Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind
By Hofstede, Geert
ISBN: 0071439595
McGraw-Hill McGraw-Hill
Available also as used from http://www.amazon.com
Description
The landmark study of cultural differences across 70 nations, Cultures and Organizations helps readers look at how they think-and how they fail to think-as members of groups. Hofstede took survey data from IBM employees working in over 50 countries, taking their actual work and positions into account and identified four main dimensions, which distinguished cultures at a national, level. The four dimensions are: power distance, collectivism versus individualism, femininity versus masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. He later added a fifth dimension, long term versus short-term orientation. Original in thought and profoundly important, Cultures and Organizations offers vital knowledge and insight on issues that will shape the future of cultures and nations in a globalized world.
Review
This is a pioneering book, which provides a generalist approach to dealing with cross-cultural issues with many excellent examples. Hofstede was one of the first to bring the study of how culture affects human interaction in the field of business. The quantifying approach is very similar that cultural anthropologists use. As with all pioneering works there is some criticism about conflict resolution as other reviewers have pointed out. Another central criticisms of this model has been that nation state and culture are always presumed to be the same. Local culture does not follow political boundaries. Some readers might be tempted to think of people in simple categories, which is precisely what Hofstede counsels that we should attempt to avoid. Cultures and organizations gives good insights on how "Groupthink" controls our lives and how we could improve interaction. This is a good book for international managers and students of culture.
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