Prof. Dr. Geert Hofstede. Meet the “Master” of Culture

Cited more often in the Social Sciences Citation Index than Sigmund Freud, Geert Hofstede did his groundbreaking research in the 1960s when working with IBM.

Statistical details can be found in the many books he wrote since then.

The work of Geert Hofstede has been reproduced and challenged as is common in academia. But so far the results of this have either produced a derivative model from his original work (e.g. Trompenaars) or have only confirmed his findings.

Personally, I find the Hofstede model the most practical and simple model out there to explain a large number of cultural phenomena.

To get a quick overview of the first four primary dimensions of culture, click here.

The Geert Hofstede Interview

In this informal interview, Geert Hofstede explains, in his own words, what kind of “bird” he is. He talks about the definition of culture (the collective programming of the human mind). How cultures compare to organizations. How culture is the unwritten rule of the social game in society.

Should you have any comments on the video, or on the work of Prof. Geert Hofstede, please leave them below in the comments section.