible and conscious) practices: the way people perceive what goes on in their organizational environment

Societal Cultures

cultures reside in (often unconscious) values, in the sense of broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others

Uncertainty avoidance

indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations; cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict behavioral codes, laws and rules, disapproval of deviant opinions, and a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'

Individualism/Collectivism

is the degree to which people in a society are integrated into groups.

Hofstede Dimensions

power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, individualism/collectivism, long term vs short term orientation, indulgence vs restraint

Masculinity/Femininity

refers to the distribution of values between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society, to which a range of solutions can be found

Indulgence

stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun

Culture

the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others

long term vs short term orientation

the long-term pole corresponds to Bond's Confucian Work Dynamism. Values found at this pole were perseverance, thrift, ordering relationships by status, and having a sense of shame; values at the opposite, short term pole were reciprocating social obligations, respect for tradition, protecting one's 'face', and personal steadiness and stability