Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind - Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival - Softcover

Hofstede, Geert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0070293074 ISBN 13: 9780070293076

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 1996

Synopsis

Now for the first time in paperback, Geert Hofstede's classic study of the "software of the mind" helps us look at how we think - and also at how we fail to think as members of groups. Drawing on decades of rigorous research, the author reveals the unexamined rules by which we live and work together.
Melding unswerving intellectual courage and hard social, cultural, and organizational research, Hofstede shapes a sobering picture of a world perilously lacking in self-knowledge - unaware of serious differences between the groups that populate our planet and appallingly oblivious to the hidden "programs" that govern the behavior of cultures in a time of skyrocketing global contact.
But culture shock - whether the shocking contact is between an individual and a new country, between organizations, between the sexes, or between opposing diplomats - can be turned to our advantage, Hofstede says - if we understand it. And understanding is what this work is all about.

About this title

Review:

An understanding of other cultures is essential if we are to develop a more stable world and at the same time create national wealth (Brian Burrows Futures Information Associates)

From the Back Cover:

People of other countries, of another generation, social class, job or organisation, often think and act in ways that puzzle us. To these people, of course, we are the ones who behave in a surprising manner. What separates them from us is the culture in which either of us grew up. 'Culture' in this sense is not the same as 'civilisation'; it encompasses much more. Deeply-rooted and, therefore, often unconscious values lead us to consider as normal what others think abnormal, as polite what to others is rude, and as rational what others find irrational.

Geert Hofstede shows that national cultures differ along five dimensions:

·
The degree of integration of individuals within groups
·
Differences in the social roles of women versus men
·
Ways of dealing with inequality
·
The degree of tolerance for the unknown
·
The trade-off between long-term and short-term gratification of needs

Organisational cultures, however, are a different phenomenon; they do not follow the same dimensions, are more manageable, and in fact offer an opportunity to bridge national cultures. Following twenty-five years of research into multinational companies, Geert Hofstede reveals the circumstances in which organisational cultures can be managed effectively, and outlines ways of learning intercultural communication which are essential to success in the 1990s and beyond.

"An understanding of other cultures is essential if we are to develop a more stable world and at the same time create national wealth"
BRIAN BURROWS,
'Futures Information Associates'

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0070293074
• ISBN 13: 9780070293076
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 279