Question

QUESTION 45

According to Hofstede’s dimensions of national cultures, which of the following terms refers to the degree to which a society accepts unequal distribution of authority?

		Uncertainty avoidance
		Individualism-collectivism
		Power distance
		Time orientation

QUESTION 41

A culture that includes nonverbal signals and a strong consideration of situational cues when interpreting communication is a(n)…

		High power distance culture
		High-context culture
		Collectivistic culture
		Low-context culture

QUESTION 37

_____________ involves having people with different backgrounds and skills. ____________ refers to leveraging those different backgrounds and skills by making sure all employees feel like an important part of the organization.

		Diversity; inclusion
		Diversity; organizational subcultures
		Inclusion; diversity
		Organizational subcultures; multicultural organization

Answer 1

Ans. 45.-Power distance

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory was developed by Geert Hofstede (a Dutch Social Psychologist). The framework of the theory is for cross-cultural communications and reveals how the values and other aspects of the society and culture affect behavior and communication patterns. The four dimensions of the theory include:

Individualism-Collectivism: the dimension measures the extent to which a society and its members are integrated into the form of groups. For instance, some societies may value individualism more and people in these societies may have lesser relations with families.

Uncertainty avoidance: the dimension relates to the extent to which a society can tolerate ambiguity or the extent to which people in society avert or embrace something unknown and unexpected.

Power distance: the factor and index reveal the extent to which the lesser powerful institutional and organizational members of a society expect and accept the unequal distribution of power. When the index has a low degree, the people and members question authority but a high index shows that the hierarchy is well established.

Masculinity-Feminity: the dimension measures the degree to which a society prefers or admires heroism, achievement, material rewards, and assertiveness versus its preference for modesty, cooperation, and modesty among other aspects. Therefore, feminine societies will have more caring views when compared to the masculine cultures.

Therefore, the term “power distance” refers to the degree to which a society accepts unequal distribution of authority.

Ans. 41. High-context culture

The concepts of high-context culture and low-context culture were introduced by an American anthropologist by the name Edward T. Hall in the year 1976. The high-context cultures are inclined towards collectivism, highlight the interpersonal relationships, and give more importance to the group’s harmony when compared to individual achievement. The communication patterns in these cultures may include more of the non-verbal communication elements and involve lesser direct verbal interactions. The communication here may take cues from the situation, utilize the smaller gestures of communication. Communicators here will be more expert at reading and deciphering the indirect messages and can derive more meaning out of them.

On the other hand, low context culture has more direct and explicit communications. These communications may also be more elaborate as it is not assumed that those interacting may have much knowledge or information on each other’s backgrounds and histories. No long-standing relations shape communications in low-context cultures. Therefore, explicit verbal skills are necessary to communicate in the low-context cultures.

Ans. 37. Diversity; Inclusion

Diversity involves having people with different backgrounds and skills. In a workplace, diversity refers to workforce that includes people from different cultural backgrounds, ages, disabilities, physical abilities, geographies, genders, religions and sexual orientation, among other variables. It may also include other elements like diversity of preferences, perspectives and characteristics among others.

Inclusion refers to leveraging those different backgrounds and skills by making sure all employees feel like an important part of the organization. Inclusion can be regarded as an achievement of the organization and its work environment, where the individuals with different background and skills (among other diversities) are treated fairly, equally and respectfully. Inclusion also means that all employees have equal access to the resources and opportunities, and can contribute to the success of the employing organization to the best of their ability.