Geert Hofstede, the Dutch social psychologist first began to conduct research as a manager at IBM in the 1960’s, which concerned subsidiaries in 70 countries. His research and observations mainly dealt with how people within the corporation collaborate and relate to management. In 1971 he went on a two-year sabbatical as he was unable to devote enough time and attention to his research. What he observed, once he delved more deeply into the data was that notable differences were present between cultures in relation to how they approached formal tasks, gave instructions, collaborated, or respected position.
It also emerged that the results showed very little variation within countries, which in other words meant that the differences were not the outcome of individual variations or „office culture” (Hofstede, 2011).
He was able to conduct the survey elsewhere, using international subjects as sources at a management development centre in Switzerland. The survey-results showed very similar profiles and variations between cultures internationally, which strongly suggested that his initial conclusions were not specific to the local circumstances of the IBM corporation (Hoppe, 2004).
His research eventually established six cultural dimensions.
These were: Power Distance; Individualism/Collectivism; Masculinity/Femininity (i.e. Task Orientation vs Person Orientation); Uncertainty Avoidance; Long Term/Short Term Orientation; Indulgence/Restraint.
His framework may be criticised for not sufficiently allowing for individual variation and for oversimplifying raw data. Nevertheless, these dimensions allow huge insight into the cultural differences that may baffle so many of us in cross-cultural situations at work, at school, at university, or when living abroad. Likewise, some major shifts in attitudes and behaviour between cultures need no introduction: the Vietnamese, the Chinese, the Spanish, and Americans show rather characteristic differences when it comes to expressing individual opinion, attending a football match, handling a customer-complaint, or working together on a student-project.
“Culture Does Not Exist - An Interview with Professor Geert Hofstede”. Centre for Intercultural Learning, hozzáférés: 2011
Hoppe, Michael H. (February 2004). "An Interview with Geert Hofstede". Academy of Management Executive. 18(1): 75–79.