The culture of a group of people is very important in the world of business. For a long time, the people involved in international business ventures have overlooked the aspect of the culture of the people in places where they establish their businesses only to find later that the businesses are not making progress. In such cases, blaming the people for not supporting the business is easy; but the reality is that it is the businesspersons who fail to understand the culture of the people to determine how it is going to affect their business. Mastering or at the very least understanding the culture of a group of people will assist us to know how to relate with them and therefore find a formula for business success.
According to Hofstede, there are four dimensions from which the culture of a group of people can be viewed or analyzed. Two of these dimensions are individualism versus collectivism and large versus small power distance.
Individualism versus collectivism is a dimension that focuses on effort and how it is utilized for sustenance in the community. Some communities are run on the basis that each person in the community works on his or her own and gets what is due to him or her (Hofstede 83). Personal effort is valued and the creed is mine and not ours. Communal ownership of items is rare and people generally focus on improving their individual lives. Collectivism on the other hand has to do with togetherness. In communities where collectivism is upheld, there is synergy. People work together in groups and there is commonplace communal ownership of property.
The second dimension that Hofstede talks about is small versus large power distance. This dimension has its focus on the power structure in the community and how the people relate to the centers of power in their country. Considering small power distance, these are societies where the centers of power are close to the common people. These societies are characterized by continued agitation and questioning of the status quo with an emphasis on inequality (Hofstede 83). The people are ever pushing for reasons as to why power structures are the way they are. On the other hand, large power distance societies have structures and stages of power distribution. People seem to be satisfied and agitation is rare. This climate of large versus small power distance will definitely affect the nature of organizations that are established in these societies.
Taking my national culture into consideration, Hofstede’s culture dimensions are very relevant. Saudi Arabia’s culture has strong elements of collectivism. There is a strong tendency to care for one another and it is common to find businesses that are owned by six to seven families. This is therefore a highly collectivist society. On the other dimension of power distance, my country, Saudi Arabia is a kingdom. This means that the power distance from the people to the monarchy is extremely big. The structures are elaborate and agitation is very rare. This also matches Hofstede’s view. Therefore if someone wants to run a business in such an atmosphere, these are the elements he needs to understand.
Why should someone understand the culture of a group of people? Understanding the culture of a people will assist in interactions between the natives and the non-natives. For example, if I am an expatriate in Japan and my home country is Australia, I should be able to know that when talking to a senior person, I have to bow slightly. I should also know that I have to greet people. Then I also need to know what to say and where to say it as a way of avoiding miscommunication.
Works cited
Hofstede, Geert.Cultural Dimensions in Management and Planning. Asia Pacific Journal of Management.vol.1 Issue No.2 pp.81-89.2003.Print.