Organizational Behavior - Business Report (Deadline 11/26)

Hofstede Insights USA vs China

WHAT ABOUT CHINA?

To compare your personal preferences to the scores of a country of your choice, get the Culture Compass™ from our store.

If we explore the Chinese culture through the lens of the 6-D Model©, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of Chinese culture rela�ve to other world cultures.

POWER DISTANCE

This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in socie�es are not equal – it expresses the a�tude of the culture towards these inequali�es amongst us. Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of ins�tu�ons and organisa�ons within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

At 80 China sits in the higher rankings of PDI – i.e. a society that believes that inequali�es amongst people are acceptable. The subordinate-superior rela�onship tends to be polarized and there is no defense against power abuse by superiors. Individuals are influenced by formal authority and sanc�ons and are in general op�mis�c about people’s capacity for leadership and ini�a�ve. People should not have aspira�ons beyond their rank.

INDIVIDUALISM

The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist socie�es people are supposed to look a�er themselves and their direct family only. In Collec�vist socie�es people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty.

At a score of 20 China is a highly collec�vist culture where people act in the interests of the group and not necessarily of themselves. In-group considera�ons affect hiring and promo�ons with closer in-groups (such as family) are ge�ng preferen�al treatment. Employee commitment to the organiza�on (but not necessarily to the people in the organiza�on) is low. Whereas rela�onships with colleagues are coopera�ve for in-groups they are cold or even hos�le to out-groups. Personal rela�onships prevail over task and company.

MASCULINITY

A high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by compe��on, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and con�nues throughout organisa�onal life.

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. The fundamental issue here is what mo�vates people, wan�ng to be the best (Masculine) or liking what you do (Feminine).

At 66 China is a Masculine society –success oriented and driven. The need to ensure success can be exemplified by the fact that many Chinese will sacrifice family and leisure priori�es to work. Service people (such as hairdressers) will provide services un�l very late at night. Leisure �me is not so important. The migrated farmer workers will leave their families behind in faraway places in order to obtain be�er work and pay in the ci�es. Another example is that Chinese students care very much about their exam scores and ranking as this is the main criteria to achieve success or not.

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

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? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situa�ons and have created beliefs and ins�tu�ons that try to avoid these is reflected in the score on Uncertainty Avoidance.

At 30 China has a low score on Uncertainty Avoidance. Truth may be rela�ve though in the immediate social circles there is concern for Truth with a capital T and rules (but not necessarily laws) abound. None the less, adherence to laws and rules may be flexible to suit the actual situa�on and pragma�sm is a fact of life. The Chinese are comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meanings that can be difficult for Western people to follow. Chinese are adaptable and entrepreneurial. At the �me of wri�ng the majority (70% -80%) of Chinese businesses tend to be small to medium sized and family owned.

LONG TERM ORIENTATION

This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and socie�es priori�se these two existen�al goals differently. Norma�ve socie�es. which score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain �me- honoured tradi�ons and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragma�c approach: they encourage thri� and efforts in modern educa�on as a way to prepare for the future.

China scores 87 in this dimension, which means that it is a very pragma�c culture. In socie�es with a pragma�c orienta�on, people believe that truth depends very much on situa�on, context and �me. They show an ability to adapt tradi�ons easily to changed condi�ons, a strong propensity to save and invest, thri�iness, and perseverance in achieving results.

INDULGENCE

One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small children are socialized. Without socializa�on we do not become “human”. This dimension is defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. Rela�vely weak control is called “Indulgence” and rela�vely strong control is called “Restraint”. Cultures can, therefore, be described as Indulgent or Restrained.

China is a Restrained society as can be seen in its low score of 24 in this dimension. Socie�es with a low score in this dimension have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to Indulgent socie�es, Restrained socie�es do not put much emphasis on leisure �me and control the gra�fica�on of their desires. People with this orienta�on have the percep�on that their ac�ons are Restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong.

WHAT ABOUT THE USA?

To compare your personal preferences to the scores of a country of your choice, get the Culture Compass™ from our store.

If we explore the US culture through the lens of the 6-D Model©, we can get a good overview of the deep driving factors of American culture rela�ve to other cultures in our world. By supplying you with this informa�on please realise that culture describes a central tendency in society. Everybody is unique, yet social control ensures that most people will not deviate too much from the norm. Moreover, within every country regional cultural differences exist, also in the States. Americans, however, don’t need to go to a cultural briefing before moving to another state successfully.

POWER DISTANCE

The fact that everybody is unique implies that we are all unequal. One of the most salient aspects of inequality is the degree of power each person exerts or can exert over other persons; power being defined as the degree to which a person is able to influence other people’s ideas and behavior.

This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in socie�es are not equal, and it expresses the a�tude of the culture toward these power inequali�es amongst us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of ins�tu�ons and organisa�ons within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. It has to do with the fact that a society’s inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders.

INDIVIDUALISM

The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist socie�es people are only supposed to look a�er themselves and their direct family. In Collec�vist socie�es people belong to “in groups” that take care of them in exchange for unques�oning loyalty.

The fairly low score on Power Distance(40) in combina�on with one of the the most Individualist (91) cultures in the world reflects itself in the following:

The American premise of “liberty and jus�ce for all.” This is evidenced by an explicit emphasis on equal rights in all aspects of American society and government. Within American organisa�ons, hierarchy is established for convenience, superiors are accessible and managers rely on individual employees and teams for their exper�se. Both managers and employees expect to be consulted and informa�on is shared frequently. At the same �me, communica�on is informal, direct and par�cipa�ve to a degree. The society is loosely-knit in which the expecta�on is that people look a�er themselves and their immediate families

only and should not rely (too much) on authori�es for support. There is also a high degree of geographical mobility in the United States. Americans are the best joiners in the world; however it is o�en difficult, especially among men, to develop deep friendships. Americans are accustomed to doing business or interac�ng with people they don’t know well. Consequently, Americans are not shy about approaching their prospec�ve counterparts in order to obtain or seek informa�on. In the business world, employees are expected to be self-reliant and display ini�a�ve. Also, within the exchange-based world of work we see that hiring, promo�on and decisions are based on merit or evidence of what one has done or can do.

MASCULINITY

A high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by compe��on, achievement and success, with success being defined by the “winner” or “best-in-the-field”. This value system starts in childhood and con�nues throughout one’s life – both in work and leisure pursuits.

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. The fundamental issue here is what mo�vates people, wan�ng to be the best (Masculine) or liking what you do (Feminine).

The score of the US on Masculinity is high at 62, and this can be seen in the typical American behavioral pa�erns. This can be explained by the the combina�on of a high Masculinity drive together with the most Individualist drive in the world. In other words, Americans, so to speak, all show their Masculine drive individually. The Bri�sh, however, have the same culture in this respect. The ques�on, therefore, should be: is the same drive not normally to be seen on the surface? This difference is a reflec�on of the higher score of the US on Uncertainty Avoidance than of the UK. In other words, in both socie�es we find the same drive, but Americans show it up-front whereas the Bri�sh will take you by surprise.

This American combina�on reflects itself in the following:

Behavior in school, work, and play are based on the shared values that people should “strive to be the best they can be” and that “the winner takes all”. As a result, Americans will tend to display and talk freely about their “successes” and achievements in life. Being successful per se is not the great mo�vator in American society, but being able to show one’s success Many American assessment systems are based on precise target se�ng, by which American employees can show how well a job they did. There exists a “can-do” mentality which creates a lot of dynamism in the society, as it is believed that there is always the possibility to do things in a be�er way Typically, Americans “live to work” so that they can obtain monetary rewards and as a consequence a�ain higher status based on how good one can be. Many white collar workers will move to a more fancy neighborhood a�er each and every substan�al promo�on. It is believed that a certain degree of conflict will bring out the best of people, as it is the goal to be “the winner”. As a consequence, we see a lot of polarisa�on and court cases. This mentality nowadays undermines the American premise of “liberty and jus�ce for all.” Rising inequality is endangering democracy, because a widening gap among the classes may slowly push Power Distance up and Individualism down.

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

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? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situa�ons and have created beliefs and ins�tu�ons that try to avoid these is reflected in the score on Uncertainty Avoidance.

The US scores below average, with a low score of 46, on the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. . As a consequence, the perceived context in which Americans find themselves will impact their behaviour more than if the culture would have either scored higher or lower. Thus, this cultural pa�ern reflects itself as follows:

There is a fair degree of acceptance for new ideas, innova�ve products and a willingness to try something new or different, whether it pertains to technology, business prac�ces or food. Americans tend to be more tolerant of ideas or opinions from anyone and allow the freedom of expression. At the same �me, Americans do not require a lot of rules and are less emo�onally expressive than higher-scoring cultures. At the same �me, 9/11 has created a lot of fear in the American society culmina�ng in the efforts of government to monitor everybody through the NSA and other security organisa�ons

LONG TERM ORIENTATION

This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and socie�es priori�se these two existen�al goals differently. Norma�ve socie�es. which score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain �me- honoured tradi�ons and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragma�c approach: they encourage thri� and efforts in modern educa�on as a way to prepare for the future.

The United States scores norma�ve on the fi�h dimension with a low score of 26. This is reflected by the following:

Americans are prone to analyse new informa�on to check whether it is true. Thus, the culture doesn’t make most Americans pragma�c, but this should not be confused with the fact that Americans are very prac�cal, being reflected by the “can-do” mentallity men�oned above. The polarisa�on men�oned above is, so to speak, strengthened by the fact that many Americans have very strong ideas about what is “good” and “evil”. This may concern issues such as abor�on, use of drugs, euthanasia, weapons or the size and rights of the government versus the States and versus ci�zens. The US is the one of the only “Caucasian” countries in the world where, since the beginning of the 20th century, visi�ng church has increased. This increase is also evident in some post-Soviet republics such as Russia. American businesses measure their performance on a short-term basis, with profit and loss statements being issued on a quarterly basis. This also drives individuals to strive for quick results within the work place.

INDULGENCE

One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small children are socialised. Without socialisa�on we do not become “human”. This dimension is defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. A tendency toward a rela�vely weak control over their impulses is called “Indulgence”, whereas a rela�vely strong control over their urges is called “Restraint”. Cultures can be described as Indulgent or Restrained.

The United States scores as an Indulgent (68) society on the sixth dimension. This, in combina�on with a norma�ve score, is reflected by the following contradictory a�tudes and behaviour:

Work hard and play hard. The States has waged a war against drugs and is s�ll very busy in doing so, yet drug addic�on in the States is higher than in many other wealthy countries. It is a prudish society yet even some well-known televangelists appear to be immoral.