Uncertainty Avoidance and Ukraine

Professor Geert Hofstede’s Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) is a well-known measure for prototypical estimation of cultural behavior. The index was developed as a result of research Hofstede conducted using data provided by IBM from 70 countries through the late-1960s and early-1970s. The results of his research, including the concepts of Power Distance, Individualism vs Collectivism, Masculinity vs Femininity, as well as Uncertainty Avoidance, have been widely cited in cultural, management, and organizational development literature.

This index measures levels of uncertainty avoidance so that countries could be compared to one another. A low score on the uncertainty avoidance index indicates that the people in the country are more comfortable with ambiguity, more entrepreneurial, more likely to take risks, and less dependent on structure rules. Countries with high uncertainty avoidance scores desire more stability, more structured rules and social norms, and are less comfortable taking risks. (See Addition I-III). Examples of low scoring countries:USA, UK, India, China, Indonesia, Singapore. Examples of high scoring countries:Greece, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Korea, Mexico

What about Ukraine? (Students may be asked to make their own research. See activity

Exercise 3 'Learning station')

By parameters defined by G. Hofstede, Ukraine is among the countries of masculine culture with high uncertainty avoidance and large power distance. [http://geert-hofstede.com/ukraine.html]. Scoring 95from amaximum of 112 Ukrainians feel very much threatened by ambiguous situations. They are less tolerant of change and seek to avoid the anxiety that brings suspense, by establishing strict rules. As long as Ukrainians interact with people considered to be strangers they appear very formal and distant. At the same time formality is used as a sign of respect.

Part II Masculinity versus Femininity.

Lecture's plan for Part II

1. Masculinity versus femininity as a social difference; male and female sex

as a biological difference.

2. Feminine and Masculine societies\ cultures in different communication settings.

3. Masculinity versus Femininity Index (MAS) and its importance for various countries.Masculinity versus Femininity and Ukraine.

4. Conclusion.

In the book “Culture and Organization. Software of mind” by Geert Hofstede and Michael Minkov in Unit 5 “ He, She, and (S)he” there is a very interesting example which show the difference between the two countries called masculinity versus femininity.

"As a young Dutch engineer, Geert once applied for a junior management job with an American engineering company that had recently settled in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. He felt well qualified, with a degree from the leading technical university of the country, good grades, a record of active participation in student associations, and three years’ experience as an engineer with a well known (although somewhat sleepy) Dutch company. He had written a short letter to the company indicating his interest and providing some salient personal data. He was invited for an interview, and after a long train ride he sat facing the American plant manager. Geert behaved politely and modestly, as he knew an applicant should, and waited for the other man to ask the usual questions that would enable him to find out how qualified Geert was. To his surprise, the plant manager touched on very few of the areas that Geert thought should be discussed. Instead, he asked about some highly detailed facts pertaining to Geert’s experience in tool design, using English words that Geert did not know, and the relevance of the questioning escaped him. Those were things he could learn within a week once he worked there. After half an hour of painful misunderstandings, the interviewer said, “Sorry—we need a first-class man.” And Geert was out on the street.

Years later Geert was the interviewer, and he met with both Dutch and American applicants. Then he understood what had gone wrong in that earlier case. American applicants, to Dutch eyes, oversell themselves. Their curricula vitae are worded in superlatives, mentioning every degree, grade, award, and membership to demonstrate their outstanding qualities. During the interview they try to behave assertively, promising things they are very unlikely to realize—such as learning the local language in a few months. Dutch applicants, in American eyes, undersell themselves. They write modest and usually short CVs, counting on the interviewer to find out how good they really are by asking. They expect an interest in their social and extracurricular activities during their studies. They are careful not to be seen as braggarts and not to make promises they are not absolutely sure they can fulfill. American interviewers know how to interpret American CVs and interviews, and they tend to discount the information provided. Dutch interviewers, accustomed to Dutch applicants, tend to uprade the information. The scenario for cross-cultural misunderstanding is clear. To an uninitiated American interviewer, an uninitiated Dutch applicant comes across as a sucker. To an uninitiated Dutch interviewer, an uninitiated American applicant comes across as a braggart."