National Cultures

Abstract

This article provides an overview analysis about national-cultural differences. In particular, research on national cultural differences (Hofstede. 1980) allowed to compare different national cultures on a large scale. Later, new countries and regions were added to the study; In the end, data was collected from 50 countries and 3 regions. In the original study, four dimensions distinguishing national cultures were used, namely: hierarchical distance, ambiguity avoidance, masculinity-femininity, and added a fifth dimension-Confucian dynamism/long-term orientation (Hofstede. 1997). In original study, each country was assigned a certain score relative to other countries along four dimensions. Country scores (estimates) were compared to conceptually related data obtained from different sources. Hofstede and others. (2010) argue that close correlations confirm the validity of the data, that is, differences between countries are indeed fundamental and long-term phenomena. Keywords: national, cultures, business administration, management, human resources.