International Work Values

1
International Work Values

• What the cultures of the world consider important?

2
Cultures consequences

• Geert Hofstede
• Empirical research in 40 countries
• Identified four main dimensions
• Dominant value systems can be ordered
• Influence on human thinking, organizations and
  institutions in predictable ways

3
Cultural factors in the workplace

• Power distance (PD)
• Uncertainty avoidance (UA)
• Individualism/collectivism (IND)
• Masculinity/femininity (MAS)

4
Power distance (PD)

• The nature of interpersonal relationships
• organizational pyramid
• wage differentials
• worker education
• status of work levels
• amount of centralization

5
Consequences to the organization

• LOW PD
• less centralization
• flat pyramid
• smaller prop. of supervisors to workers
• smaller wage differentials
• high qualification of lower strata
• manual work same status as clerical work

• HIGH PD
• higher centralization
• tall pyramid
• large proportion of supervisors to workers
• large wage differentials
• lower qualification of lower strata of workers
• white -collar jobs valued more than blue collar
  jobs

6
Societal norms (PD)

• LOW PD
• inequality in society should be minimized
• all should be interdependent
• hierarchy means inequality in roles
• subordinates/superiors are people like me
• all should have equal rights
• the system is to blame
• the way to change is by redistributing power
• latent harmony between the powerful and the
  powerless

• HIGH PD
• there should be an inequality in this world
• a few should be independent
• hierarchy means existential inequality
• subordinates/superiors are different kind
• powerholders are entitled to privileges
• the underdog is to blame
• the way to change is by dethroning those in
  power
  
• latent conflict between the powerful and the
  powerless

7
Relative national rankings (PD)

• Philippines 94
• Mexico 81
• Venezuela 81
• India 77
• Yugoslavia 76
• Singapore 74
• Brazil 69
• Hong Kong 68
• France 68
• Columbia 67
• Turkey 66
• Belgium 65
• Peru 64
• Thailand 64
• Chile 63
• Portugal 63
• Greece 60
• Iran 58
• Taiwan 58

• Pakistan 55
• Japan 54
• Italy 50
• South Africa 49
• Argentina 49
• USA 40
• Canada 39
• Netherlands 38
• Australia 36
• Germany 35
• Great Britain 35
• Switzerland 34
• Finland 33
• Norway 31
• Sweden 31
• Ireland 28
• New Zealand 22
• Denmark 18
• Israel 13

8
Uncertainty avoidance

• The extent to which a culture is threatened by
  risk and tries to avoid it
  
• structure in activities
• written rules
• managerial involvement
• managerial styles
• turnover
• ritualism
• source of power over uncertainty

9
Consequences to the organization

• LOW UA
• less structure of activity
• fewer written rules
• more generalists or amateurs
• pluriform organizations
• management more involved in strategy
• managers more interpersonal and flexible in
  style
  
• mgrs. more willing to take risk and make
  individual decisions
  
• high labor turnover
• ambitious employees
• lower satisfaction scores
• less power through control of uncertainty
• less ritualizm

• HIGH UA
• activities more structured
• more written rules
• larger number of specialists
• organization more uniform (standardized)
• managers involved in details
• managers are task oriented and possess consistent
  styles
  
• mgrs. less willing to make individual and risky
  decisions
  
• low labor turnover
• less ambitious employees
• higher satisfaction scores
• power by controlling uncertainty
• more ritualistic behavior

10
Societal norms (UA)

• LOW UA
• greater readiness to live by the day
• less emotional resistance to change
• time is free
• smaller generation gap
• lower average age in higher level jobs
• more acceptance of dissent
• greater tolerance
• hope of success
• less nationalism
• competition can be fair and right
• less conservatism
• broad guidelines, as few rules as possible
• belief in generalists and common sense
• citizen optimism to control politicians
  decisions
  

• HIGH UA
• more worry about the future
• more emotional resistance to change
• time is money
• greater generation gap
• higher average age in higher level jobs
• strong need for consensus
• deviance is dangerous intolerance
• fear of failure
• nationalism
• competition emotionally disapproved
• conservatism, law and order
• clear requirements and written instructions
• belief in experts and their knowledge
• citizen pessimism to control politicians
  decisions

11
Relative national rankings (UA)

• Greece 112
• Portugal 104
• Belgium 94
• Japan 92
• Yugoslavia 88
• Peru 87
• France 86
• Chile 86
• Spain 86
• Argentina 86
• Turkey 85
• Mexico 82
• Israel 81
• Columbia 80
• Venezuela 76
• Brazil 76
• Italy 75
• Pakistan 70
• Austria 70

• Germany 65
• Thailand 64
• Iran 59
• Finland 59
• Switzerland 58
• Netherlands 53
• Australia 51
• Norway 50
• South Africa 49
• New Zealand 49
• Canada 48
• USA 46
• Philippines 44
• India 40
• Great Britain 35
• Ireland 35
• Hong Kong 29
• Sweden 29
• Denmark 23

12
Individualism/Collectivism

• Self sufficient societies vs. cooperative
  societies
  
• type of individual involvement with the org.
• who looks after whom?
• who speaks for the employee?
• concern with fashion in management trends
• loyalty
• influence of relationship on policy and practice
• individual initiative

13
Consequences to the organization

• COLLECTIVISM
• involvement of individual w/organiz. is primarily
  moral
  
• employees expect the org. to look after them
• organiz. has a lot of influence on employees well
  being
  
• employees expect the organization to speak for
  them
  
• policies and practices are based on loyalty and a
  sense of duty
  
• promotion from inside and on seniority
• less concern with fashion in mgt.
• policies and practices vary by relat.

• INDIVIDUALISM
• involvement of individual w/organiz. is primarily
  calculative
  
• organizations are not expected to look after the
  individual
  
• organiz. has moderate influence on employees well
  being
  
• employees are expected to defend their own
  interests
  
• policies and practices allow for individual
  initiative
  
• promotion on market value and both from inside
  and outside
  
• mgrs try to be up-to-date
• policies and practices apply to all

14
Societal norms (IND)

• LOW IND
• people are born into extended families which
  protect them
  
• we consciousness
• collectivity-orientation
• identity is based in the soc. sytem
• emotional dependence
• emphasis on membership
• private life is invaded by organizations op.
  predetermined
  
• expertise, order, duty, security provided by
  organization
  
• friendships are predetermined by stable social
  relationships
  
• belief in group decisions

• HIGH IND
• everyone is supposed to take care of him or
  herself and the family
  
• i consciousness
• self-orientation
• identity is base in the individual
• emotional independence
• emphasis on individual initiative
• everyone has a right on a private life and
  opinion
  
• autonomy, variety, pleasure, individual financial
  security
  
• need for specific friendship
• belief in individual decisions

15
Relative national rankings (IND)

• USA 91
• Australia 90
• Great Britain 89
• Canada 80
• Netherlands 80
• New Zealand 79
• Italy 76
• Belgium 75
• Denmark 74
• Sweden 71
• France 71
• Ireland 70
• Norway 69
• Switzerland 68
• Germany 67
• South Africa 65
• Finland 63
• Austria 55
• Israel 54

• India 48
• Japan 46
• Argentina 46
• Iran 41
• Brazil 38
• Turkey 37
• Greece 35
• Philippines 32
• Mexico 30
• Portugal 27
• Yugoslavia 27
• Hong Kong 25
• Chile 23
• Singapore 20
• Thailand 20
• Taiwan 17
• Peru 16
• Pakistan 14
• Columbia 13

16
Masculinity/femininity

• Female vs. male characteristics in the culture
• job stress
• women vs. men in qualified jobs
• assertiveness
• industrial conflict
• restructuring of work
• private lives of employees

17
Consequences to the organization

• FEMININITY
• lower job stress
• more women in more qualified and better paying
  jobs
  
• women in more qualified jobs not particularly
  assertive
  
• less industrial conflict
• job restructuring permitting group achievement
• organizations do not interfere with private
  lives
  

• MASCULINITY
• higher job stress
• fewer women in more qualified and better paying
  jobs
  
• women in more qualified jobs are very assertive
• more industrial conflict
• job restructuring permitting individual
  achievement
  
• organizational interests are legitimate reasons
  to interfere with private lives
  

18
Societal norms (MAS)

• LOW MAS
• people orientation
• quality of life and environment
• work to live
• service ideal
• interdependence
• intuition
• sympathy for the unfortunate
• small and slow are beautiful
• men need not be assertive but can also take
  caring roles
  
• sex roles in society should be fluid
• differences in sex roles should not mean
  differences in power
  

• HIGH MAS
• money and thing orientation
• performance and growth
• live to work
• achievement ideal
• independence
• decisiveness
• sympathy for the achiever
• big and fast are beautiful
• men should behave assertively and women should
  care
  
• sex roles in society should be clearly
  differentiated
  
• men should dominate in all settings - macho

19
Relative national rankings (MAS)

• Japan 95 87
• Austria 79 75
• Venezuela 73 70
• Italy 70 72
• Switzerland 70 67
• Mexico 69 64
• Ireland 68 74
• Great Britain 66 66
• Germany 66 59
• Philippines 64 58
• Columbia 64 56
• South Africa 63 60
• USA 62 men
• Australia 61 59
• New Zealand 58 55
• Greece 57 73
• Hong Kong 57 61
• Argentina 56 50
• India 56 47

• Canada 52 53
• Pakistan 50 40
• Brazil 49 44
• Singapore 48 52
• Israel 47 41
• Turkey 45 53
• Taiwan 45 38
• Iran 43 52
• France 43 41
• Spain 42 35
• Peru 42 32
• Thailand 34 45
• Portugal 31 32
• Chile 28 26
• Finland 26 51
• Yugoslavia 21 42
• Denmark 16 22
• Netherlands 14 no
• Norway 8 10

20
Detailed review

• An international 8 region model
• country clusters based on PD, UA, IND and MAS

21
More developed LATIN

• high PD
• high UA
• medium to high IND
• medium MAS

• Belgium
• France
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Spain
• Italy

22
Less developed LATIN

• high PD
• high UA
• low IND
• low to high MAS

• Columbia
• Mexico
• Venezuela
• Chile
• Peru
• Portugal

23
Less developed ASIAN

• high PD
• low to medium UA
• low IND
• medium MAS

• Pakistan
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Hong Kong
• India
• Philippines
• Singapore

24
More developed ASIAN

• medium PD
• high UA
• medium IND
• high MAS

• Japan

25
Near EASTERN

• high PD
• high UA
• low IND
• medium MAS

• Greece
• Iran
• Turkey
• Yugoslavia

26
Germanic

• low PD
• medium to high UA
• medium IND
• medium to high MAS

• Austria
• Israel
• Germany
• Switzerland

27
Anglo

• low to medium PD
• low to medium UA
• high IND
• high MAS

• Australia
• Canada
• Great Britain
• Ireland
• New Zealand
• U.S.A.
• South Africa

28
Nordic

• low PD
• low to medium UA
• medium to high IND
• low MAS

• Denmark
• Finland
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Sweden

29
Value shifts

• Implications to information
• used by employees and managers?
• Implications to system design?
• Case examples
• Brunei
• Gondwannaland

30
End International Work Values