The Hofstede cultural dimension can be a great way to study a county’s culture. The Hofstede analysis is based on five factors: power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation.
Looking first at the United States, we have a power distance rating of 40. This means that we understand uniqueness and have a strong belief in equality for each of our citizens, but also realize there is a certain amount of control we have to abide by. The Netherlands have a score of 38 making them similar to us, while the countries of Malaysia and Guatemala have the highest scores. This means they believe all societies are not equal and they accept power over them.
The United States have a very high score of 91 on individualism. The belief that anyone can make something of themselves, or be anything they want to be when they grow up, helps contribute to such a high individualism score. Australia is very similar to the US with a score of 90, while Guatemala is very low on their individualism score.
The masculinity factor refers to the roles between genders in society. A high masculinity score means the culture respects the male gender more, especially in roles of business and high power decision making. The US was almost in the middle with a score of 62. Japan had the highest, and Sweden had the lowest with a score of just 5.
The uncertainty avoidance factor deals with the level that people feel comfortable with uncertain situations. Religious beliefs I believe may play a big role in this. The US is also in the middle in this factor with a score of 46. Greece has the highest and Singapore has the lowest.
The last factor of the Hofstede cultural dimension is the long-term orientation. This described a societys’ future outlook and measured how much importance they applied to it. China scored
