Crossvergence: Questioning the Hofstede paradigm

One of the most well-known and popular methods of analyzing differences between cultures is that of Geert Hofstede’s framework, which conceptualizes different cultures as having fundamental, core values regarding power distance, masculine and feminine norms, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and future orientation. However, Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley (2006) in their article “Crossvergence and cultural tendencies: A longitudinal test of the Hong Kong, Taiwan and United States banking sectors” criticize the Hofstede framework as overly rigid and static. Cultures are not enclosed entities, but rather are permeable structures. The authors apply the concept of crossvergence to the Hong Kong and Chinese banking sectors, comparing the cultural differences between Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States — the latter “an often assumed, dissimilar region” from these Asian nations — during the years 1985-2000 (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 68).

One of the problems with using Hofstede’s framework when analyzing Asia is that there has long been a tendency of Westerners to see Asia as a whole merely as more collectivist than itself, without sufficiently appreciating the nuances between different local environments. This is also addressed in a comparison of Hong Kong and China. “Asians are sometimes culturally, and arguably carelessly, lumped together in the treatment of management issues on the basis that they have a common value system (Fukuda and Wheeler, 1988). This similarity assumption is dangerous for researchers and practitioners alike, as several studies have demonstrated tendencies for cultural differences among various Asian groups and within Greater China” (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 69).

It should be noted that Hofstede does acknowledge that cultures can change. However, Hofstede believes that cultures tend to remain static when compared with one another — in other words, even if Japan may grow more individualistic given the shifts and changes in modern global society, it is still more collectivist than the United States. According to Hofstede: “countries could all have moved [to different levels on cultural dimensions] without changes in their mutual ranking” (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 70). However, the concept of the convergence — divergence — crossvergence (CDC) phenomena suggests a more dynamic synergy and greater pliability of cultural ideals. Cultures may converge (blend) or diverge), but they may also engage in crossvergence, changing due to different economic circumstances and cultural exposures to other nations and ideals. This can results in a fundamental shift in cultural orientation away from its original status on Hofstede’s measures. “The concept of crossvergence is vital to our position as it addresses the idea that as economies develop, interact and evolve, there will be an impact on culture, creating a unique type of identity. Altered blends of past standard cultural identity may evolve in order to meet new challenges and to respond more effectively to external pressures like global competition. For example, it may become less accurate to generally refer to Asians as highly collectivistic without clearly identifying the specific context or region” (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 71).

The author’s hypothesis was relatively simple: from 1985-2000 the cultural dimensions between the U.S., Hong Kong, and Taiwan would fundamentally change within the framework of indigenous banks in all three countries, thanks to the phenomenon of crossvergence. The degree of Hofstede’s indicators would not change consistently, reflecting internal dynamism that was not universally present in the global context. The specific subjects under scrutiny were middle managers at indigenous banks, to focus upon specific cultural differences of the Hofstede index with minimal impact of other variables. Nine Likert scale items were used, with particular focus on the constructs of collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 74). Despite the fact that there have been some changes to the Hofstede components since the 1980s when the study was first introduced, the original index of variables was not altered to ensure consistency over the longitudinal framework of the study (Hofstede 2011:15-16).

A comparison of the different attitudes put under scrutiny, according to the researchers, revealed significant crossvergence or deviation from the nation’s original starting-places. For example, “the largest shift in our longitudinal sample for the U.S. was in relation to a significant increase in power distance,” perhaps due to greater power stratification within the banking industry or the downsizing of the industry after a series of financial crises, leading to fewer intermediaries (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 78). This was matched in Hong Kong but not in Taiwan, indicating not a worldwide shift, but a specific change in culture not predicted by the Hofstede conception of stasis. There was also increased in uncertainty avoidance in Hong Kong (while Taiwan decreased in this measure), perhaps due to anxieties resulting from the 1997 transfer of power from the UK to China. Taiwan, in contrast, had not experienced such a wrenching change in its immediate political situation.

Even on measures of collectivism, supposedly the most significant difference between the U.S. And Asian nations as a whole, “the Taiwanese measure on collectivism decreased, conforming much closer to U.S. And Hong Kong measurements,” while the relative positions of U.S. And Taiwanese measures on this value scale remained unchanged (Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley 2006: 79). All of these findings indicated that positioning of nations in terms of cultural worldviews is extremely variable, and researchers must continually reevaluate the paradigms to which they apply to different nations, particularly Asian nations which have been often unfairly painted with a very broad theoretical brush.

Bibliography

Hofstede, G. 2011. Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede Model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and culture, 2 (1): 1-26. Available:

http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=orpc [15 Jun 2013]

Kelley, L., MacNab, B. & Worthley, R. 2006. “Crossvergence and cultural tendencies: a longitudinal test of the Hong Kong, Taiwan and United States banking sectors.” Journal

of International Management, 12 (1): 67 — 84.

Mead, R and Andrews, T.M. 2009. International management: Culture and beyond (4th

(Ed.). Chichester, West Sussex, England: John Wiley and Sons Limited.

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

Plagiarism free papers
Timely delivery
Any deadline
Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
Subject-relevant academic writer
Adherence to paper instructions
Ability to tackle bulk assignments
Reasonable prices
24/7 Customer Support
Get superb grades consistently

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment Help Service Works

1. Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2. Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3. Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4. Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!