Because of globalization and the change of society’s structure, some dimensions could be different than in the 70s. So the scores may be different today. One vast different point is business organizations today. The companies are more multinational as in the 70s, the interaction with different cultures became more important. Some organizations learned to copy some behaviour patterns of other cultures to develop their own organizational structure. So the analysis of masculinity and femininity decision making could be different in some countries today. When we analyze individualism versus collectivism the globalization over the years is a significant point. The huge campaigns of companies that are selling “lifestyle “change the way of thinking in some cultures. For example, independent and individualistic images of western people are positively present on the internet. These may motivate young Chinese to be more individualistic than collectivistic. They now prefer a freedom lifestyle and seek for self-achievement.
Since the internet is accessible everywhere and all contents are available online, such as movies, fashion, music, and commercials, it is the most distinct and easiest means of cultural exchange. This will change some scores.
When we think about role models by femininity versus masculinity in some cultures, this point could have changed too. The household structure in some cultures developed over the years, or it developed backwards. When we think about uncertainty avoidance, it is clear that many countries want to take more risk to show they are a part of the world, all related to globalization. Some countries want to take more risk to develop and get more in the focus of the western world. So many countries fight for recognition.
An interesting example would be the United Arab Emirates with its capital city Dubai. Within 30 or 40 years, Dubai developed into a world city. Most cities need 100 years or more to develop like that. Dubai is now a popular holiday spot for western culture. Dubai shows today how much business they can do and how much they can offer luxury. For a country where were a long time ago only desert, is that unbelievable. The United Arab Emirates shows that they can have a long-time orientation in business. They try to optimize this city for the future. The exciting thing is that Hofstede has by long-time orientation the score 0 for the United Arab Emirates, there is no score available. I think a country that developed in some parts so fast and did so much to get more attention in the western world cannot have a 0 by long-term orientation today. The Emirates were one of the poorest areas in the world until the 1960s, that is maybe the reason why the “old” Hofstede dimensions have no score there. Perhaps, the state wasn’t in enough demand to investigate.
Global Communications Research 