Understanding National Cultures

Objectives

After completing this lesson the student will be able to:

• Define national culture
• Describe Hofstede’s framework of national culture
• Recognize the limitations of cultural frameworks
• Outline the cultural challenges facing international leaders and managers

Key Terms

As you progress through the course readings, create a checklist of key terms and definitions where appropriate for each lesson to make sure you understand their meaning. Useful terms for this lesson include the following:

• National culture
• Surface/hidden/invisible culture
• Individualism/Collectivism
• Power distance
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Masculinity/Femininity
• Ecological fallacy