Understanding cultural dimensions in national cultures
Select a country: China, Egypt, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, or United Kingdom.
Using the country comparison tool on the Hofstede Centre’s
compare your selected country’s cultural dimensions with that of the United
States. Explore your chosen country’s cultural attitudes toward:
�Individualism versus collectivism.
�Power distance.
�Masculinity versus femininity.
�Uncertainty avoidance.
Respond to the following:
�What do your chosen country’s attitudes on these dimensions tell you about the culture?
�How do these dimensions impact how you will think about communication, supervisor-employee
relations, gender, and principles?
�How do these dimensions compare with those of the United States?
Understanding cultural dimensions in national cultures 2
Using the hosfstede’s model it is possible to compare the culture of japan to that of the
United States. Considering aspects such as discussed below one can be in a position to get a clear
overview of the drivers of Japanese culture as compared to culture of other countries.
(i) Power distance
From the hofstede’s model, the power distance of japan is much greater than that of
United States. The Japanese power distance is rated at 54 from the model while that
of the United States stands at 40.this dimension is concerned with the inequalities
among individuals in a given society. Japan has been conscious about the hierarchical
position within any social setting.in japan decision making is slow since each
decision should be clarified by each hierarchical societies. On the hand, Japan has
been meritocratic society and there is has been a notion in Japanese education system
Understanding cultural dimensions in national cultures 3
that each and every person was born equal. They also believe that everyone can
become whatever he wants as long he works hard.
(ii) Individualism
Individualism is defined as the degree of interdependence that any society is supposed
to maintain amongst its members. As pertains individualism; japan scored 46
compared to United States which scored 91.This is attributed to the fact that the
Japanese society depicts the characteristic of collectivistic society since they tend to
put an individual opinion below the harmony of groups. In Japan people are loyal to
the inner group in which they were born. United States has the most individualistic
cultures. The combination of power distance and individualistic culture of the United
States is reflected in the fact that Americans emphasis on equal rights. Also in most
American organizations hierarchy the superiors are easily accessible and the
managers can rely on subordinates for their expertise. Communication in most
organizations in the United States is direct, participative and informal to each rank.
(iii) Masculinity
Japan scores 95 in masculine dimension meaning that japan is among the masculine
societies within the world. Combination of their masculinity and their mild
collectivism there is no competitive and assertive individual behaviors which is
always associated with masculine culture. In japan, there is more competition among
groups rather than individuals.
The United States on the hand scores 62 in masculinity. This is clearly seen in the
behavior of a typical American. Unlike Japanese, the Americans depict their masculinity
individually. The Americans live to work so that they can get monetary rewards and hence they
Understanding cultural dimensions in national cultures 4
are able to attain high status depending on how good one is. There is a certain degree of conflict
in Americans which they believe brings out best of people. Due to these conflicts there has been
a lot of court cases and polarization in the united states.
(iv) Uncertainty avoidance
This dimension deals with the way a certain society deals with the unknown future.japan scores
92 meaning that japan is the most uncertainty avoiding society in the world.this is due to the fact
that japan has been facing constant threats from natural disasters such as tsunamis and
earthquakes.as a result of high need for uncertainity avoidance it is difficult for japan to realize
changes. On the other hand, the United States scores below average at 46 on uncertainty
avoidance dimension. This is reflected by a fair degree of acceptance for any upcoming new
ideas. Also the September 11 th attack created a lot of fear among the Americans and this has
forced the government to monitor every person through the security agencies.
Masculinity versus femininity dimension
There is greater gender difference in japan. The men use a particular speech pattern and
words different from the women. Since japan has the highest masculinity dimension this means
that social gender roles are clearly defined.in japan there are small families within a wealthy
country. There is high segregation of genders in higher education; there is low percentage of
women in both technical and professional jobs. Even in these jobs, the women are paid less
compared to their male counterparts in the same rank (KANAYAMA, 2001) .
Individualistic versus collectivistic
Understanding cultural dimensions in national cultures 5
Unlike Americans, the Japanese are more oriented to collectivism. Individualism means
placing more emphasis on personal identity rather than group identity.in this context individual
rights and needs are emphasized over group obligations. On the other hand, collectivism gives
main concern to group identity rather than individual one (Emiko Kobayashi, 2006) .
From the dimensions explored above it is clear that the culture of japan does not value
equality among gender that is the men and women within the society. The Japanese are value
communism rather than democratic leadership style Unlike the Americans who emphasize on
democratic way of leadership and believe in equality between men and women. The Americans
are concerned about the future of their country hence are keen on what happens to their security.
Work cited
Emiko Kobayashi, H. R. (2006). Differences in Individualistic and Collectivistic Tendencies
among College Students in Japan and the United States. Individualistic and Collectivistic
.
KANAYAMA, T. (2001). Hofstede’s Masculinity/ Femininity Dimension. An Analysis of
Japanese and International Newspaper Coverage.
