Predicting Cultural Values in Islamic Countries: The Six Cultural Dimensions of Hofstede’s Model

초록

The aim of this paper is to estimate and analyse the cultural value scores of the 57 Islamic countries that were not included in Hofstede’s model. Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies about how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. His data covered more than 100 countries, and the study included the largest group of respondents of any cross-cultural value survey at the time. Given its popularity and the large number of countries encompassed, Hofstede’s model includes surprisingly few Islamic countries. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to analyse the cultural value scores of the 57 Islamic countries. The results reveal that the Islamic countries are all densely clustered in the collectivist and large power distance dimensions. Regarding the uncertainty avoidance and masculinity dimensions, the Islamic countries mostly have medium scores and are intensively clustered. Islamic countries are mostly clustered in the restrained and short-term orientation dimensions. The finding that the cultural distance among Islamic countries is much greater than that between Islamic countries and non-Islamic countries is interesting. We also summarized some implications of the characteristics of the cultural values of Islamic countries. Multinational corporations must seriously consider adjusting their management practice approaches to align with Islamic culture to maximize performance.

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