Hoftede's cultural dimension

Hoftede's cultural dimensions

1. POWER DISTANCE: The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

India scores high on this dimension, 77, indicating an appreciation for hierarchy and a top-down structure in society and organizations.

1. Dependent on the boss or the power holder for direction

2. Acceptance of unequal rights between the power-privileged and those who are lesser down in the pecking order.

2.INDIVIDUALISM: The degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members

India, with a rather intermediate score of 48, is a society with both collectivistic and Individualistic traits.

A. The collectivist side means that there is a high preference for belonging to a larger social framework in which individuals are expected to act in accordance to the greater good of one’s defined in-group(s).
B. The Individualist aspect of Indian society is seen as a result of its dominant religion/philosophy – Hinduism

3. MASCULINITY: A high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational life.

India scores 56 on this dimension and is thus considered a Masculine society. India is actually very Masculine in terms of visual display of success and power.

4. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE: The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these

India scores 40 on this dimension and thus has a medium low preference for avoiding uncertainty. In India, there is acceptance of imperfection; nothing has to be perfect nor has to go exactly as planned. India is traditionally a patient country where tolerance for the unexpected is high ; even welcomed as a break from monotony

5. LONG TERM ORIENTATION: how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future

With an intermediate score of 51 in this dimension, a dominant preference in Indian culture cannot be determined. In India the concept of “karma” dominates religious and philosophical thought. Time is not linear.

6. INDULGENCE: the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses.

India receives a low score of 26 in this Idimension, meaning that it is a culture of Restraint, and it has a tendency to cynicism and pessimism.

LEWIS MODEL

According to the Lewis Model dimension of behaviour, the Indian culture would fall into the Multi-Active category.  Men are still the one who handle the businesses. For small deals such as buying some land or property. They often follow the traditional methods to close businesses which include visiting your business partner family for diner, and a lot of verbal bargain. In some cases they make deals through marriage so the new owner can have a rightfully right over the property. The social and the professional aspects are often mixed in the type of negotiation. Whereas, the indian culture also seem linear active in the most professional scenarios where there is some type of enterprise or organisation behind the follow very strict schedules and meetings, and even if there is some small social exchange it is always very professional and no invasive at all.