An organisational cultural perspective

By Bob Waisfisz

Professor Geert Hofstede defines national culture

as the collective programming of the human
mind that distinguishes one group or category of
people from another. In other words, that what
many members of a group have in common and
by which they distinguish themselves from other
groups is called culture.

These commonalities are being transferred

from generation upon generation, especially
from parents to their children, not by what they
say but by how they behave in emotionally
crucial situations. That doesnt mean that
national cultures dont change, but at the Hofstede has made a distinction into four
deepest level, i.e. the level of values, cultures layers, when describing culture. On the
may change only slowly. deepest level we find values. Values have been
defined by him as broad preferences for one
At organisational level, too, we can define state of affairs over others to which strong
culture as the collective programming of the emotions are attached and by which one
minds of group members by which one group group distinguishes itself from other groups.
distinguishes itself from other groups. An Values refer to such preferences as freedom
organisation is less complex and less diffuse over equality or equality over freedom.
than a nation. Most organisations have clear
objectives, for instance profit making, and We define organisational culture as the way in
most activities within organisations are aimed which members of an organisation relate
at realizing such objectives. For that matter, ++ to each other
a definition of organisational culture can be ++ to their work
more precise and specific than in the case of ++ to the outside world
national culture. that distinguishes them from other
organisations.
Moreover, the research of Geert Hofstede
has shown that cultural differences between Thus when looking at relations among
nations are especially found on the deepest members of an organisation, culture describes
level; i.e. on the level of values. In comparison among many things the following:
cultural differences among organisations the way a superior relates to direct reports;
located within the same national culture e.g. will superiors experience contradiction by
arena are especially identified on the level of direct reports as disloyal behavior?
practices. Practices are more tangible than the way direct reports relate to their direct
values, which also allows for a more precise boss; e.g. will they speak out their mind or
and specific definition. do they go into their shell when situations
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become precarious? in organisational culture within one nation.
In addition to the national culture of its
The way colleagues on the same hierarchical employees, there are a whole range of other
level relate to each other; e.g. will they help a factors which exert influence on the culture
colleague out in trouble or will they do nothing of an organisation. Such factors are the size
while thinking: Good for me? and complexity of the organisation, the type
of activities the people in the organisation are
When looking at relations to their work, culture involved in, expectations of stake holders and
describes among many things the following: the requirements imposed by the authorities,
++ Whether people will emphasize just to mention a few.
meticulous task execution or instead are
looking for innovative solutions Organisational culture is also determined by
++ Whether managers are especially short the personalities of the employees, yet the
term directed or whether they try to culture is not the sum of all those individual
learn from things going wrong personalities. Reality is different at the
++ Whether rules have to be followed at all individual level from what is found at the group
cost or whether rules are dealt with in a level. If you assemble a group of ten intelligent
pragmatic way employees that does not mean that you have
automatically created an intelligent group.
When looking at relations to the outside world, They may distrust each other to such degree
culture describes among many things the that they are unable to work together. Or some
following: are jealous about the preferential treatment a
++ Whether people are inward looking or couple of their direct colleagues get from their
are outward looking boss, creating internal frictions.
++ Whether outsiders are made welcome
right away or whether you first have to Not everybody has the same influence on the
proof yourself culture. Some may have no real influence,
++ Whether clients are always right or while especially a successful and charismatic
whether we know what is best for them founder may have a deep and long lasting
effect on the culture of his or her baby even
If we compare the cultures of different after the founder passed away.
organisations in one and the same country in
terms of the average values of their employees, Characterisations of culture such as introvert,
the average value differences prove to be aggressive and formal, which are used to
relatively small, especially when organisations classify individuals, should be mistrusted.
have more than, say, forty employees. The Obviously, you might find introvert behaviour
larger the group from the same national in one organisation, while more aggressive
culture, the more that national culture will be behaviour in another organisation. Insofar
expressed in that group. If we deal with e.g. a as these behavioural characteristics are a
single Frenchman, what we will notice are his reflection of cultural characteristics not being
individual qualities. If we have to deal with a caused by the average personality prevalent
large number of French people at the same in an organisation, it is preferable to use
time, the specific qualities of each will be less different labels. Thus, introvert behaviour can
noticeable and we will especially observe what be a reflection of a means oriented and closed
they have in common. As you would expect, culture, aggressive behaviour of a goal and
people from a different national culture than work oriented culture.
the French culture can see this more clearly
than another Frenchman when observing the Another important determinant factor of
same French group, because what is French will organisational culture is the history of an
be experienced by this Frenchman as normal. organisation. When people come together
Nevertheless there can be large differences to achieve a common goal, group processes

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unfold, aimed at integration within the group Culture as enabler
and at establishing successful relations with
the outside world. The way in which this Let us now go back to the definition of culture.
happens differs per group. Determinant factors Next to the definition given above, we can
include the personality or personalities of the define culture as an enabler or a hindrance
pioneer(s)r and the way in which internal group when making things happen. Thus culture
processes and interaction with the outside may either support the highest productivity
world materialise. possible or it may hinder realisation of the
highest productivity possible. After all, how
In the definition of culture adopted from sophisticated technology may be and how
Geert Hofstede the word relate figures high capital intensity may be, if employees
prominently. (Culture defines the way people dont use resources in an effective way, or
in an organisation relate.) The word worse if they try to frustrate realization of
relate has been used because culture is more optimal results, then sophisticated technology
than just behavior. In other words: Culture and a lot of capital goods are of no avail. The
reflects itself on different levels of work reality. same is true whether we look at efficiency,
The onion of Geert Hofstede presented on the innovation or any other goal management
first page is one way to classify different levels wants to realise.
of culture.
You may have noticed a certain contradiction.
To look at Organisational Culture one has to Culture has been defined as the way people
use a more differentiated picture of culture: in an organisation relate to each other, to
their work and to the outside world. One can
therefore say that culture describes the way
things are. At the same time culture has been
defined as an enabler or a hindrance, which
is not the same. In the latter case culture is
defined as a force that either contributes or
hinders realization of a state of affairs.
More precisely, if we take the definition of
Geert Hofstede, organisational culture will
tell us whether e.g. the highest productivity
possible will be realized. When culture is
defined as an enabler, culture will tell us
whether it will contribute to the realization of
the highest productivity possible, but if and
how such contribution will indeed take place
remains a question mark.

The difference between the picture above and This contradiction is caused by the fact that
the one on the first page is that the onion has one we dont live in an ideal world. There is nothing
extra layer and some of the levels have gotten wrong with the definition defined by Geert
different names. This onion is visualising the Hofstede, but the problem is that we are not
different levels that together form practices. able to measure culture hundred percent
accurately. At least two reasons can be given
The outer ring, representing symbols, can be why this is so:
changed most easily. To change beliefs will cost
the biggest effort.

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1. Models present a simplification of reality, About the Author
yet without the help of models it is hard to talk
and think in a meaningful way about complex Bob Waisfisz, the Hague
reality. in the Netherlands,
is the founder of itim
2. Respondents and/or observers describing international.
work reality are subjective. It is the challenge
to avoid socially desirable answers as much Itim provides companies the
as possible and to ensure that observers are cultural competence needed
as little biased as possible. One can, however, to optimize performance worldwide. He is
never be sure that subjectivity has been specialized in advising companies and supra-
avoided all together when describing culture. national organisations in how to be more
effective both nationally and internationally.
These two reasons are creating noise when He is experienced in translating international
describing cultures. Because of this it is wise to and global strategies and policies into practical
describe culture, in its operational form, as an consequences for management. Since 1985, he
enabler or a hindrance. has been working in this field with a variety of
Fortune top 1000 companies. Bob has worked
in and with public and private organisations in
_______________________________________ 85 countries on all continents.

References
Cultures and Organizations; Software of
the Mind, by Geert Hofstede and Gert Jan
Hofstede, ISBN 0-07-143959-5

Please see appendix 1

_______________________________________

Recommended Reading
++ The Hofstede Model on Strategy Culture
and Change
++ Change management

Both articles are available upon request

_______________________________________

More Information
++ geert-hofstede.com
++ itim.org

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Appendix 1
The function of organizational culture:
There are no good or bad cultures. Organisational cultures are functional or dysfunctional depend-
ing on who we want to be.

Culture only exists by comparison. Culture has no meaning by itself. The Hofstede Model is a tool of
analysis to assist us in realizing our objectives in the best possible way.

The Hofstede Model consists of 8 dimensions or variables of Organisational Culture

D1: Means versus goal oriented; We identify with the how versus we identify with the
what (Health risks versus effectiveness)

D2: Internally versus externally driven; We know what is best for the client or we dont need
to care about them versus we do whatever the client wants

D3: Loose versus tight work control

Innovation and/or unpredictability versus efficiency /planning
D4: Local versus professional; We identify with our direct boss and/or with our work group ver-
sus we identify with our profession and/or with the content of our work (Work life is a danger-
ous affair versus
we love to find out what is happening in the rest of the world

D5: Open versus closed systems; Newcomers are welcome versus they first have to proof
themselves

D6: Employee versus work oriented; Management takes co-responsibility for the welfare of
their people versus management believes that if they dont put their people under pressure
nothing will happen

D7: Degree of leadership acceptance; from low to high

D8: Degree to which people identify with their organisation; from low to high

Please note that definitions define the extreme positions

Please note that combinations of dimensions will define well known topics, e.g. D1 and D2
together define process versus result orientation and D1 and D5 together define open versus
closed communication.

Learn more on the relationship between strategy, context and culture from the Organisational
Cultural App. You can find it through the next link:
http://geert-hofstede.com/culture-and-strategy.html

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