Geert Hofstede quotes

Geert Hofstede was a Dutch psychologist renowned for his pioneering research on cross-cultural differences. His work on cultural dimensions theory transformed the study of how national cultures impact organizations and societies. He became one of the most frequently cited social scientists in the field of intercultural studies. Here are 11 of his quotes:

Culture is the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others. (Geert Hofstede)
What Machiavelli did not write but what the association between political systems and citizens' mental software suggests is that which animal the ruler should impersonate depends strongly on what animals the followers are. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Individualism implies a loosely knit social framework in which people are supposed to take care of themselves and of their immediate families only. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Collectivism stands for a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout people's lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. View quote
Geert Hofstede
In most collectivist cultures, direct confrontation of another person is considered rude and undesirable. The word no is seldom used, because saying "no” is a confrontation; "you may be right” and "we will think about it” are examples of polite ways of turning down a request. In the same vein, the word yes should not necessarily be inferred as an approval, since it is used to maintain the line of communication: "yes, I heard you” is the meaning it has in Japan. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Individualism denotes the relationship between the individual and the collectivity which prevails in a given society. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Values are a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others. View quote
Geert Hofstede
All societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others. View quote
Geert Hofstede
Cross-cultural studies presuppose a systems approach, by which I mean that any element of the total system called ``culture'' should be eligible for analysis, regardless of the discipline that usually deals with such elements. At the level of (national) cultures, these are phenomena on all levels: individuals, groups, organizations, or society as a whole may be relevant. There is no excuse for overlooking any vital factor because it is usually treated in someone else's department at the university. (Geert Hofstede)