Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 14/e

Cultural Values

Unlike personality, which is largely genetically determined, values are learned. They are passed down through generations and they vary by cultures. As researchers have sought to understand cultural value differences, two important frameworks have emerged from Geert Hofstede and the GLOBE studies.

Hofstede’s Framework

One of the most widely referenced approaches for analyzing variations among cultures was done by Geert Hofstede.89 Hofstede surveyed more than 116,000 IBM employees in 40 countries about their work-related values and found managers and employees varied on five value dimensions of national culture:

• Power distance. Power distance describes the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and ...