Comparison and Criticism

Comparison and CriticismOUR MISSION* Comparison and CriticismHofstedes aim was to evaluate work values, while Trompenaars Hampden-Turners questionnaires inquired into respondents preferred behaviour in a calculate of both work and leisure situations. What both studies have in common is that in both questionnaires the focus is on the ultimate goal state, and that the underlying values, the submersed rive of the goal iceberg, ar derived from a series of questions active more than outer layers of the finis onion, closer to the top of iceberg.Trompenaarss system appears focus-oriented it speaks a lot about what is on peoples minds and what is in their sight, it speaks about the logical organization and framework of their behaviour (specific vs. diffuse, internal vs. external control, universalism vs. particularism) and relationships (individualism vs. collectivism achievement vs. ascription neutral vs. affective). Hofstede, on the opposite hand describes some of values present in people and finally affecting their behavior. The difference therefore is that Trompenaarss investigation lies on the surface of the investigation of the persons gardening, c everywhereing exactly the choice and manner in which the actions are planned and handled, while Hofstede tries to go in the very deep of culture layers and lets us make our let forecasts of peoples behavior based on the k directlyledge of the hidden part of iceberg. .Taking a closer look into the comparison amongst the dimensions themselves, we can nonice similarities between the two theories.One of these is the closeness between the notions of collectivism vs. individualism of Hofstede and communitarianism vs. individualism of Trompenaars. For a marketer, from our point of view, there is close no difference which index to use. at that place is some degree of similarity in Hofstedes power distance index and achievement vs. ascription. One values the accepted degree of high class/ meek class lifestyle and secondary characteristics difference, while the other measures the motivation of the low class to move higher. A marketer can infer that customers are kick downstairs evaluated with the high power distance index in relation of selling status-emphasizing products (like luxury brands), while Trompenaarss index is better used when selling low bell practical business tools (like cheap PDAs). We would advise to use the two indices together as they complement each other.Long-term vs. short-term orientation index of Hofstede has got something in common with the past/present/future orientation of Trompenaars. That is in the way, how i.e. short-term oriented cultures will show the same tendency to be populist, tradition-oriented as the past- and present-oriented cultures. after(prenominal) taking a look into evaluations of different cultures maven can find that the results, obtained by the two theories are often counter logical. German corporate culture is hierarchical, as is claimed by Trompenaars in his studies. Whereas Hofstede identifies Germany as relatively low in terms of Power Distance.These differences in the approach attracted some serious criticism over the years. One of the most prominent points often criticized is Hofstede perception of culture as a static characteristic of societies and their representatives. This approach does not take into the account the ethnic drift that can easily be observed as the time passes by. As a vivid example, one can take the comparison between, say, the UK of the square-toed age and the Post Second World War UK and just try to assess the Power Distance Indices. Apparently, over this period of time peoples behavior has modify enough to allow a society with a lot lower power distance, the expressions of which found their way in the art of the time as salutary as in the politics (Rise of the Labor Party in 1945-1951) people of lower class were have become conscious to demand equality in these dimensions with the form er unapproachable higher class, the expression of wealth and power and respect to it have decreased, as well as PDI. Similar drift patterns can now be observed today in some of the underdeveloped countries, like Mexico, where former strong collectivist communities are dissolving, as their member become more individualistic, pushed by their desire to be successful in the new highly commercialized society. The same can be said about political find on the culture (transition from Communist to Capitalist values). In other words it is easily observable that through time cultures evolve. Therefore the estimations for indices are slowly adequate outdated. Hofstede was later pushed by this evidence to regularly update his Index database, still retorting that cultural evolution is a very slow process. However the problem that whitethorn be hard to identify is actually not the quantitative, but rather the qualitative obsolescence of the framework itself, that will sooner or later present it self. I.e. what was sound and precise description in the 1970s can be an incomplete, flawed and vague characterization for 2010, and even more so for future.That is however just one of the many debatable things. Among the others are1. Question interpretation of the surveyed, i.e. will the question really be a precise way to determine the culture, as the culture and personality may directly affect the way the question is translated and thus produce errors in the resulting evaluation.2. Researchers background diminishes the completeness of cultural description and offers one-sided look at the problem. This way it would be preferable for marketers to have a marketer, not a manager, to make the proper evaluations framework, which would be more suited for marketing decision making.3. Ignoring the heathenish group and communities presence, national culture fragmentation. Just saying that Germany has low UAC index may totally confuse the policymaker, as this does not differ between East, wolfram and especially Turkish communities. Moreover, a study carried out only in only one company (Hofstede) cannot give an outlook on the entire cultural system of a country.ConclusionAs described in this paper, there are several approaches to the classification of the cultures of different nations. The ones that were observed closely here are Geert Hofstedes and Fons Trompenaarss classifications, so-called cultural dimensions. These, as shown have a number of things in common and many differences as well. Thus, a marketer has to make a decision, which part of which study is to be used to develop a successful strategy. However there is little doubt that some way of adapting the strategy to the local culture is to be used. We may live in a globalized enviroment, however, so far there is no mundial culture and different clusters of people, whether they are separated geographically, historically or socially some may choose one product instead of the other because of their culture a nd values. All of that is to be taken into consideration. And there are so far not many standartised approaches to the culture evaluations, other than Hofstedes and Trompenaarss, which economise time and enable the creation of a consolidated strategy in approach to culture. It is not surprising that some of the companies nowadays are already encompassingy involved in applying these methods in their decision making, and the amount of them will inevitably grow as the studies of the theories are being held in many Universities and Business Schools, from wich the future excecutives will come.However one has to rememember, that both these method are quite controversial and plain imperfect, therefore we should learn learn to use the questionnaires and the databases responsibly. 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