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If you are a person who wants to understand how and why you see processes and people then this book is a must for curious minds that seek practical solutions in diverse communities and workplaces. I don't know how one can know how to see themselves and know how to see others they work and live with in plurastic societies like the countries of Europe and the U.S., Canada and Australia without books like these.
Success in an international environment only occurs when you possess cultural sensitivity. It a research report into how cultural differences underlay everything you want to accomplish.While the book is titled Cultures and Organisations, it is really about ethnic cultures, not corporate cultures.If you are working in a multi cultural or international environment then this is a must. This book is a fantastic introduction into the world of international cultures I have found this book very useful for new change consultants who are venturing out into a global environment, this at least prepares people to think about cultural norms and the way in which certain societies generally view the world, get along with each other and make decisions. Be cautioned this is not an approach to stereotype cultures, rather to provide the student with an understanding of the normal cultural drivers.It is not a cookbook of how-to's.
I now also understand culture in the U.S. Hofstede's dimensions can be applied not only to the business world, but politics and global issues which concern us all. Without this knowledge most of us continue to judge other cultures from our own perspectives not realizing our own thought patterns are as deeply ingrained as any other culture's. and have a framework on which to hang differences between other cultures. Much of who we are is learned unconciously and if we are to negotiate with other cultures and countries, it is wise to understand each other. Until I read this book and taught a college course based on Hofstede's research, I was unaware of what I didn't know.
But Hofstede's very organized & structured prose adds a great deal to a very intangible soft topic like culture. In the latter chapters, Hofstede also considers scores on two cultural dimensions & explains the combined effect of these as a whole. The final two chapters are notes on implications of these differences & the elements of culture shock & how to go about handling these at the level of family, school, etc. The book did not have as extensive research on Organizational cultures, but manages to establish what is, or should be, understood by Organizational cultures.
The greatest value that comes out of this book is the ability to articulate exactly what we mean by culture, what are its various dimensions, & how a culture is manifest at the macro or national level- while stressing every now & then to separate a national culture from the individual value system of its citizens. I think I understand the world a little more having read this book & can try to differentiate the broad national culture traits in the people I work with from their own individual value systems. So while this was one of the great books I read this year, I still think that the title of book is misleading - for organizational cultures is not the mainstay of the book; national culture is. The first seven chapters elucidate on the meaning of culture, its dimensions, & the comparative scores of various different countries in each of these dimensions - what these scores mean in terms of the family, school, workplace, the state, & ideas.
And it also has interesting notes on how some of these Organizational culture dimensions corelate with national culture dimensions. This consistent structure gives the reader a very nuanced point of view on different cultures & the way they manifest. Chapter 8 does a great job of differentiating Organizational cultures from National ones & clearly articulates that values do not differ across organizations in the same country; what differs are the practices these values translate into.
but it is expensive for me, especially the courier. an indepth description of the mental programming of human. worth buying.
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