National Culture Theory

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Culture can be defined as shared social behavior and norm that bind a given community. Culture is transmitted through social learning in the societies that human exist in. Geert Hofstede defined culture as a “Collective programming of the mind that distinguishes members of one community from another.” Members of one group can refer to States, Nations, and Kingdoms (Kwangwon & Sukyoung 2017). Culture is a very crucial issue when conducting research. It has heavy impact on successful completion of a research work. The following article will be examining the different dimensions of Geert Hofstede cultural theories and the impact they have towards conducting a research.

The dimensions of National Culture Theory

Geert Hofstede came up with six dimensions of national culture that have impact on conducting research across many nations of across different categories of people. The following are the dimensions that he came up with;

Power Distance Index (PDI)

This mainly refers to existence of social disparity between those with power and those without power. It refers to the extent which institutions and families with less power accept and expect the unequal distribution of power, it majorly focuses on inequality that is defined from the less powerful perspective. High PDI score depicts people that believe unequal allocation of power through a hierarchy where members of the society understands their place and a low PDI score indicates that power is mutual and is very broadly detached and the members of the society are opposed to situation where influence is circulated unevenly.

When conducting a research in a high PDI society, the researcher is expected to ensure they acknowledge status of a leader, the researcher is advised not to ignore a leader entirely, but a little circumvention is essential. The researchers are also expected to always go to the top for answers. (Boonghee et al. 2011). While in a low PDI society the researcher is expected to make decision and never to ignore anyone and they are also required to delegate responsibilities as much as possible.

Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)

This refers to the degree the persons are integrated into different groups as opposed to individualism. Individualism is where everyone is expected to focus his responsibilities to him or herself and their family while collectivism are exhibited by communities that are tied into strong cohesive groups from birth mostly extended families and protecting each member of the group is unquestionable (Ripberger et al. 2012). In societies with high Individualism versus Collectivism, a researcher should acknowledge each person’s effort, try giving chances for expression of different peoples’ ideas and respect to privacy. While low IDV requires procession that maintains harmony among group members like avoiding giving negative feedback in public.

Masculinity versus Feminity (MAS)

Mainly refers to sharing of roles among men and women. In feminine society, there is an overlie between the roles of males and females and humility is a desirable quality in such a society while in manly society, role of male and female overlie less and males are anticipated to be assertive (Smith 2006). The researcher should then consider the role of each person in every society they visit.

 

 

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

This refers to the degree to which society members think and are uncomfortable with uncertainty and indistinctness. The main issue in such an environment is how they pact with the future, that cannot be known and must just attempt controlling the future or just let it unfold (Smith 2006). Rigid codes of behavior are exhibited by societies with strong UAI and can hardly take in orthodox behavior and ideas while in a weak UAI exhibits a more relaxed attitude where they value practice at the expense of principles.

Long term orientation (LTO)

Society oriented to long term goals usually promote realistic virtues that lean towards potential future like; persistence, saving and accommodating varying conditions. Short-term leaning communities cultivate merits that are linked to the history and present without focusing on the future. The researcher is expected to consider a given orientation before engaging in research.

Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR)

Indulgence societies that relatively allows for gratification of natural human drives and basics elated to having fun. Restraint is a society that suppresses need gratification and uses firm communal norm to control them.

Research Topic: The cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories

The above topic seeks to determine the differences among peoples work related values among 45 countries. In viewing these differences, it’s indefensible to formulate ethnocentric management theories. The above topic is relevant in the fields of motivation, organization and leadership.

 

Challenges faced when carrying out a research

Finding study participants; when the research team is ready, the research manager has the role of finding study participants. The best way to overcome this challenge is through using the power of a network, or snowball sampling technique asking for recommendations for participants from others.

Dealing with data; how to make meaning or sense from the pieces of data collected is also a major challenge in research and the best way to overcome this challenge is through taking advantage of technology that is available and helps in the analysis of data.

Getting the countries to participate; another daunting task is convincing the 45 countries to participate in the study not knowing the cultural leaning of a given country is hectic. To overcome this challenge a researcher needs to find leads of indigenous people who have insight about cultural demands so as to guide where necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

List of references

BOONGHEE, Y, DONTHU, N, & LENARTOWICZ, T 2011, ‘Measuring Hofstede’s Five Dimensions of Cultural Values at the Individual Level: Development and Validation of CVSCALE’, Journal Of International Consumer Marketing, 23, 3/4, pp. 193-210, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 January 2018.

KWANGWON, S, & SUKYOUNG, R 2017, ‘Analysis of JavaScript Programs: Challenges and Research Trends’, ACM Computing Surveys, 50, 4, pp. 59:1-59:34, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 January 2018.

RIPBERGER, J, SONG, G, NOWLIN, M, JONES, M, & JENKINS-SMITH, H 2012, ‘Reconsidering the Relationship Between Cultural Theory, Political Ideology, and Political Knowledge Reconsidering the Relationship Between Cultural Theory, Political Ideology, and Political Knowledge’, Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 93, 3, pp. 713-731, Professional Development Collection, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 January 2018.

SMITH, C 2006, ‘Multiple Cultures, Multiple Intelligences: Applying Cognitive Theory to Usability of Digital Libraries’, Libri: International Journal Of Libraries & Information Services, 56, 4, pp. 227-238, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 January 2018.

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