character across a number of
countries on the basis of surveys using other questions and other respondents (such as students)
or on representative public opinion polls. I found 13 such studies; these compared between 5
and 19 countries at a time. The results of these studies showed a statistically significant similarity
(correlation) with one or more of the four dimensions. Finally, I also looked for national indicators
(such as per capita national income, inequality of income distribution, and government
spending on development aid) that could logically be supposed to be related to one or more of
the dimensions. I found 31 such indicators—of which the values were available for between 5
and 40 countries—that were correlated in a statistically significant way with at least one of the
dimensions. All these additional studies (for which the data were collected by other people, not
by me) helped make the picture of the four dimensions more complete. Interestingly, very few
of these studies had even been related to each other before, but the four dimensions provide a
framework that shows how they can be fit together like pieces of a huge puzzle. The fact that
data obtained within a single MNC have the power to uncover the secrets of entire national cultures
can be understood when it's known that the respondents form well-matched samples from
their nations: They are employed by the same firm (or its subsidiary); their jobs are similar (I
consistently compared the same occupations across the different countries); and their age categories
and sex composition were similar—only their nationalities differed. Therefore, if we look
at the differences in survey answers between multinational employees in countries A, B, C, and
so on, the general factor that can account for the differences in the answers is national culture level (active-passive); and emotional stabil- but it's essential to have a set of criteria
ity (stable-unstable). These distinctions can whereby the characteristics of individuals
44 be refined through the use of certain tests, can be meaningfully described. The dimen sions of national culture I use represent a
corresponding set of criteria for describing
national cultures.
Characterizing a national culture
does not, of course, mean that every person
in the nation has all the characteristics assigned
to that culture. Therefore, in describing
national cultures we refer to the common
elements within each nation—the national
norm—but we are not describing individuals.
This should be kept in mind when interpreting
the four dimensions explained in
the following paragraphs.
Power distance
The first dimension of national culture is
called Power Distance. It indicates the extent
to which a society accepts the fact that
power in institutions and organizations is
distributed unequally. It's reflected in the
values of the less powerful members of society
as well as in those of the more powerful
ones. A fuller picture of the difference between
small Power Distance and large Power
Distance societies is shown in Figure 1. Of
course, this shows only the extremes; most
countries fall somewhere in between.
Uncertainty avoidance
The second dimension. Uncertainty Avoidance,
indicates the extent to which a society
feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous
situations and tries to avoid these situati
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