Globe cultural dimensions by country

Discussion Instruction

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the illustration of 10 clusters of world culture below according to GLOBE in Northouse (2018).

Choose one of the 10 clusters and identify key elements a leader needs to understand to be effective in leading an organization in that country cluster

Clusters of World Cultures

GLOBE researchers divided the data from the 62 countries they studied into regional clusters.1 These clusters provided a convenient way to analyze the similarities and differences between cultural groups (clusters) and to make meaningful generalizations about culture and leadership.

To create regional clusters, GLOBE researchers used prior research (e.g., Ronen & Shenkar, 1985), common language, geography, religion, and historical accounts. Based on these factors, they grouped countries into 10 distinct clusters: Anglo, Germanic Europe, Latin Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Confucian Asia, Southern Asia, Latin America, and Nordic Europe (Figure 16.1). These 10 regional clusters are the groupings that were used in all of the GLOBE studies.

To test whether the clusters, or groups of countries, were valid, researchers did a statistical analysis of questionnaire data collected from individuals in each of the clusters. Their results indicated that the scores of respondents within a cluster correlated with one another but were unrelated to the scores of respondents in different clusters. From these findings, they concluded that each cluster was unique. In sum, these regional clusters represented a valid and reliable way to differentiate countries of the world into 10 distinct groups.

Figure 16.1 Country Clusters According to GLOBE

Figure 39

Source: From Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, by R. J. House, P. J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. W. Dorfman, and V. Gupta (Eds.). Copyright 2004 by SAGE Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

However, further research has pointed out that there are limitations to the clusters developed by the GLOBE studies (Brewer & Venaik, 2014). For example, India, which falls into the regional cluster of Southern Asia, has been found to have nine distinct subcultural regions, some of whose values are in contradiction to others (Dheer, Lenartowicz, & Peterson, 2015).

Characteristics of Clusters

In an effort to characterize the regional clusters, GLOBE researchers analyzed data from each of the regions using the dimensions of culture described earlier. Table 16.1 provides a classification of the cultural clusters in regard to how they scored on each cultural dimension. In the table, the nine cultural dimensions are listed in the left-hand column; the high-score and low-score regional clusters are provided in the next two columns. These are the regional clusters that were significantly higher or lower on particular dimensions than other regions. From these data, several observations can be made about the characteristics of these regional cultures.

Table 42

Source: Adapted from Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, by R. J. House, P. J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. W. Dorfman, and V. Gupta (Eds.). Copyright 2004 by SAGE Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Anglo

The Anglo cluster consists of Canada, the United States, Australia, Ireland, England, South Africa (White sample), and New Zealand. These countries or populations were high in performance orientation and low in in-group collectivism. This means it is characteristic of these countries to be competitive and results oriented, but less attached to their families or similar groups than other countries.

Confucian Asia

This cluster, which includes Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan, exhibited high scores in performance orientation, institutional collectivism, and in-group collectivism. These countries are results driven, and they encourage the group working together over individual goals. People in these countries are devoted and loyal to their families.

Eastern Europe

Included in this cluster are Greece, Hungary, Albania, Slovenia, Poland, Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. These countries scored high on assertiveness, in-group collectivism, and gender egalitarianism. They scored low on performance orientation, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance. People in this cluster tend to be forceful and supportive of their coworkers and to treat men and women equally. They are less likely to be achievement driven, to emphasize strategic planning, and to stress rules and laws as a way to maintain order.

Germanic Europe

The Germanic Europe countries, which include Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany, scored high in performance orientation, assertiveness, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance. They were low in humane orientation, institutional collectivism, and in-group collectivism. These countries value competition and aggressiveness and are more results oriented than people oriented. They enjoy planning and investing in the future and using rules and laws to give them control over their environment. At the same time, these countries are more likely to be individualistic and less group oriented. They tend not to emphasize broad societal groups.

Latin America

The Latin America cluster is made up of Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Mexico. People in these countries scored high on in-group collectivism and low on performance orientation, future orientation, institutional collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. People in these countries tend to be loyal and devoted to their families and similar groups but less interested in overall institutional and societal groups, and place less value on competition and goal-seeking behavior.

Latin Europe

Comprising Israel, Italy, Francophone Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and France, the Latin Europe cluster exhibited more moderate and fewer high scores on any of the cultural dimensions, but scored low on humane orientation and institutional collectivism. It is characteristic of these countries to value individual autonomy and to place less value on the greater societal collective. Individuals are encouraged to watch out for themselves and to pursue individual rather than societal goals.

Middle East

This cluster is made up of Qatar, Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, and Turkey. These countries scored high on in-group collectivism and low on future orientation, gender egalitarianism, and uncertainty avoidance. People in these countries tend to show great pride in their families and organizations. They are devoted and loyal to their own people. Furthermore, it is common for these countries to treat people of different genders in distinct ways. In the Middle East, orderliness and consistency are not stressed, and people do not place heavy reliance on policies and procedures. There is a tendency to focus on current issues as opposed to attempting to control the future.

Nordic Europe

The Nordic Europe cluster, which includes Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, exhibited several distinctive characteristics. This cluster scored high on future orientation, gender egalitarianism, institutional collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance, and low on assertiveness, in-group collectivism, and power distance. The Nordic people place a high priority on long-term success. Women are treated with greater equality. The Nordic people identify with the broader society and far less with family groups. In Nordic Europe, rules, orderliness, and consistency are stressed. Assertiveness is downplayed in favor of modesty and tenderness, and power is shared equally among people at all levels of society. Cooperation and societal-level group identity are highly valued by the Nordic people.

Southern Asia

The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and Iran form the Southern Asia cluster. These countries exhibited high scores on humane orientation and in-group collectivism. Southern Asia could be characterized as countries that demonstrate strong family loyalty and deep concern for their communities.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Sub-Saharan Africa cluster consists of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, and South Africa (Black sample). These countries or populations expressed high scores on humane orientation. In Sub-Saharan Africa, people generally are very concerned for and sensitive to others. Concern for family and friends is more important than concern for self.

Discussion Instruction

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the illustration of 10 clusters of world culture according to GLOBE in Northouse (2018).

Choose one of the 10 clusters and identify key elements a leader needs to understand to be effective in leading an organization in that country cluster.