Hofstede isolated four dimensions that he claimed characterized the cultures of different countries. Briefly describe each of his four dimensions. Should Hofstede's dimensions be used by managers to determine how cultures differ and what that might mean for management practices?

Solution and Explanation:

Hofstede's four dimensions are

1) Power distance - It is the degree of inequality among the people of the country.

2) Individualism Vs Collectivism - This is the degree which shows how much people are willing to work as individuals and not as members of groups.

3) Uncertainty avoidance - This is the degree which shows how much people prefer structured and not unstructured situations.

4) Masculinity Vs Feminity-This shows the degree of existence of tough values like competition, success, assertiveness, performance over tender values like warm personal relation, taking care of weak, unity, quality of life etc.

It is necessary for managers to understand cultural differences because managers need to understand their employees better so that they can motivate and lead the employees. Due to cultural differences what managers take as granted may be different in different countries. Good example is Wal - mart's expansion in Mexico. Wal mart constructed large parking lot for the customers which surrounded the stand alone building.

This posed problem because many of the customers travelled by public buses to the store. So they had to walk a long way through parking lot. The culture in Mexico is different from US and people travelled by public transport. Later Wal mart had shuttle buses to carry people to and fro from the store. Cultural differences also mean deeply felt values, customs which are not always easy to identify.