HOFSTEDE MODEL & MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

Hofstedes model and management implications (1)

Management processes HRM Management selection Training Evaluations/promotion Remuneration High Power Distance Social class; elite education For conformity/obedience Compliance; trustworthiness Large wage difference between management and worker Theory X; authoritarian, with close supervision Assume people dislike work; coercion Centralized; tall pyramids; large proportion of supervisors Low Power Distance Educational achievement For autonomy Performance Small wage difference between management and worker Participative; less direct supervision People like work; extrinsic and intrinsic rewards Decentralized; flat pyramids; small proportion of supervisors

Management styles

Motivational assumptions

Decision making/ organisational design

(Source: Cullen and Parboteeah, 2008)

Hofstedes model and management implications (2)

Management processes HRM Management selection Training Evaluations/promotion Remuneration Seniority; expected loyalty Specialized Seniority; expertise; loyalty Based on seniority or expertise Task-oriented
Past job performance; education Training to adapt Objective individual performance data; job switching for promotions Based on performance

High Uncertainty Avoidance

Low Uncertainty Avoidance

Management styles

Nondirective; person-oriented; flexible People are self-motivated, competitive

Motivational assumptions

People seek security, avoid competition

Decision making/ organisational design

Larger organization; tall hierarchy; formalized; many standardized procedures

Smaller organizations; flat hierarchy, less formalized, with fewer written rules and standardized procedures

(Source: Cullen and Parboteeah, 2008)

Hofstedes model and management implications (3)

Management processes Low Individualism Group membership; school or university Focus on company-based skills Slow, with group; seniority

High Individualism

HRM Management selection

Training Evaluations/promotion Remuneration

Universalistic based on individual traits General skills for individual achievement Based on individual performance

Extrinsic rewards (money, promotion) Based on group membership; organizational based on market value paternalism

Management styles

Appeals to duty and commitment Moral involvement

Individual rewards and punishments based on performance

Motivational assumptions

Calculative; individual cost/benefit

Individual responsibility

Decision making/ organisational design

Group; slow

(Source: Cullen and Parboteeah, 2008)

Hofstedes model and management implications (4)

Management processes HRM Management selection Training Jobs gender identified Career oriented Independent of gender Job-oriented Job performance, with less gender-based assignment Less salary difference between levels; more time off More participative
Emphasis on quality of life, time off, vacations; work not central

High Masculinity

Low Masculinity

Evaluations/promotion Continues gender-tracking Remuneration More salary preferred to fewer hours More Theory X; authoritarian

Management styles

Motivational assumptions Emphasis on performance and

growth; excelling to be best; work central to life; job recognition important

Decision making/ organisational design

Decisive/individual; larger organization preferred

Intuitive/group; smaller organizations preferred

(Source: Cullen and Parboteeah, 2008)

Hofstedes model and management implications (5)

Management processes Long-Term Orientation Fit of personal and background characteristics Investment in long-term employment skills Slow; develop skills and loyalty Security Build social obligations Subordinate immediate gratification for long-term individual and company goals Short-Term Orientation
Objective skill assessment for immediate use to company Limited to immediate company needs Fast; based on skill contributions Pay, promotions

HRM Management selection

Training Evaluations/promotion Remuneration Management styles Motivational assumptions

Use incentives for economic advancement Immediate rewards necessary

Decision making/ organisational design

Synthesis to reach consensus; design for social relationships

Logical analyses of problems; design for logic of company situation

(Source: Cullen and Parboteeah, 2008)

Contributions and limitations of Hofstedes model

Main contributions: identifies cultural dimensions with hard data makes comparisons across countries shows cultures consequences in managerial behaviours Main criticisms: the conceptualization of national culture the representativeness of the survey respondents (i.e. IBM employees; the average sample size per country was small) a mismatch between some dimensions and their measurements three cultures at play: national, organisational and occupational