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Importance of Cultural Diversity in Organizations
An article on the impact of cultural diversity
An article on the impact of cultural diversity
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Select one of Hostede’s dimensions of culture. Explain where your culture falls on that dimension. Give one example of how this influences your culture’s attitudes toward a given product, service, brand or company.
Hofstede has a total of six dimensions of culture, each of these refer to distinctive traits of various cultures. Accordingly, each culture will share their own set of values and characteristics, and while this behavior might not be mirrored by everyone in the culture, it can be true generally speaking. For example, as you can see above the United States scores high in the individualism trait, that means that Americans are highly independent. In fact, being independent and being able to take care of yourself are seen as positive
A culture’s tendency to be individualistic or collectivistic can be found at the root of
Geert Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, 2001
Culture is an aspect of everyone's life. It helps others to understand another person's beliefs and actions. There are multiple cultures in the world which are opposed to their own kind seeking help for a mental illness. There is an infinite number of cultures that are represented in the United States. “Many cultural and religious teachings often influence beliefs about the origins and nature of mental illness, and shape attitudes towards the mentally ill.” (1). One's cultural beliefs can make them think about whether or not they should seek to get help for a mental illness. Among the cultures around the world and particularly in the US, many Asian cultures do not want the community members to be receiving help for their mental illness. In these cultures mental illness is seen as shameful, because these cultures influence the “conformity to norms, emotional self-control, and family recognition through achievement.” (1). There are many cultural factors that play a role in whether or not a person will receive therapy. These factors include: language, level of acculturation, age, gender, occupational issues, family structure, religious beliefs, and traditional beliefs about mental health (2). Language limits the access of therapy. If a person living in the United States does not speak English very well, it could influence them to not seek therapy. There is a large focus on “in-group/out-group” in many Asian cultures, as in everyone who is in the family/community around them are in the “in-group” and everyone else who is not like them are in the “out-group.”
Cultural Impact: According to the Hofstede Centre there are five dimensions of culture, Power Distance, Individualism, Masculine/Feminine, Uncertainty Avoidance, and long term orientation. According to the Hofstede Centre "Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally." Hungary scored low on this dimension meaning that managers are not as revered as in a high power distance society, communication is direct as well. According to the Hofstede Centre Individualism is "the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members". Hungary scored high in this dimension meaning it is considered an Individualistic society, a society of which there is more emphasis based on individual achievements rather than collective goals. According to the Hofstede Centre Masculinity/ Feminity is " what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine)." Hungary scores high in this dimension meaning that is a live to work type society. A society that places much on competition and beating others . According to the Hofstede Centre Uncertainty Avoidance is defined as "The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these." On this dimension Hungary scored high meaning that they are conservative and like to avoid uncertain situations and outcomes. According to the Hofsted...
“Individualistic cultures, in the western-hemisphere, [such as the United States,] emphasize… personal identity and self-determination. Conformity is far less pervasive in individualistic societies because democratic choices and laissez-faire viewpoints are somewhat considered.”
In conclusion, Gert Hofstede defined some of the most significant dimensions of culture through his empirical research of different cultures, which there are still many other dimensions not defined within these five, and the materialistic versus non-materialistic culture is one such dimension. The materialistic culture focuses on material items, while the non-materialistic culture focuses on self-fulfillment and spiritual alignment. Churches are services that are quite successful in these non-materialistic cultures, while luxury car dealerships and museums
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...
According to Professor Geert Hofstede, dimensionalizing a culture requires a complex analysis of a multitude of categories including differing nations, regions, ethnic groups, religions, organizations, and genders. Hofstede defines culture as "the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from another". Throughout his many years of contribution as a social scientist, he has conducted arguably the most comprehensive study of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture, leading to the establishment of the Six Dimensions of National Culture. From this research model, the dimensions of Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty
...h/where you grew up. There are personal views affected by culture, such as views on relationships. For example, some people believe in arranged marriages and look down on casual relationships while these laid back relationships are considered normal for someone else. It is believed that the effect culture has is dependent on the “magnitude of the parent’s cultural identification” (Shim 92-27).
Anthropologists define the term culture in a variety of ways, but there are certain shared features of the definition that virtually all anthropologists agree on. Culture is a shared, socially transmitted knowledge and behavior. The key features of this definition of culture are as follows. 1) Culture is shared among the members of that particular society or group. Thus, people share a common cultural identity, meaning that they recognize themselves and their culture's traditions as distinct from other people and other traditions. 2) Culture is socially transmitted from others while growing up in a certain environment, group, or society. The transmission of cultural knowledge to the next generation by means of social learning is referred to as enculturation or socialization. 3) Culture profoundly affects the knowledge, actions, and feelings of the people in that particular society or group. This concept is often referred to as cultural knowledge that leads to behavior that is meaningful to others and adaptive to the natural and social environment of that particular culture.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.
Culture has a big impact on how we all fit in as individuals in today’s society, and since this assignment is about that I decided to include some of my own experiences to illustrate my point of view and compare it with those of my classmates and some of the readings.
Cultures are typically divided into two categories: collectivist and individualist. Individualist cultures, like the United States and Western Europe, focus on personal achievement regardless of the expense of group goals, which results in a strong sense of competition. Collectivist cultures, like China, Korea, and Japan, emphasize family and work group goals above individual needs or desires.
Culture is a concept that classifies shared values, beliefs, traditions, and principles among members of a specific group. It is important to understand one’s own culture as well as other cultures in order to become culturally aware. A way to become more culturally aware is to research one’s own cultural background. Through researching my origins, identifying my past encounters with other’s beliefs, biases, and behaviors, and placing myself into the shoes of another culture, I am more aware of the influence my culture and other cultures have had on me.
How do personal values shape culture, and how does culture affect our understanding and interpretation of seemingly ordinary things?