Hofstede Theory

I have been facing cultural differences between Japan and other countries since I started staying in the United States. When I was in high school, my father told me that America is called the melting pot or the salad　bowl where people who have different nationalities, values, religions can be accepted. I strongly agree with it. Actually, my roommates are from UAE and Spain. Needless to say, their cultural values are different from Japanese.

According to the Hofstede theory, which is the famous framework used to analyze cultural values. These are divided into five dimensions:①Individualism versus collectivism②Power distance③Uncertainty avoidance versus uncertainty tolerance④Masculinity versus femininity⑤Time orientation.

Based on this theory, the Arabic are collective oriented and polychronic culture. That is, time is an open- ended resource that is not to be constrained. But the fact remains that they are very punctual and individual oriented. It means learning culture in a class is really difficult for us because of the stereotype images and biases. Furthermore, culture has been changing gradually.

But on the other hand, Hofstede theory is sometimes useful for us when we meet people who are from different counties for the first time. We can predict what they think, what they feel and what they do. It means this theory is like a map that helps us get to the destination quickly, but it is just a map.