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A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth National Culture Dimension

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used indigenous knowledge of Chinese culture and philosophy to critique Geert Hofstede's fifth national culture dimension, i.e., Confucian dynamism, referred to as long-term orientation.
Abstract: Using indigenous knowledge of Chinese culture and philosophy, this article critiques Geert Hofstede’s fifth national culture dimension, i.e. ‘Confucian dynamism’, also referred to as ‘long-term orientation’. The basic premise on which the dimension is founded is scrutinized and the way in which this index has been constructed is assessed in detail. It is argued that there is a philosophical flaw inherent in this ‘new’ dimension. Given this fatal flaw and other methodological weaknesses, the usefulness of Hofstede’s fifth dimension is doubted. The article concludes by calling for new visions and perspectives in our cross cultural research.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a cross-cultural study examines the effects of individual characteristics (i.e., consumers' need for uniqueness and self-monitoring) and brand-associated variables (e.g., social-function attitudes toward luxury brands and affective attitude) on U.S. and Chinese consumers' purchase intention for luxury brands.

548 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new dimension of long- versus short-term orientation, a dimension originally found by Bond among students in 23 countries, became Hofstede's fifth dimension of national cultures.
Abstract: Long- versus short-term orientation, a national value dimension originally found by Bond among students in 23 countries, became Hofstede's (1991) fifth dimension of national cultures. Recent analyses by Minkov (2007) of World Values Survey data, collected from representative samples of national populations, allow the calculation of a new version of this dimension, this time across 93 countries. National scores on the dimension correlate with certain family values, with school results, with business values, with environmental values and, under favorable historical conditions, with economic growth. In 1988 the dimension scores led to a prediction of China's economic success. The new scores allow new predictions for economic developments in different parts of the world.

460 citations


Cites background from "A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth Nati..."

  • ...This refutes a criticism by Fang ( 2003 ), who as an insider of Chinese culture argued that combining these values into a dimension does not make Chinese sense....

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  • ...This refutes a criticism by Fang (2003), who as an insider of Chinese culture argued that combining these values into a dimension does not make Chinese sense....

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Journal ArticleDOI
Tony Fang1
TL;DR: It is proposed that potential paradoxical values coexist in any culture; they give rise to, exist within, reinforce, and complement each other to shape the holistic, dynamic, and dialectical nature of culture.
Abstract: In this article I propose a Yin Yang perspective to understand culture. Based on the indigenous Chinese philosophy of Yin Yang, I conceptualize culture as possessing inherently paradoxical value orientations, thereby enabling it to embrace opposite traits of any given cultural dimension. I posit that potential paradoxical values coexist in any culture; they give rise to, exist within, reinforce, and complement each other to shape the holistic, dynamic, and dialectical nature of culture. Seen from the Yin Yang perspective, all cultures share the same potential in value orientations, but at the same time they are also different from each other because each culture is a unique dynamic portfolio of self-selected globally available value orientations as a consequence of that culture's all-dimensional learning over time.

378 citations


Cites background or methods from "A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth Nati..."

  • ...Nevertheless, Hofstede’s cultural paradigm has received important critiques from methodological (McSweeney, 2002), management (Holden, 2002), and © 2011 The International Association for Chinese Management Research philosophical (Fang, 2003, 2005–2006, 2010) perspectives....

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  • ...Building on my earlier critiques of Hofstede’s work (Fang, 2003, 2005–2006, 2010), I would like to point out that a counterbalance of the Western bias in cross-cultural research calls for knowledge of the duality thinking embedded in the Chinese philosophy of Yin Yang....

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  • ...We are both Yin and Yang, feminine and masculine, long-term and short-term, individualistic and collectivistic, . . . depending on situations, context and time’ (Fang, 2003: 363)....

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  • ...From the Yin Yang point of view, contradictions or paradoxes are not viewed as problems but as a world view, a methodology, and a natural way of life (Chen, 2002; Chen, M.-J., 2008; Fang, 2003; Fletcher & Fang, 2006; Li, 1998, 2008, 2011a,b)....

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  • ...With a few exceptions (e.g., Fang, 2003, 2005–2006, 2010; Faure & Fang, 2008), Yin Yang as a fundamental philosophical principle to understand the dynamics of culture through embracing paradoxes has rarely been examined in the crosscultural management literature....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that life in contemporary China has undergone significant cultural change, but in terms of thinking process, modern Chinese society remains anchored to the classical Yin Yang approach.

305 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Based on research with Bond's Chinese Values Survey (CVS) across 23 countries, Hofstede added a fifth dimension, Long- versus Short-Term Orientation (LTO), to his earlier four IBM-based dimensions of national cultures as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Based on research with Bond’s Chinese Values Survey (CVS) across 23 countries, Hofstede added a fifth dimension, Long- versus Short-Term Orientation (LTO), to his earlier four IBM-based dimensions of national cultures. The authors attempted to replicate this dimension by analyzing World Values Survey (WVS) items that seemed to capture the concept of LTO. Their factor analysis of 10 such items across 38 countries resulted in two factors. One was strongly correlated with the original LTO, whereas the other resembled Hofstede’s individualism dimension. The first factor’s nomological network was identical to that of the CVS-based LTO: It predicted national economic growth and national school success in mathematics. These findings show that a dimension very similar to the original LTO can be derived from the WVS and that Chinese and Western research instruments can produce similar dimensions of culture.

298 citations


Cites background from "A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth Nati..."

  • ...Despite the evidence that LTO is a valid and meaningful dimension of national culture, two widely read publications have expressed criticisms of it: Fang (2003) and Ashkanasy, Gupta, Mayfield, and Trevor-Roberts (2004)....

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: In this article, the differences in the way strategists and their followers think are discussed, and practical solutions for those in business to help solve conflict between different groups are proposed, with a focus on how to find common problems which demand cooperation for the solution of these problems.
Abstract: Despite calls for better co-operation between countries and different cultures, there is still confrontation between people, groups and nations. But at the same time they are exposed to common problems which demand cooperation for the solution of these problems. This book helps to understand the differences in the way strategists and their followers think, offering practical solutions for those in business to help solve conflict between different groups.

16,894 citations

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the universals in the content and structure of values, concentrating on the theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries, and its four basic issues: substantive contents of human values; identification of comprehensive set of values; extent to which the meaning of particular values was equivalent for different groups of people; and how the relations among different values was structured.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter addresses the universals in the content and structure of values, concentrating on the theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries, and its four basic issues: substantive contents of human values; identification of comprehensive set of values; extent to which the meaning of particular values was equivalent for different groups of people; and how the relations among different values was structured. Substantial progress has been made toward resolving each of these issues. Ten motivationally distinct value types that were likely to be recognized within and across cultures and used to form value priorities were identified. Set of value types that was relatively comprehensive, encompassing virtually all the types of values to which individuals attribute at least moderate importance as criteria of evaluation was demonstrated. The evidence from 20 countries was assembled, showing that the meaning of the value types and most of the single values that constitute them was reasonably equivalent across most groups. Two basic dimensions that organize value systems into an integrated motivational structure with consistent value conflicts and compatibilities were discovered. By identifying universal aspects of value content and structure, the chapter has laid the foundations for investigating culture-specific aspects in the future.

12,151 citations


"A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth Nati..." refers background in this paper

  • ...…citations and discussions (Smith, 1996; Søndergaard, 1994; Triandis, 1982); they have also attracted criticism (Lowe, 2001; McSweeney, 2002a, b; Roberts and Boyacigiller, 1984; Tayeb, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2001; Yeh and Lawrence, 1995) and in some cases further refinements (Schwartz, 1992)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the book "Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations, Second Edition, by Geert Hofstede".
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations,” Second Edition, by Geert Hofstede.

6,062 citations


"A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth Nati..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...…to refer to the fifth dimension as he did earlier (Hofstede, 1991) but rather terms it solely ‘long-term orientation’ (see the section ‘Long-term orientation as a fifth dimension’, Hofstede, 2001: 353–5, as opposed to the section ‘Confucian dynamism as a fifth dimension’, Hofstede, 1991: 164–6)....

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  • ...During the process of preparing this article, Hofstede (2001) published the new edition of Culture’s Consequences....

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  • ...However, a close scrutiny of the contents and structure of Hofstede (2001) compared to Hofstede (1991) reveals that Hofstede has indeed made several adjustments....

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  • ...…‘key implications’ and ‘essence’ concerning long-term vs. shortterm orientation when it comes to differences in family, social relations and work, in ways of thinking, and in societal norms between short- and long-term-orientation societies (see Exhibit 7.6 and Exhibit 7.7, Hofstede, 2001: 366–7)....

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  • ...In Søndergaard’s (2001) recent review of Hofstede (2001), Hofstede’s dimensional model of cultural variation is not discussed at all....

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Journal ArticleDOI

4,240 citations


"A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth Nati..." refers background in this paper

  • ...(Hofstede and Bond, 1988: 16, emphasis added) [N]early all values, on both poles, seem to be taken straight from the teachings of Confucius . . . the values on the one pole are more oriented towards the future (especially perseverance and thrift); they are more dynamic....

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  • ...We also doubt the viability of Hofstede’s hypothesis of the ‘Confucian connection’ that explains the Chinese/East Asian economic performance by referring to Confucian dynamism (longterm orientation) (Bond and Hofstede, 1989; Hofstede, 1991; Hofstede and Bond, 1988)....

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  • ...…an Oriental contribution to his dimensional theory of culture that is not registered in the western mind (see, e.g. Hofstede, 1991, 1993; Franke et al., 1991) and writes (in Hofstede and Bond, 1988: 17–18): If this dimension is somewhat puzzling to the Western readers, they should not be surprised....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of a study on organizational cultures in twenty units from ten different organizations in Denmark and the Netherlands, which came from in-depth interviews of selected informants and a questionnaire survey of a stratified random sample of organizational members.
Abstract: Geert Hofstede University of Limburg Bram Neuijen University of Groningen Denise Davat Ohayv Institute for Research on intercultural Cooperation Geert Sanders University of Groningen This paper presents the results of a study on organizational cultures in twenty units from ten different organizations in Denmark and the Netherlands. Data came from in-depth interviews of selected informants and a questionnaire survey of a stratified random sample of organizational members. Data on task, structure, and control characteristics of each unit were collected separately. Quantitative measures of the cultures of the twenty units, aggregated at the unit level, showed that a targe part of the differences among these twenty units could be explained by six factors, related to established concepts from organizational sociology, that measured the organizational cultures on six independent dimensions. The organizational culture differences found resided mainly at the levei of practices as perceived by members. Scores of the units on the six dimensions were partly explainable from organizational idiosyncrasies but were also significantly correlated with a variety of task, structural, and control-system characteristics of the units.

3,294 citations