the Koreas, Japan, the US & Hofstede

(conclusion, part five. parts of the larger work have been reworked. If there is an interest in viewing the final work in whole please comment with your e-mail. As always, clicking on the image enlages it.)

USA

   One of the inherent challenges when doing a compare and contrast, and including one's own country, is the degree to which it highlights the foreignness of the other countries. A natural intimacy of one's own country immediately becomes apparent. Therefore, this statement is an acknowledgment of an unequal perception.

   There is a wide variety of impacts on the direction and movement of business in general and managerial styles in particular that has been affecting the US. Globalization certainly is among them. As alluded to earlier, the academic writings that are spearheading new directions, in large measure, are moving from left to right brain considerations.

   There was a time when one could draw a caricature of American business, all suits, 9-to-5, secretaries, Monday through Friday, built-in benefits. The predictability of business, intact a mere 50 years ago, is gone.

   What has remained, relatively speaking, within the same range is the more intimate portrait of Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture. Americans do not tend to genuflect to their superiors, and our relatively low power distance ranking continues to reflect that. The Darwinian consideration that the pioneers or who survived continues to be reflected in our even lower uncertainty avoidance score; and certainly contributes to the US having the top score in the individualism.

   American business management, being about the business of business itself, may always find a change in fashion (the changing styles of methodologies and approaches), however, the characteristics of a given country shine through nonetheless.

Summary

   Summary suppositions start by going back to the Marshall Plan. A quick look at the Japanese Hofstede rankings, in relationship to the American rankings, finds that with the exception of individualism and LTO, Japan seems to feel compelled to have to out-American the US; clocking in within range, yet slightly higher in each other instance. Individualism being more of a Western trait and long-term orientation being more of a eastern trait.

   This would explain the higher masculinity and individualism rankings for Japan, not seen in South Korea; the East being generally considered more effeminate than the West. These rankings for South Korea are more consistent across Asia.
   It is noted that the GLOBE Project (House, R., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., & Gupta, V. , 2004) has continued Hofstede’s work. As noted in International Management (Deresky, 2008, p. 415), attributes such as charisma and autonomy have joined in being ranked; though that materially extends this paper elsewhere.

References

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