• Culture as defined by: Kluckhohn & Kroeber, Hansen, Schein

• artefacts, values, underlying assumptions

• cross-cultural management
• Hofstede:
power distance, uncertainty avoidance, femininity vs. masculinity,
individualism vs. collectivism, long-term orientation
Confucianism, Confucianism dynamics
• GLOBE:
ingroup, in-group collectivism vs. institutional collectivism
organizational culture, national culture, gender egalitarianism,
assertiveness, performance orientation, humane orientation
• Trompenaars, & Hampden-Turner:
universalism vs. particularism, communitarianism, neutral vs.
emotional, diffuse vs. specific, ascriptive vs. achievement,
sequential vs. synchronic time, internal vs. external control
• Hall & Hall:
high vs. low context, spatial orientation,
polychrome vs. monochrome time

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Definitions of
culture
The term originated from the Latin word
colere, which was used in the context of tilling
the soil and simply signified plant cultivation.

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Kluckhohn & Kroeber def. of culture
Culture consists in patterned ways of  Thinking
 Feeling
 Reacting

acquired & transmitted mainly by symbols,

constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups,
including their embodiments in artefacts; This model was
labeled by the well-known Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede
as ‘mental programming’ or Software of the Mind. The
essitinal core of culture cosist of

traditional ideas &

their attached values

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Hansen’s 4 elements of culture:

He describes cultures as the customs of a community that are practiced by

a majority.15 Standardization – in the sense of consistent collective
behavior – can come up in specific situations. Among the many
contributions on the definition of culture, four basic elements of culture
can be derived from Hansen. He distinguishes between
Standardization of communication
Standardization of thought
Standardization of feeling
Standardization of behavior.

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Schein’s concept of culture
A culture has 3 levels:

1. Artefacts - visible
2. Values – intermediate level of consciousness
3. Underlying assumptions –invisible, unconscious
4. Artefacts are described as visible organization structures and processes. They can
be analyzed using conventional methods of empirical social research, but their
meaning is often hard to decipher. The middle level comprises values of a
company or society. They are found in the intermediate level of consciousness; in
other words, they are partly conscious and partly unconscious. The third level is
described as underlying assumptions, which are often presumed to be self-
evident. They include convictions, perceptions, thoughts and feelings, which are
usually invisible and unconscious

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Schein’s 6 underlying assumptions
1. Nature of reality & truth
2. Time dimension
3. Effect of spatial proximity & distance
4. Nature of being human
5. Type of human activity
6. Nature of human relationships
hard to interpret variables like, for example, economic growth of a country
or its political system.28

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Goals of cross-cultural mgmt. studies
• Describe
organizational behavior
• Compare
between countries & cultures
• Explain & improve interaction between employees, customers, suppliers
or business in different countries & cultures
• Cross-cultural management studies aim to describe and compare the
working behavior in various cultures. Suggestions on improving
interaction between members of various cultures can be drawn from
these analyses.

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Hofsted:
It was the first major study in the field of cross-cultural
comparative research. This is the most comprehensive study on
this subject ever conducted by means of one questionnaire. In
total, the analysis was based on 116000 questionnaires from IBM
employees. . Employees from a total of 38 various profession
groups were surveyed In addition, the study was conducted
during two different periods in IBM subsidiaries (1967–1969 and
1971–1973).31 Hofstede’s 5 culture dimensions:
1. Power distance
2. Uncertainty avoidance
3. Femininity vs. masculinity
4. Individualism vs. collectivism
5. Confucianism or long-term orientation

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Life of people, which can be either more long-term or short-term in nature. It contains
values that Western researchers can recognize.
Cultures that are classified as long-term in this dimension are characterized by:
• Great endurance, persistence in pursuing goals
• Position of ranking based on status
• Adaptation of traditions to modern conditions
• Respect of social & status obligations within limits
• High savings rates & high investment activity
• Readiness to subordinate oneself to a purpose
• The feeling of shame

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Short-term cultures characterized by:
• Personal candor & stability
• Avoiding loss of face
• Respect of social & status obligations without consideration of costs
• Low savings rates & low investment activity
• Expectations of quick profit
• Respect for traditions
• Greetings, presents & courtesies based on reciprocity
• The first set of values is viewed as more future-oriented and dynamic (in
particular, persistence and frugality); the second set of values is viewed as
more present-oriented or pastoriented and is relatively static.44 The name of
this dimension comes from the fact that nearly all values of the short-term
and long-term dimension could be drawn directly from the study of
Confucianism.

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Table 2.1
Impact of the cultural context on HRM practices

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A reflection on the Hofstede-study.
Butnotethatfutureresearchshouldtakethefollowingissuesintoconsideration:
• Realization of intra-level studies: Along with assessingthe individual level,
groups, organizations and country levels must be taken into consideration.
• Inclusion of cross-cultural differences: Cultures should not be considered
homogenous, specific intracultural variance should be taken into
consideration.
• Inclusion of theoretically relevant moderator variables: Culture shouldnot
be measuredas the only influencing factor, other variables like sex,
classaffiliation, etc. should be taken into account.
• Effects of interaction between culture variables: There is a lack of empirical
evidence about the interplay ofindividual culture variables, but their
interaction should also be taken into account

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Globe study:
• The GLOBE study was a transnational project, initiated by Robert J. House
in 1991. The research team currently consists of 170 researchers from 62
countries.61 GLOBE is an acronym for Global Leadership and
Organizational behavior Effectiveness, in other words, this project
concerns the effectiveness of leadership and behavior in organizations at
a global level with special consideration given to cultural influence
factors. Three research phases were planned in total. Phase 1
(1993/1994) consisted of the development of underlying research
dimensions (new social and organizational cultural dimensions, and six
leadership dimensions). The objective of Phase II was to gather data on
these dimensions. Phase III consists of an analysis of the effects of
leadership behavior on the performance and attitudes of employees
• The GLOBE research tries to study the complex relationships between
culture, leadership behavior, organizational effectiveness, social co-
habitation conditions and the economic success of societies.63

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The GLOBE study questions
• Are there leadership behaviors, attributes & org. practices effective
across all cultures?
• Are there leadership behaviors, attributes & org. practices effective
in some cultures only?
• How much do leadership attributes affect the effectiveness of
specific leadership behavior & its acceptance by subordinates?
• How much do behaviors & attributes in specific cultures influence
the well-being of members in the researched societies?
• What is the relationship between these socio-cultural
variables & an international competitive capacity
of the various sample societies?

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GLOBE’s 8 culture dimensions
1. ‘Institutional Collectivism describes the degree to which organizationaland societal
institutional practices encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and
collective action’.
2. In-Group Collectivism is ‘The degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty, and
cohesiveness in their organizations or families’.
3. Uncertainty Avoidanceincludes ‘the extent to which a society, organization, or group relies
on social norms, rules, and procedures to alleviate unpredictability offuture events’.
4. Power Distance is defined as ‘the degree to which members of a collective expect power to
be distributed equally’.
5. Gender Egalitarianism: is‘the degree to which a collective minimizes gender inequality’.
6. Assertiveness is‘The degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational,and
aggressive in their relationship with others’
7. Performance Orientation is defined as ‘the degree to which a collective encourages and
rewards group members for performance improvement andexcellence’.
8. Humane Orientation includes ‘the degree to which a collective encourages andrewards
individuals for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind to others’.72

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The Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner study.
• Trompenaars and Hampden–Turner conducted a survey with employees
of various hierarchical levels and various businesses starting in the 1980s
and continuing for several decades.78 The target group was primarily
participants of cross-cultural training conducted by Trompenaars.
Approximately 15000 questionnaires were evaluated in the first study. By
2002 there were about 30000 questionnaires from 55 countries.79 In
their book ‘Riding the Waves of Culture’ Trompenaars and Hampden-
Turner differentiated between seven dimensions, the characteristics of
which mark the differences between cultures.

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They grouped these seven dimensions by three aspects: relationships between people, concept of time and
concept of nature.
7 dimensions of Trompenaars & H-T study

a
Relationships 1. Universalism vs. particularism
between 2. Individualism vs. communitarianism
people 3. Emotional vs. neutral
4. Specific vs. diffuse
5. Ascription vs. achievement

Concept of time 6. Sequential vs. synchronic

concept of time

Concept of nature 7. Internal vs. external control

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Hall & Hall’s cultural dimensions and Anthropologist Edward Hall
and his wife Mildred Hall have presented four dimensions that
differentiate cultures

1. High vs. low context communication

2. Spatial orientation
actual distance between people when communicating
3. Monochrome vs. polychrome time
sequential processes vs. parallel actions
4. Information speed
high or low information flow during communication

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Development of cultures: Cultures change
There is increasing
1. International connectedness
2. Global economy coordination
3. Harmonization of laws & regulations
4. Migration

Cultures are not confined to given territories.

This means new challenges for HRM.

 How resistant are cultures to change?

 Generation Y are fast, self-organized & absorbed learners
with distinct work-life balance preferences
 Entire society workforces are aging

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