Do organizations reflect national cultures? A 10-nation study

The main purpose of this study was to cross-validate Hofstede's classification of national cultures. An additional aim was to investigate the relationship between culture as perceived and culture as desired. Over 800 advanced students of economics, business administration and management from 10 countries participated in the study. They gave free descriptions of an organization they knew well and they rated their native companies on Hofstede's dimensions of pou er distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity. In addition, they indicated how they would like their native companies to be on the same dimensions. Both the data concerning the free descriptions and the data concerning the ratings of native companies show considerable support for Hofstede's four dimensions. Remarkably, there was hardly a relation between culture as perceived and culture as desired. The latter finding has important implications for the interpretation of the literature on national cultures. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved