CROSS

CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Victor Delbreuve

1) Cultural dimensions = critique of HOFSTEDE, TROMPENAARS, PROJECTGLOBE 2) Look for your country HOFSTEDE(rating: do you agree; give examples)

1)a) HOFSTEDE The research ndings of Hofstede, describe the cultural features, and assists in clarication of some cultural and behavioral paradigms in organizations in different countries. Five cultural dimensions which based on them Hofstede classied the countries are as follows: Individualism against collectivism: This dimension is regarded with the degree of people feeling belonged to a group and the identity of relations between group and people. Individualism is regarded with societies which the people's relations are weak; everybody is expected to only watch for himself or his family. On the other hand, collectivism is regarded to societies which theirs people join powerful and integrated groups. Indicate avoidance-uncertainty: " the tolerance of a company for the uncertainty and the ambiguity. " This dimension measures the way a company manages the unknown situations, the unexpected events and the anxiety in front of change. The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? Masculanity against femininity: " the distribution of emotional roles between the kinds. " This dimension measures the important level that a culture grants to the male values stereotypes such as the insurance, the ambition, the power and the materialism, as well as in feminine values stereotypes such as the accent put on the human relations. A high score (masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being dened by the winner / best in eld a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour. A low score (feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. Long-term orientation against short-term orientation: this dimension describes the temporal horizon of a company. The short-term directed cultures give some value to the traditional methods, to take one time considerable louse to create relations and, generally, perceive the time as circular. It means that past and present are interconnected and that what cannot be made today can be him tomorrow. The opposite is the long-term orientation, which perceives the time as shelf space and looks at intended rather than the present or the past. Such a company aims at objectives and gives some value to the rewards. Pleasure against moderation: this dimension measures the capacity of a culture to satisfy the immediate needs and the personal desires of their members. The cultures giving some value in moderation have strict social rules and standards below which the satisfaction of the drives is regulated and discouraged.

CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Victor Delbreuve

Hofstede underlines that the cultural dimensions are only a structure allowing to estimate a given culture and, so, to guide better decision to take. There are other factors to consider, as the personality, the family history and the personal wealth. The proposed dimensions cannot predict every behavior and do not take into account every personality. Uncertainty avoidance

1)b) TROMPENAARS Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner developed the model after spending 10 years researching the preferences and values of people in dozens of cultures around the world. As part of this, they sent questionnaires to more than 46,000 managers in 40 countries. They found that people from different cultures aren't just randomly different from one another; they differ in very specic, even predictable, ways. This is because each culture has its own way of thinking, its own values and beliefs, and different preferences placed on a variety of different factors. They concluded that what distinguishes people from one culture compared with another is where these preferences fall on each of the following seven dimensions: Universalism vs. Particularism: What is most important - rules or relationships? Individualism vs. Collectivism: Do we function in a group or as individuals? Neutral vs. emotional: Do we display our emotions, or do we hide them? Specic vs. diffuse: Do we handle our relationships in specic and predetermined ways, or do we see our relationships as changing and related to contextual settings? Achievement vs. ascription: Do we have to prove ourselves to receive status, or is status given to us? Sequential vs. synchronic: Do we do things one at a time or several things at once? Internal vs. external control: Do we believe that we can control our environment, or do we believe that the environment controls us?

2) What about France ? If we explore the French culture through the lens of the 5-D Model, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of the French culture relative to other world cultures.

CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Power distance

Victor Delbreuve

With a score of 68, France scores high on the scale of the PDI. It is therefore a society in which inequalities are accepted. Hierarchy is needed if not existential; the superiors may have privileges and are often inaccessible. The power is highly centralized in France, as well as Paris centralizes administrations, transports etc. In management, the attitude towards managers is more formal, the information ow is hierarchical. The way information is controlled is even associated with power, therefore unequally distributed. Individualism At 71 France scores high on the individualistic index. This means that the French favor individual and private opinions, taking care of themselves and immediate family rather than belonging to a group. Masculinity / Femininity With 43, France is a relatively Feminine country. With its famous welfare system (securit sociale), their 35 working hours/week and 5 weeks holidays per year, France cares for its quality of life and focuses more on work in order to live than the reverse. Competition amongst work colleagues is usually not favored as feminine societies have more sympathy for the underdog Uncertainty avoidance At 86 France has one the highest scores on the UAI Index. Certainty is often reached through academic work and concepts that can respond for the need of detail, context, and background. Long term orientation At 39 France is a short term oriented society. This means a great respect for tradition as well as a need for norms and absolute truth as guidelines.

1.PDI: power distance 2.Individualism: IDV 3.Masculinity: MAS 4.Uncertainty Avoidance: UAI 5.Long-Term Orientation: LTO