Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Human resource management - Essay Example Hofstede studied the attitudes and working values of more than 116,000 IBM employees working in over 40 countries. Using factor analysis of gathered data, Hofstede shows that there are five dimensions that could not be described with other factors. Based on his results, he argues that national culture has an effect on attitudes and values related to workers or employees. Every country chooses a specific management system; however, it cannot reflect the priorities of a nation. The system may prevail by a powerful subculture due to the ability to locate its staff at the high levels of the organisation. Therefore, a predominant subculture can maintain to create a cultural imperialism. The subject was discussed by cross-cultural researchers only from the perspective of the countrys dominance over the country and not from the perspective of cultures dominance over the other culture (McSweeney, 2002, 56). The issue of choosing appropriate levels of analysis is the most significant challenge facing Hofstede’s theory. McSweeney, (2002, 55) argues that any theory should be based on detailed description levels. Hofstede’s findings describe the features. They clarify some of the cultural and behavioural paradigms in organisation of different countries. Hofstede classified the five cultural dimensions as follows (Hofstede, 2001, 56): Power distance: Based on this dimension, countries are different in terms how they treat inequality. Some countries allow inequality to grow so that there is a difference in power and wealth. In such cultures, there is disagreement between subordinates and authority. Uncertainty avoidance: This is regarded with how society members deal with the future risk possibilities. The dimension describes attempts of society to attain a certain level where they feel they are in a conflicting situation. Cultures with high UAI consist of people who