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Essay / Hofstede Index to National Culture - 729
When operating across borders or within the U.S. workforce, an understanding of national cultural differences is vital. These cultural differences relate to how cultures vary, which impacts their value sets, norms, philosophies, and assumptions. Geert Hofstede's famous frameworks led to a major cross-cultural study in the national subsidiaries of IBM Corporation (Porter, Bigley & Steers, 2003). He conducted questionnaire-based research with IBM employees from sixty-six countries. Hofstede's research ranked almost all countries based on their cultural trends. These cultural trends have different frameworks. Geert Hofstede (1993) detailed six dimensions used in national culture. Power Distance (PDI) Power distance defines how power is distributed and the extent to which the less powerful allow power to flow unequally. Structured settlements refer to people being more equal at all levels of settlements. Basically, some cultures accept a greater degree of unequally distributed power than other cultures. Individualism (IDV) Individualism is the idea of how one acts as an individual and not as part of the group. Individualistic cultures care about personal achievement, personal autonomy, and freedom. The identity of collectivist cultures focuses on group loyalty.Masculinity (MAS)This indicates the effect of differentiations of masculine and feminine principles on the culture of the organization. Masculinity and femininity refer to the degree to which a person considers themselves a man or a woman in society. Companies where male staff dominate their female counterparts will follow different policies like those in the United States. These countries are free from modern management, operate with small organizations and are family businesses based on personal relationships and Confucius principles. The Chinese have low uncertainty avoidance and low collectivism. A dominant family member makes the decision about which product or market to enter. Chinese children are sometimes sent to business schools abroad and return to work in the family business. However, Chinese business practices do not change with its new business education. For this short essay, it is important to compare and understand the impact of Hofstede's dimensions on natural culture because these values can be very motivating in team member interactions. These natural cultures provide an important tool for addressing cultures and are important for understanding the behavioral dynamics evident in multicultural teams..