Gert Jan Hofstede

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The cultural biology of organization

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Consequences of culture

...so culture mainly causes a lot of trouble? 

Yes, but it could be helped. We are smart enough.

We are programmed to learn our society's culture in our youth and to take it for granted. We are unconsciously competent in it. But in cross-cultural situations our automatic pilot goes wrong. That results in false assumptions ('Empire of Evil', 'dogs', that kind of stuff) about what the other is trying to do. Everybody makes them: the Pope, George Bush, people in the street around the world.. and yes, me too. 

Are you doing business internationally? Too busy to read a book, but interested? Read more, and more seriously, in my paper Trust in international networks written for the Innovation Lecture 2006 of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

 

 

updated 03-08-2008 by Gert Jan Hofstede