Cultural Differences

The first step in dealing with culture is to recognize that there are meaningful differences. National culture is the set of shared values and beliefs that affects the perceptions, decisions, and behavior of the people from a particular country.

Geert Hofstede spent 20 years studying cultural differences in 53 different countries. His research shows that there are six consistent cultural dimensions across countries: power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, short-term versus long-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint.

Another difficulty is that cultural values are changing, albeit slowly, in many parts of the world.