Cultural Patterns and Communication: Taxonomies

For chapter 5, my group was assigned this chapter to present in class. The emphasis on this chapter was the GLOBE research program that was developed by Hofstede. GLOBE stands from Global Leadership and Organization Behavior Effectiveness. It is a means of compiling information on what are the dominant patterns of a culture. The measures that are defined by Hofstede include: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, in-group collectivism, institutional collectivism, gender egalitarian ism, assertiveness, performance orientation, future orientation, and humane orientation. If a culture’s numbers are above zero on the GLOBE scale, then they have high dimensions. If they are low on the GLOBE scale, they will be prone to have low dimensions.

Power Distance: The degree to which people believe that power should be stratified, unequally shared, and concentrated at higher levels of an organization or government

Uncertainty Avoidance: The extent to which people strive to avoid uncertainty by relying on social norms, rules, rituals, and bureaucratic practices to alleviate the unpredictability

In-Group Collectivism: The degree to which people express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their families

Institutional Collectivism: The degree to which a culture’s institutional practices encourage collective actions and the collective distribution of resources

Gender Egalitarianism: The extend to which people minimize gender role differences and gender discrimination while promoting gender equality

Assertiveness: The degree tow which people are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in social relationships

Performance Orientation: The extent to which people encourage others to improve their task-oriented performance and excel.

Future Orientation: The degree to which people engage in future orientated behaviors such as planning, investing in the future, and delaying gratification

Humane Orientation: The degree to which people encourage others to be fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, and king