Power Distance and Hofstede's Dimensions
Power distance and Hofstede’s dimensions
Introduction
This paper will be about the relation between the cultural dimension ‘power distance’ and three management principles we chose and will also be about the applicability of these management principles. This is quite interesting because even though we know that the cultural dimensions, by Geert Hofstede, and the management principles, by Fayol, have something to do with each other, the more the cultural dimensions differ, the more the ranking of the management principles will differ in the compared countries. We will now try to find out if some of these principles are more linked to a certain cultural dimension, in our case Power Distance, than others and we will find out whether these principles are even that applicable. This will help us link different theories and gain more insight into the specific theories.
Power distance
Geert Hofstede (1928,-) came up with five cultural dimensions to compare countries on. All countries are ranked on these dimensions, according to their culture, and in that way we can compare the different countries. The cultural dimension that is going to be discussed in this paper is Power Distance, Power Distance shows to which extent a less powerful member of a company will accept and expect that the power in the company he or she works for is distributed unequally. It defines inequality, seen from below. This dimension suggests that the level of inequality of a society is endorsed as much by the followers as by the leaders. Of course, any society deals with the issues of power and inequality, but in some societies these issues are way bigger than in others. This is represented in the PDI, the Power Distance Index. If this index is high in a certain country, this country will make a strong use of hierarchy and the appreciation of social inequality will be relatively high. (The world’s average PDI is 55)
Three principles of Fayol
Henri Fayol (1841,1925) came up with a
Introduction
This paper will be about the relation between the cultural dimension ‘power distance’ and three management principles we chose and will also be about the applicability of these management principles. This is quite interesting because even though we know that the cultural dimensions, by Geert Hofstede, and the management principles, by Fayol, have something to do with each other, the more the cultural dimensions differ, the more the ranking of the management principles will differ in the compared countries. We will now try to find out if some of these principles are more linked to a certain cultural dimension, in our case Power Distance, than others and we will find out whether these principles are even that applicable. This will help us link different theories and gain more insight into the specific theories.
Power distance
Geert Hofstede (1928,-) came up with five cultural dimensions to compare countries on. All countries are ranked on these dimensions, according to their culture, and in that way we can compare the different countries. The cultural dimension that is going to be discussed in this paper is Power Distance, Power Distance shows to which extent a less powerful member of a company will accept and expect that the power in the company he or she works for is distributed unequally. It defines inequality, seen from below. This dimension suggests that the level of inequality of a society is endorsed as much by the followers as by the leaders. Of course, any society deals with the issues of power and inequality, but in some societies these issues are way bigger than in others. This is represented in the PDI, the Power Distance Index. If this index is high in a certain country, this country will make a strong use of hierarchy and the appreciation of social inequality will be relatively high. (The world’s average PDI is 55)
Three principles of Fayol
Henri Fayol (1841,1925) came up with a