Cultural Values

One way to understand how national cultures differ is to examine their values or cultural dimensions. The cultural dimensions presented here are based mostly on those included in Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE), a research program in sixty-two societal cultures, and builds on previous analyses of cultural dimensions. Keep in mind that these cultural dimensions are stereotypes that apply to a representative person from a particular culture and are not meant to insult anybody. Individual differences are substantial.

Performance orientation is the degree to which a society encourages (or should encourage) and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence. Assertive people enjoy competition in business, in contrast to less assertive cultural groups who prefer harmony and solidarity. United States and Austria tend to score high on this dimension, whereas Sweden and New Zealand score low

Future oriented individuals delay gratification, plan, and make investments for the future. Singapore and Switzerland are the examples of societies with longer time horizons, whereas Russia and Argentina are less future oriented. Time orientation is the importance nations and individuals attach to time. People with an urgent time orientation perceive time to be a scarce resource and tend to be impatient. Americans are noted for their urgent time orientation.

Work orientation is the number of hours per week and weeks per year people expect to invest in work versus leisure activities. In the U.S., the average workweek is 34.6 hours, the sixteenth longest among other countries. Effective leaders recognize that a person’s national values might influence his or her behavior.