GL SESSION 2

1. Hofstede comparison NL vs. US

As can be seen, the US and the Netherlands arent that different in terms of three out of four cultural dimensions, except for the masculinity versus femininity dimension. This dimension shows that the Netherlands has a feminine culture that refers to fair distribution of roles between genders. In contrast, the US scores quite high on the masculinity dimension, which means a society where individual achievement is highly appreciated.

INDIV = According to Hofstede, Americans are the most Individualistic people in the world and persue a structured individualistic style (figure 1). They seek leaders who delegate authority to subordinates and put value on planning and rules. Besides, they believe they can control their environment and what occurs in it.

According to Hofstedes cultural dimensions, the US and the Netherlands do not differ much in the following dimensions: power distance, individualism versus collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. - The US has a higher power distance than the Netherlands. This means that inequalities within an organization or society and to which extent members accept differences in status and power among themselves are higher in the US. Moreover, Americans accept subordinate levels and respect formal hierarchical authority. - dimension individualism versus collectivism refers to the cultures norms and values to satisfying either individual or group needs. Both countries score high on individualism, which means that leaders in both countries are looking for personal achievements. However, the Dutch leadership style shows more collectivist behaviour, and encourages group harmony, long-term goals and satisfaction with the leader. - Uncertainty avoidance. Both cultures have an average score on this dimension, which means people in those countries seek a balance between formal rules and ambiguity. - The US and the Netherlands are very different in terms of the masculinity versus femininity dimension. This dimension shows that the Netherlands has a feminine culture that refers to fair distribution of roles between genders, while the US has a masculine culture that encourages decisiveness, assertiveness and individual achievement. - In general, Dutch companies work more decentralized than American companies, which gives leaders free room to operate. Besides, Dutch leaders are person-oriented, and are focused on relationships and employees' needs. Furthermore, in Dutch companies the hierarchical pyramid is flat and leaders have a long-term perspective.

- In the US most leaders are task-oriented leaders and are really focused to get the job done. Also, Americans accept a very hierarchical work environment and individualistic leaders with a short-term perspective.

2. Do you think national cultures are becoming more similar or dissimilar?

Does globalization mean we will become one culture? Starbuck, McDonalds

3. Think of an example when you encountered some amount of difficulty in working with someone from another culture. What were the differences? How did you handle it?