BU398 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Geert Hofstede, Decision-Making, Uptodate
Document Summary
Geert hofstede conducted a survey that identified several dimensions of national value systems that vary widely across countries. 2 of these include: power distance, which is the level of inequality people are willing to accept within an organization. Low power distance means that people expect equality in power: uncertainty avoidance, which is the level of tolerance for and comfort with uncertainty and individualism within a culture. High uncertainty avoidance means that members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity and thus support beliefs that promise certainty and conformity. Low certainty avoidance means that people have a high tolerance for the unstructured, the unclear, and the unpredictable. The quality of decisions may also suffer as greater diversity and complexity make it difficult for headquarters to understand and respond to local needs in each region. Decision making can also be slow and complex, and disagreements and conflicts among divisions are more difficult to resolve.
