INTRODUCTION XYZ Co. has been assigned to work abroad in Singapore for a three-year period. In order to be successful and return to a promoted position, we must educate ourselves on the culture, communication and doing business in Singapore. The following report will provide much needed information as we begin our transition to Singapore. This information will include the history of Singapore, Singapore’s values, everyday living, and business life. BACKGROUND Learning more about the background of Singapore is essential because a country’s background is closely tied to their culture, language and values. History In the early 20th century, Singapore was a prosperous nation exporting rubber and tin. Many of the immigrants flowing into the country …show more content…
The average life expectancy is around 81 years of age. The 3 main ethnic groups are Chinese, Malay, and Indian. The three main religions are Buddhism, Muslim, and Christianity. Singapore can best be described as a Confucian society, meaning they are closely tied to ancestor worship (Singapore’s Demographic: Resident Population). HOFSTEDE’S VALUE DIMENSIONS Hofstede’s value dimensions are a study of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. These Dimensions include Power Distance, Individualism, Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation, and Indulgence. Power Distance This Dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal, it also expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities. It is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In this category, Singapore scores a high 74. In a business setting, this means power is centralized and managers rely on their bosses and on rules. It also means employees expect to be told to do. Communication is indirect and the information flow is selective. Compared to the United States, you can expect to experience less control over the decision making in the office (Countries - Geert …show more content…
Scoring high in this category indicates that as a society, Singaporeans tend to encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future. Singaporeans support long-term investment such as perseverance, sustained efforts, slow results and ordering relationships by status. In comparison to the United States, you can expect the culture to have an overall hierarchy centered on the elderly. In a business setting, be wary of the hierarchy in meetings and with greetings (Countries – Geert
The first of the four dimension of Hofstede’s theory of national culture is power distance. Hofstede stated that, ‘the essential issue involved, to which different societies have found different solutions, is human inequality’ (1980; 92). An outstanding aspect of inequality is the amount of power each individual exercises or can apply over others with power being illustrated as the amount in which an individual is able to impact other individual’s thoughts and performance (Hofstede, 2015). Within societies, inequality in power is expected. This inequality in power is typically characterized in hierarchical employer-employee relationships. Power distance, is the degree that less powerful members of organizations inside a nation anticipate and
The Chinese community in Singapore can be divided into two clusters that is, the Chinese migrants from China that still regarded China, as their “home” as well as the Straits Chinese who mostly did not consider themselves as citizens of China rather, they were British citizens that considered Singapore their home. Straits Chinese or the Queen’s Chinese was not bothered about the politics in China and were mostly educated in English schools. This paper will therefore discuss the challenges in education faced by the Chinese community, more specifically the China-born Chinese migrants, in postwar Singapore.
Geert Hofstede performed the most lauded research on The Dimensions of Culture theory. His findings and the model that he created were outlined in his 1980 book “Cultures Consequences.” The work was met with both acclaim and disregard from fellow academics. Hofstede’s work is generally quoted and cited without any hesitation even today and his model is still widely used the main guideline for dealing with human resources from a cultural perspective.
Geert Hofstede is a social science researcher and Professor of Organizational Anthropology and International Management in The Netherlands. He developed a sophisticated framework for cross-cultural communication, relating individual’s behavior to cultural values and norms depending on their home country (Geert-hofstede.com, 2014).
Geert Hofstede, a Dutch psychologist, was hired by the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in the 1960s and 1970s to examine the values and concerns of their employees around the world. While performing this task, Hofstede intentionally explored values related to individualism to understand and compare various cultures. By observing significant differences between cultures, Hofstede was able to formulate the cultural dimensions theory in an attempt to understand cultural trends between cultures, incorporate cultural contexts, and compare individual’s ways of thinking socially. Personally the attempt to quantify culture through various dimensions intrigues me, as I believe that it may be possible. However, I believe that Hofstadter’s current model lacks the proper controls necessary to account for the complex nature of culture.
Hofstede (1983) suggests that individuals from similar cultures have a “collective mental programming” which is part of their conditioning that they share with other citizens of the country they reside in but not with other citizens who do not live in the same country. Hofstede defines this “collective mental programming” as culture (Armstrong, 1996). Several researchers have documented the cultural influence on consumer behaviour (e.g Erickson et al, 1984). Other researchers have focused on ethnic differences (e.g. Wallenford and Reilly, 1983). Tse et al (1988) also investigated whether a manager’s home culture has “predicable” significant effects on decision making of executives from the People’s Republic of China and Canada.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Hofstede has identified five different cultural dimensions. These dimensions include power-distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and lastly long term orientation. According to Hofstede, power distance is the first dimension which translates to how all individuals in a society aren't equal and there is a decent amount of inequality when it comes to the division of power. The second dimension involves the theme of individualism which translates to the degree of interdependence as well as how we identify ourselves in terms of "I" or "We". Additionally, Hofstede states that in individualist societies we tend to look only after ourselves and our blood family, however, in collectivistic societies individuals identify themselves as part of groups and take care of each other in exchange for loyalty. The third dimension would be masculinity/ femininity. A high score would translate to a masculine culture which demonstrates a culture driven by competition, achievement and success. On the other hand, a low score which demonstrates a feminine culture shows that the dominant traits involves caring for others and quality of life. The fourth dimension involves uncertainty avoidance which translates to how a society deals with not knowing how the future is going to turn out. This amount of vagueness brings about anxiety and different cultures deal with this issue differently. The fifth and final cultural dimension according to Hofstede is long term orientat...
The affect the four dimensions by Hofstede, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculine/femininity and individual and collectivism have on organizational show in all cultures and cross culture.
Confederation College can also train the people but that will include a lot of cost initially and it will be better to match Singaporean HR style with the existing HR style over time and slowly. Social and cultural factors Crime rate Singapore has the second lowest murder rate in the world. The security of personal belongings while traveling, the rate of snatching and pick pocketing is reducing every year in Singapore. According to a report by BBC in 2011, for 80 days there was no record of pick pocketing and snatching in Singapore (BBC, 2013).
The first dimension, power distance index (PDI), refers to the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. In a society, an individual exhibiting a high degree of power distance accept hierarchies where everyone has a place without the need for justification. Societies with low power distance however, seek the equal distribution of power. In organization
According to Robbins, DeCenzo, and Coulter (2011) “motivation is the process by which a person’s efforts are energized, directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal” (p. 267). Organizations are always looking for new ways to motivate employees. In a global economy it is important to understand that cultural differences can impact how an organization can motivate its employees. Geert Hofstede (as cited in Sledge, Miles, & Coppage, 2008) believed there are five dimensions of culture. These five dimensions are power distance, individualism versus collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, and Confucian dynamism (p. 1670). This paper will discuss each dimension of culture and how they could effect employee motivation.
India is one of the countries that this report will cover. Power distance is rather high in India this is evident when observing the rather extreme levels of inequality amongst individuals. It is also apparent in the work place, managers expect their team members to be obedient. Employees also count on being clearly directed when it comes to their tasks and what is expected out of them. Top down communication is employed and negative feedback rarely moves up the ladder. In this society there is no need for justification of an individuals position in the social hierarchy. (Cultural tools, n.d.)
r this paper, I chose the country Ireland. Ireland has the highest individualism economic dimension. The first dimension is power distance that deals with individuals in a society are not equal. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015). Ireland is at the lower ranking of power distance. Ireland citizens believe that inequalities among people should be minimized in a society. Superiors are always accessible and individual employees are reliable on their expertise in the workplace. Information in Irish companies is shared and consulted frequently, but information can be informal.
Hofstede ,G. (1980). Hofstede’s Culture’s Consequences- International Differences in Work Related Values. Cross- Cultural Research & Methodology, 5, 18-21.