Thursday 25 September 2008

Hofstede Conference

Since I've started studying a bit of management and the business world, since I was in France, and while I was in Finland, and even now in the classes in the Netherlands, there has been mention of the Five cultural dimensions of Hofstede. Geert Hofstede's study demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behaviour of societies and organizations, and that are very persistent across time. These groupings include: Small vs. Large Power Distance, Individualism vs. collectivism, Masculinity vs. femininity, Uncertainty avoidance, Long vs. short term orientation.

I am not exaggerating, this guys is famous in business and Information Technology, and he has come up several times in discussions; for example the designer of any website needs to consider these factors if it is to be successful on a global scale. In any case, the guy is famous, quoted in several articles, books, and classes, and what's great is that he is a member of the faculty of the university that I attend [Tilburg University]; what's even greater is that I saw his lecture and I actually met him! I have the picture to prove it!

Anwyay, this was an exciting day for us, we had lunch with ING Bank, and several lectures on Trust. It was a seminar organised by ASSET student organisation and included Mr. Geert Hofstede as a closing presenter. It really is amazing to see in real life the person who's work you studied for the past year or so.

For more pictures see:

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