Hofstede's Framework

A theory developed to rate a country’s culture.

It’s useful for companies looking to expand globally, as it gives somewhat of a peep into what to expect. Of course, the general advice is to expect the unexpected. There are five parts to the framework:

Power Distance: How well people deal with the disparity of wealth and power. There are hierarchies. Some cultures aren’t thrilled with big gaps; others deal with gaps so big we should just call them a disparity abyss.

Individualism vs. Collectivism: On one end of the scale, people are free to be themselves. On the other end, everyone is the Borg. Usually, cultures fall somewhere in the continuum.

Masculinity vs. Femininity: The name is a little misleading. It’s how much a culture recognizes equalities between men and women…socially, at work, and legally.

Uncertainty Avoidance: A culture that doesn’t like uncertainty will stack up pages and pages of laws and regulations to try to control it. If a culture doesn’t care all that much, they basically say, “Hey, whatever, we’ll figure it out.”

Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation: Whether or not there is cultural ADHD. Long-term cultures are future-oriented; short-term cultures are “right here, right now, forget everything else.” Countries with short-term cultures tend to rack up debt to solve immediate problems and kick the can of paying it back as far down the road as possible.