International and Intercultural Communication Essay

International and Intercultural communications have been of great interest to the Hofstede Centre for many years. In fact Geert Hofstedes propertys of g lossiness have been the most widely disseminated of all theories. Hofstedes quint cultural dimensions argon, 1) Power Distance, 2) personal identity or Collectivism, 3) Masculinity-Femininity, 4) Uncertainty Avoidance, and 5) short-change or Long bourn Orientation. (Donald Baack, 2012, Chapter 2.4). Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most across-the-board studies of how values in the consummation flummox are influenced by husbandry. He analyze a large database of employee value take ins collected within IBM in the midst of 1967 and 1973. The data covered more than 70 countries, from which Hofstede first used the 40 countries with the largest groups of respondents and afterwards extended the analysis to 50 countries and 3 regions. (The Hofstede Center, n.d.).In the adjacent few pages I will compare the similar ities and differences in scores surrounded by the countries of Croatia and Slovenia in relation to Hofstedes five cultural dimensions as headspring as provide a scenario involving two organizations, one find in each country and their business practices relating to the different cultural perspectives. In the dimension of Power-Distance Croatia scores spirited with a score of 73 which means the plenty accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In this type of society stack yield to be told what to do and this is accepted as the norm. (Hofstede Centre, n.d.). Slovenia also scored high in the dimension of Power-Distance with a score of 71. What this displays is two of the former easterly European countries, are very similar in their societal beliefs in hierarchal order and the populace was still routed in a culture where subordinates do as they are told by the boss and the boss is an autocrat in the bigger sense.In the se cond of thefive cultural dimensions Individualism or Collectivism, Croatia scored 33 which are considered a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member group, be that a family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters conceptive relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. In collectivist societies offence leads to shame and loss of face, employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms ( worry a family link) hiring and promotion decisions take account of the employees in-group, management is the management of groups. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.). Slovenia, had a score of 27 is also considered a collectivistic society just like we saw in Croatia. Once again the two bordering countries are just about identical in their collectivist societies.Our third dimension of Masculinity-Femininity resulted in a score of 40. With this score they are considered a relatively maidenly society. maidenlike societies focus on the theory of work to live. In a feminine society it is also common for managers to seek consensus. Even with such a disparity in scores and Slovenias score of 19 on this dimension, they too are considered more of a feminine society. Like the culture of Croatia they work to live and the muckle value things like equality, solidarity and pleasure in their functional lives. Conflicts are intractable by compromise and negotiation. Incentives such as free prison term and flexibility are favored. Focus is on well-being, condition is not shown. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.). The fourth dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance resulted in a score of 80 signifying a very high preference for avoiding uncertainty. As stated in the Hofstede report, Countries exhibiting high uncertainty avoidance maintain strong codes of belief and behavior and are intolerant of unorthodox behavior and ideas.In these cultures there is an emotional need for rules (even if the rules never seem to work) time is money, people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, preciseness and punctuality are the norm, innovation may be resisted, security is an significant element in individual motivation. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.). Slovenia also scored quite high with an 88 signifying they too choose to avoid uncertainty and need rules unheeding of the intensity of them. Our final dimension is the dimension of Short or Long Term Orientation. In the comparison statistics this is referred to aspragmatism and indulgence. Croatia achieved scores of 58 and 33 respectively. These figures indicate that the Croatian society believe truth is dependent on situations, context of what is said and the time. They show an ability to adapt traditions easily to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving res ults. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.).The 33 score received for indulgence is an indication of a restrained country. Societies with a low score in this dimension have a disposal to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to indulgent societies, restrained societies do not honk much emphasis on leisure time and control the bliss of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.). Slovenia had scores of 49 in pragmatism and 48 in indulgence. These scores both result in no clear preference for one or the other. As I have showd by comparing the results for these two countries, bordering countries can be quite similar in some aspects of International and Intercultural Communications just quite different in others.As an example if I undetermined a car repair business or franchise in these two countries and expected them to work together so me of the things I could expect is, they both would struggle with working together since they both prefer bossy leaders and operate under the concept of being told what to do. What this means to me is that regardless if I am physically there with them or providing communication from afar they will execute all actions to benefit the business in a positive manner. These societies rely on face and losing face through harm is not an option they accept easily. In contrast to this is they both please the benefits of family time, strong ties to immediate and extended family (the organization), managers often seek consensus and conflict is solved through compromise and negotiation. This later part about conflict reply is because both societies are feministic in nature and as we all know, women are often times more level headed and less apt to disappear off the handle over little issues that can be resolved in an agreeable manner when thought out and discussed properly.This could be ad vantageous or difficult since us Americans believe in more time at work than time with family in todays working environment. I believe this is an instance where I would need to adjust my work ethic in order togain more from these two countries in keeping with their societal beliefs and standards. From my perception of Hofstedes five cultural dimensions is that two companies in these two countries of Croatia and Slovenia would work very well together and in fact complement one another nicely, leading to great succeeder for the organization. What I have done in the past few pages is to demonstrate the similarities and differences in scores between the countries of Croatia and Slovenia in relation to Hofstedes five cultural dimensions as well as provided you with the scenario involving two organizations, one located in each country and their business practices relating to the different cultural perspectives. I believe Hofstedes five dimensions were quite relevant when originally compl ied and are still quite relevant today.ReferencesBaack, D., Management Communication, 2012. Retrieved fromhttps//content.ashford.edu/books/AUBUS600.12.1Mind Tools Ltd, 1996-2014. Retrieved fromhttp//www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_66.htmThe Hofstede Centre, national Cultural Dimensions, n.d. Retrieved from http//geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html The Hofstede Centre, National Cultural Dimensions, n.d. Retrieved from http//geert-hofstede.com/croatia.html