Product Description

"An important, sophisticated and complex monograph . . . Both the theoretical analysis and the empirical findings constitute major contributions to cross-cultural value analysis and the cross-cultural study of work motivations and organizational dynamics. This book is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in a historical or anthropological approach to cross-cultural comparisons."
--PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

--PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

The Second Edition of this classic work, first published in 1981 and an international best seller, explores the differences in thinking and social action that exist among members of more than 50 modern nations. Geert Hofstede argues that people carry "mental programs" which are developed in the family in early childhood and reinforced in schools and organizations, and that these programs contain components of national culture. They are expressed most clearly in the different values that predominate among people from different countries.

Geert Hofstede has completely rewritten, revised and updated Culture's Consequences for the twenty-first century, he has broadened the book's cross-disciplinary appeal, expanded the coverage of countries examined from 40 to more than 50, reformulated his arguments and a large amount of new literature has been included. The book is structured around five major dimensions: power distance; uncertainty avoidance; individualism versus collectivism; masculinity versus femininity; and long term versus short-term orientation.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #265581 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 616 pages

Review

"An important, sophisticated and complex monograph. . . . Both the theoretical analysis and the empirical findings constitute major contributions to cross-cultural value analysis and the cross-cultural study of work motivations and organizational dynamics. This book is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in a historical or anthropological approach to cross-cultural comparisons." 

(PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY )

Review

"An important, sophisticated and complex monograph. . . . Both the theoretical analysis and the empirical findings constitute major contributions to cross-cultural value analysis and the cross-cultural study of work motivations and organizational dynamics. This book is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in a historical or anthropological approach to cross-cultural comparisons." 

Book Info
Reference explores the difference in thinking and social action existing among members of more than 50 modern nations. This edition widens the areas covered to differences in behaviors, institutions, and organizations. Argues people carry 'mental programs' developed in the family, and reinforced in schools and organizations. Previous edition: c1980.

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Customer Reviews

A map to understanding culture
I am currently an expatriate in France, and have also lived in the United States, Mexico, Spain. Hofstede's book is a good guide to better understand culture. As with a map, we recognize that it is not (nor is it intended to be reality) rather a tool to help guide us. The information on cultures in this book is our "first best guess" to understanding business norms in that culture, and then once we get to know the individuals we are working with, we can adapt. We recognize that these "norms" may change depending on the industry, the region, sub-culture, or other various factors. This book is extremely helpful in creating our "first best guess."

Valuable? - Perhaps for somebody who has never had a real eye for other cultures
Hofstede's work was and is not really helpful; perhaps fascinating for those who deal with the issues from the comfortable space of their warm home of office in a western country.
For all who want to get a fundamental insight to understanding espec. Asian behavior and cultural differences, I highly recommend to start with: "The Geography of Thought : How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why -- by Richard Nisbett".
That's the stuff that will bring you where Hofstede could never dream to be.

Very valueable, if taken as Hofstede has meant it
Although many comments have already been accumulated let me add something, since some of the reviews tend to get out of focus. Hofstede never claimed to have studied cultures in general, he studied effects of culture on work-related values. For this topic his work is still the standard. The starting point is like this: a large company like IBM tries to establish a strong corporate identity shared among all of its worldwide employees ("We are IBM" kind of thing). However, if you ask them a couple of questions about their work-related values, they answer differently. Turns out, the differences can be explained to some degree by the employee's country-of-origin, that is his or her culture. Hofstede then goes on and tries to find dimensions in order to describe the differences between cultures, - and it has to be said again and again - dimensions for "work-related values" and not for culture in general! This observation was and is tremendously important for multinational companies. It means that we are still influenced even when we work at a multinational firm by our cultural traditions and that this cannot easily be exchanged by the company's culture. Of course if you are more interested in other aspects of culture, than Hofstede's books might not the prime choice for you to study.
Hofstede's work is scientifically sound. The choice of IBM as a case is reasonable given his prime motivation. Sample sizes are impressive for all who have tried similar studies (besides, representativity is not a function of sample size but given by the radomness of the sample draw. Sample size has an effect on standard error but this can be taken into account with a test of significance). Quackery is how other people have used Hofstede's data in contexts other than work-related.