A research based on the theory of Hofstede among Japanese and South Korean students

‘The scores of Hofstede: still a reasonable

characterization in 2006?’

A research based on the theory of Hofstede among

Japanese and South Korean students

Mariëtte van der Zande University of Groningen

‘The scores of Hofstede: still a reasonable

characterization in 2006?’

A research based on the theory of Hofstede among

Japanese and South Korean students

Faculty of Management and Organization University of Groningen

First Mentor RuG: Drs. C.P.A. Heijes Second Mentor RuG: Drs. O.C.J. Lappohn June 2007

M.S. van der Zande Student number: 1275062

‘Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at the best and often a disaster.’

Preface

Asian countries and their culture have always fascinated me. So when I got the opportunity in 2004 to go to Japan I was really excited. The most striking experience, after spending a month in the country of ‘The Rising Sun’, was the difference in culture. Staying at a host family gave me a good impression of how Japanese people live and which values they find important. A month was really too short so I wanted to go back to Japan as an exchange student. However, difficulties getting a scholarship for Japan made me decide to go to South Korea in the fall of 2006.

In the mean time the search for a subject of my thesis began. I decided to write my thesis about a topic concerning Japan and South Korea. I realized if you want to be successful in conducting business with Japan or South Korea you should really understand their culture. The link with the work of Hofstede was easily made. He is a paradigm in science and his work on national cultural differences has had a major influence on how people think nowadays about the culture in different countries. Even researchers outside the social science discipline use his dimensions of culture. There are some criticisms on his work, but according to Hofstede they are all refutable. Due to the limitations of this research it is not possible to test all criticism. Nevertheless, this research will test a small part of his research, and try to give a good impression of some aspects of the culture in Japan and South Korea.

Without the help of some people it would not have been possible to conduct this research. First of all, I really would like to thank all the Japanese and South Korean students who filled in my questionnaire. Secondly, many thanks to Ms. Haruna Hemmi, Mr. Masahiko Chiseki, Mr. Il Joon Chung, and Ms. Susan Schwarte for their help. And finally, I also would like to thank my mentors, Mr. Coen Heijes and Mr. Otto Lappohn, at the University of Groningen for their useful tips and feedback.

Hopefully you take pleasure in reading this thesis. Mariëtte van der Zande

Executive Summary

Since World War II the world has become more and more one market thanks to international cooperation and technology. Products, money, information, and people move quickly across national boarders. Nowadays almost every organization is conducting business internationally. National culture has influence on important macro- and micro-level phenomena, such as foreign market entry, global branding strategies, decision-making in foreign environments, market orientation, specific consumer behaviour across international markets, advertising appeals in various countries, and individuals’ country-of-origin perceptions. In order to satisfy the (often) complex and diverse needs of countries with different cultures, organizations have to understand the culture of customers and business partners.

Intercultural studies are becoming increasingly more important in the global business environment. The researchers Hall, Hofstede and Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner are responsible for the main theories in intercultural studies. The work of Hofstede, a Dutch organizational anthropologist, on national cultural differences has had a major influence on how people think nowadays about the culture in different countries. Hofstede analyzed a large data base of IBM employee value scores between 1967 and 1973 covering 50 countries. He developed a model that identifies five dimensions of culture: Power Distance (how does a society deal with levels of status or social power), Individualism (how is the relationship between the individual and the group), Masculinity (does the society make a division between social gender roles), Uncertainty Avoidance (how does the society adapt to changes and cope with uncertainty) and Long-Term Orientation (is the society oriented to the future or to the present and past). Hofstede also developed a method to measure national culture among those five dimensions. For each dimension scores can be computed. Hofstede has demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behaviour of organizations, and that they are very persistent across time. His work has been adopted in marketing, management, organizational development, accounting, business ethics, information decision science, and other business disciplines.

Although Hofstede’s research provides interesting insights for organizations, cultures do not stand still. Cultures evolve so what was a reasonable characterization in the late 1960s may not be necessarily true today. One of the critique points on the work of Hofstede is that the IBM data are old and therefore obsolete. If this critique is justified, it can have major implications for managers who rely on the Hofstede scores in their decision-making process. Because of the continued and widespread popularity of Hofstede’s work, it is interesting to examine the stability of the scores computed between 1967-1973, when applied to a new set of country samples.

In this research the scores measured on the cultural dimensions of Japan and South Korea are examined. Both countries have developed really fast the last thirty years. Conducting business in Japan and South Korea is a big challenge, because these cultures are totally different than other Western cultures. The first goal of this thesis is to find out whether the scores of Japan and South Korea on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006 differ from the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967-1973 and if they do, how these differences can be explained by means of developments in both countries. This research will not focus on Japanese and South Korean people in general but on Japanese and South Korean students. Students are young people and they tend to be more in key with changes than older people. It may sound like a cliché but students are also the businessmen of the future. There is also a

resemblance between the samples Hofstede used in his research and the samples used in this research. They are both internationally orientated. Hofstede used employees of IBM, an international organization. The Japanese and Korean students were studying Business Administration or Economics. It can be expected that this type of students is more international orientated than, for example, medicine students. Data have been collected from samples of the both populations. In Japan the sample consists of students from the Keio University in Tokyo and the Osaka University in Osaka. In South Korea the sample consists of students of the Ajou University in Suwon.

To find out how Japanese and South Korean students will score on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede a questionnaire have been used. The Japanese students have been approached by a questionnaire on a webpage, and the South Korean students by a self-administered questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire is the so-called Values Survey Module 1994 (VSM’94) questionnaire designed by Hofstede in 1994. This questionnaire allows scores to be computed on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede.

The second half of the questionnaire is called the MIMI questionnaire. According to Hofstede a common approach for master’s or doctoral students is to take an instrument developed in one country and to have it administered to respondents in one or more other countries. Unfortunately such instruments cover only issues considered relevant in the society in which they were developed, and they exclude questions unrecognized by the designer because they do not occur in his or her society. To avoid this problem the questions in the MIMI questionnaire are based on the key differences Hofstede gives in his books. The second goal of this thesis is to find out whether different questions will give the same results on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede as the VSM ’94 questionnaire.

The objective of this research is twofold:

‘The first objective is to find out whether the scores of the Japanese and South Korean students on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006 differ from the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967-1973 and if they do, how these differences can be explained by means of developments in both countries. The second part of the objective is to find out whether the MIMI questionnaire will give the same results on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede as the 2006 results of the VSM ’94 questionnaire.’

The central questions in this research are:

‘To what extent do the scores of the Japanese and South Korean students on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006 differ from the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967- 1973?

‘If the scores are different can these differences be explained by means of developments in both countries?’

‘To what extent do the results of the MIMI questionnaire support the 2006 scores of the Japanese and South Korean students on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede?’

In order to be able to find out if developments in Japan and South Korea can give an explanation for differences, a brief overview of the history of the both countries will be given. Political history, economic developments and social structure have been described since World War II. In both countries political developments have always played an important role in society. There has also been a very impressive economic growth, often referred as ‘the Japanese miracle’ and ‘the miracle on the Han’. Gender differences and religion have always influenced the lives of men and women in both countries.

The results of the VSM’94 questionnaire show that according to Japanese students Japan is a high masculine society with high uncertainty avoidance and strongly oriented to the future. The society is more individualistic than collectivistic and it does not accept a great power inequality. According to the South Korean students the South Korean society scores average on all dimensions. South Korea is a more feminine society, more oriented to the present and the past with average uncertainty avoidance. The society is neither individualistic nor collectivistic and it does not accept a great power inequality.

The results of this research show that the 2006 scores of Japanese students on the cultural dimensions differ significantly from the scores Hofstede measured between 1967-73 except on Long-term Orientation. The South Korean results show significant differences on the cultural dimensions except for Masculinity. These differences can be explained by means of developments in both countries. The results of the MIMI questionnaire turned out to be not reliable because the questions did not measure the dimensions they were suppose to measure. Therefore, it was not possible to give an answer on the third research question.

Hofstede (2002) claims that cultures are resilient. Obviously, there are changes, but in general these changes tend to be restricted to only one of the cultural dimensions. This research proves the opposite. In the case of Japan and South Korea four of the five scores differ significantly from the scores Hofstede measured between 1967-73. Developments in both societies give reasonable explanations for these shifts in scores.

Hofstede is among the pioneers of research in cross-cultural psychology and international management. Numerous researchers have used his typology and/or the country scores as ‘the way’ to describe national culture. While limited in the number of countries studied, this research represents a needed evaluation of the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967-73. Managers, who rely on the Hofstede scores in their decision-making process, can face problems, because these scores are not up-to-date. Other researches support the results of this research.

If an answer should be given to the title of this thesis it would be: ‘No, the scores of Hofstede measured between 1967-73 are not a reasonable characterization in 2006’. Another conclusion of this research is that it is very difficult to design a good questionnaire. Even if the questions are selected and phrased very carefully it can go wrong.

Table of contents

Introduction

Chapter 2 Research method 16

2.1 Introduction 16

2.2 Type of research 16

2.3 Problem definition 17

2.3.1 Objectives, research questions and conceptual model 17

2.3.2 Preconditions 18

2.3.2.1 Feasibility of the research 18

2.3.2.2 Requirements of the research 19

2.3.2.3 How to use and not to use the VSM ’94 questionnaire 20

2.4 Theoretical concepts 21

2.5 Data sources 21

2.6 Data collection method 22

2.6.1 Research population and actual sample 22

2.6.2 Type of data collection instruments 23

2.6.3 Method of approach of respondents 24

2.6.4 Type of question 24

2.6.5 Design of the questionnaire 25

2.7 Analysis & report 26

2.7.1 Analysis of the VSM ’94 questionnaire 26

2.7.1.1 Independent t-Test 27

2.7.2 Analysis of the MIMI questionnaire 27

2.7.2.1. Reliability of the measure instrument 27

2.7.2.2 Confidence interval 28

2.7.2.3 Independent-Samples t-Test 28

Chapter 3 Intercultural studies 29

3.1 Introduction 29

3.2 The meaning of culture 29

3.2.1 The definition of culture 29

3.2.2 The layers of culture 30

3.2.3 Organizational culture 31

3.3 Theory of Hall 33

3.3.1 Dimensions of culture 33

3.4 Theory of Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 34

3.4.1 Dimensions of culture 34

3.4.2 Criticism on Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner’s work 35

3.5 Theory of Hofstede 36

3.5.1 Dimensions of culture 37

3.5.2 Criticism on Hofstede’s work 38

3.5.2.1 Hofstede’s definition of culture 38

3.5.2.2 Hofstede’s model 39

3.6 Conclusion 40

Chapter 4 The history of Japan and South Korea 41

4.1 Introduction 41

4.2 History of Japan 41

4.2.1 Political history 42

4.2.2 The Japanese miracle 43

4.2.3 Social structure 47

4.3 History of South Korea 48

4.3.1 Political history 49

4.3.2 Miracle on the Han 51

4.3.3 Social structure 54

Chapter 5 Results of the questionnaire 57

5.1 Introduction 57

5.2 Brief overview cultural dimensions of Hofstede 57

5.3 The 2006 results of the VSM ‘94 questionnaire 57

5.3.1 The 2006 scores of Japan 57

5.3.2 The 2006 scores of South Korea 58

5.3.3 Results of the Independent t-Tests 59

5.3.4 Results comparable researches 60

5.4 Results of the MIMI questionnaire 61

5.4.1 Reliability of the measure instrument 61

Chapter 6 Conclusion and discussion 62

6.1 Introduction 62

6.2 The research objective and research questions 62

6.3 Conclusions 62

6.3.1 Japan 62

6.3.2 South Korea 64

6.3.3 The MIMI questionnaire 66

6.3.4 Overall conclusion 66

6.4 Limitations of the research 66

6.5 Possibilities of future research 67

Bibliography 69

Table of figures

Figure 1 Reading guide 15

Figure 2 Conceptual model 19

Figure 3 Relationship reliability and validity 20

Figure 4 Three levels of uniqueness in human mental programming 29

Figure 5 Onion-model of Hofstede 31

Table of tables

Table 1 Net household saving as a percentage of

disposable household income 44

Table 2 Annual export revenues South Korea 52

Table 3 Japanese scores of 2006 on the cultural

dimensions of Hofstede 58

Table 4 South Korean scores of 2006 on the cultural

dimensions of Hofstede 58

Table 5 The 1967-73 scores versus the 2006 scores 59

Table 6 Computed scores on Hofstede’s cultural

dimensions in 1967-73, 2003, and 2006 60

Table 7 Internal consistency of the MIMI questionnaire 61

Table 8 Demography and social indicators of 2006 102

Table of appendices

Appendix 1 Questionnaire Japan 73

Appendix 2 Questionnaire South Korea 81

Appendix 3 Code book questionnaire 93

Appendix 4 Formulas for index calculation VSM ’94 of Hofstede

and the confidence interval formula 99

Appendix 5 Hofstede versus Trompenaars 101

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Since World War II the world has become more and more integrated thanks to international trade, capital movements, movement of people and spread of knowledge and technology. This international movement is called ‘globalization’. (IMF, 2002) The term has come into usage since 1980 when technology advantages such as the Internet have made it easier to complete international transactions. Global markets have made it possible for organizations to manufacture products in many countries and sell to customers all over the world. Nowadays almost every organization is conducting business internationally. National culture has influence on important macro- and micro-level phenomena, such as foreign market entry, global branding strategies, decision-making in foreign environments, market orientation, specific consumer behaviour across international markets, advertising appeals in various countries, and individuals’ country-of-origin perceptions. (Bearden et al., 2006, p.195) In order to satisfy the (often) complex and diverse needs of countries with different cultures, organizations have to understand the culture of customers and business partners.

There are many examples of cultural differences in business. For example, Sephora, a luxurious brand in cosmetics, had to close all the shops in Japan. One of the reasons for this failure was the fact that the European management of Sephora had not recognized that Japanese women find skin care products more important than perfumes while in Europe it is the other way around. (Verluyten, 2002, p.175) Another example of cultural differences in doing business concerns the way of negotiating. In Western countries it is normal to work towards an agreement and ‘shake-hands’ when that agreement has been reached. It is a sign that the negotiations are finished. But in Middle Eastern countries shaking hands means that serious negotiations are just beginning. (Hofstede, 2003) These examples show why it is critical to understand other cultures.

Intercultural studies are becoming increasingly more important in the global business environment. Most research on national cultures has been limited so far to descriptions of individual or small samples of national cultures. (Oudenhoven, 2001, p.90) However, the work of Hofstede, a Dutch organizational anthropologist, on national cultural differences has had a major influence on how people think nowadays about the culture in different countries. He is among the pioneers of research in cross-cultural psychology and international management. (Javidan et al., 2006, p. 910) Hofstede analyzed a large data base of IBM employee value scores between 1967 and 1973 covering 50 countries. He developed a model that identifies five dimensions of culture: Power Distance (how does the society deal with levels of status or social power), Individualism (how is the relationship between the individual and the group), Masculinity (does the society make a division between social gender roles), Uncertainty Avoidance (how does the society adapt to changes and cope with uncertainty), and Long-Term Orientation (is the society oriented to the future or to the present and the past). Hofstede also developed a method to measure national culture among those five dimensions. For each dimension scores can be computed. (Hofstede, 1993, p.13) Hofstede has demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behaviour of organizations, and that they are very persistent across time. His work has been adopted in marketing, management, organizational development, accounting, business ethics, information decision science, and other business disciplines. (Sivakumar et al., 2001, p. 556)

Although Hofstede’s research provides interesting insights for organizations, cultures do not stand still. A good example is the collapsing of the Iron Curtain in 1989 in East Germany. The former communist state needed to change from a value system that emphasized Collectivism towards a more Individualism-orientated value system. (Hofstede, 2003) Cultures evolve so what was a reasonable characterization in the late 1960s may not be necessarily true today. One of the critique points on the work of Hofstede is that the IBM data are old and therefore obsolete. If this critique is justified, it can have major implications for managers who rely on the Hofstede scores in their decision-making process. Because of the continued and widespread popularity of Hofstede’s work, it is interesting to examine the stability of the scores computed between 1967-1973, when applied to a new set of country samples.

Japan and South Korea are countries which have developed really fast the last thirty years. These countries are both Asian tigers. Conducting business in Japan and South Korea is a big challenge, because these cultures are totally different than other Western cultures. It has been suggested, for example, that the Japanese market ‘is the most difficult market in the world in which to succeed’. (Synodinos, 2001, p.235) To be successful in these countries or to be able to communicate with Japanese or South Korean businessmen you have to understand the important aspects of their culture. The first goal of this thesis is to find out whether the scores of Japan and South Korea on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006 differ from the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967-1973 and if they do, how these differences can be explained by means of developments in both countries. This research will not focus on Japanese and South Korean people in general but on Japanese and South Korean students. Students are young people and they tend to be more in key with changes than older people. It may sound like a cliché but students are also the businessmen of the future. There is a resemblance between the samples Hofstede used in his research and the samples used in this research. They are both internationally orientated. Hofstede used employees of IBM, an international organization. The Japanese and Korean students were studying Business Administration or Economics. It can be expected that this type of students is more international orientated than, for example, medicine students.

But there is another, more personal reason why Japan and South Korea will be used for this research. In August of 2004 I have been a participant of the International Week (IW) of Japan in Tokyo. The IW of Japan had been organized for business students from all over the world. The aim of the IW was to let the foreign students see the different aspects of a student life in Japan. I had read in travel books that few countries make such conflicting claims on the imagination as Japan: ‘ancient temples next to futuristic buildings, geisha’s next to businessmen in suits, the Fuji mountain covered with mist and lightning-fast bullet trains’. Of course, you believe what is written in those books is true but from the moment I have got out of the airplane I saw it with my own eyes. In the fall of 2006 I was an exchange student at the Ajou University in Suwon, South Korea. Sandwiched between China and Japan, South Korea is a country with a unique and characteristic language, culture and food. South Korea is also a fast developing country, which exports container ships, cars, cameras and computers around the world. The relationship between North and South Korea is a complex but fascinating subject. (Zande, 2006, p.1) The Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 until 1945 has been a traumatic experience that has not been forgotten or forgiven. But nonetheless, the Koreans claim that their early dynasties had a major influence on Japanese culture, and that the Chinese civilization was filtered to Japan through Korea. But the Japanese see it differently, and the other way around.

To find out how Japanese and South Korean students will score on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede a questionnaire will be used. The first part of the questionnaire is the so-called Values Survey Module 1994 (VSM’94) questionnaire designed by Hofstede in 1994. This questionnaire allows scores to be computed on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede. The second half of the questionnaire is called the MIMI questionnaire. According to Hofstede (2005) a common approach for master’s or doctoral students is to take an instrument developed in one country and to have it administered to respondents in one or more other countries. Unfortunately such instruments cover only issues considered relevant in the society in which they were developed, and they exclude questions unrecognized by the designer because they do not occur in his or her society. To avoid this problem the questions in the MIMI questionnaire are based on the key differences Hofstede gives in his books. The second goal of this thesis is to find out whether different questions will give the same results on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede as the VSM ’94 questionnaire.

1.2 Reading guide

After introducing the research in this chapter, the research method will be described in chapter 2. In this chapter the main activities of the research process will be defined. Chapter 3 will give an overview of the main theories, which are useful to interpret cultural differences at a higher level than the behavioural one. In chapter 4 the history of Japan and South Korea will be described. The results of the questionnaire will be given in chapter 5. In the last chapter an answer to the research questions, further research possibilities, and the limitations of this research will be given. See Fig. 1 for the reading guide.

Fig. 1 Reading guide

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Research method Chapter 3: Intercultural studies Chapter 4:

History of Japan & South Korea

Chapter 5:

Results of the questionnaire

Chapter 6:

Chapter 2 Research method

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter the research method, as described by De Leeuw, will be used. In his book (De Leeuw, 1996) he describes the management of research and the different types of empirical research. To get useful results from a research it is necessary to have a good research plan. De Leeuw has developed a model that summarizes the main activities of a research process. The activities of his model are the problem definition, the theoretical concepts, the data sources, the data collection method and analysis & report.

In paragraph 2.2 the type of research will be described. The problem definition will be given in paragraph 2.3. Paragraph 2.4 will give a description of the theoretical concepts. The data sources and the data collection method will be discussed in paragraph 2.5 respectively 2.6. Finally, in paragraph 2.7 will be described how the collected data have been analyzed.

2.2 Type of research

According to De Leeuw (1996) empirical means the examination of an object in the ‘social reality’. The object of research can be an organization, a group of people or a group of organizations. There are different types of empirical research: descriptive, exploratory or explanatory. A descriptive research describes the ‘who, what, when, where and how’ of a situation, but not what caused it. This kind of research is used when the objective is to provide a description that is factual and accurate. An exploratory research is used when a subject or problem has not yet been defined and the primary goal of an explanatory research is to understand why a situation or problem occurs.

This research can be characterized as an empirical research. The objects of research in this thesis are Japanese and South Korean students. Hofstede identified five dimensions of culture and developed a method to measure a national culture among those five dimensions. To find out how students from these countries will score on the dimensions of Hofstede a questionnaire will be designed. The first part of the questionnaire is the so-called Values Survey Module 1994 (VSM’94) questionnaire of Hofstede. Intercultural research should only be done with intercultural designed instruments. That is, instruments for which the content was collected in a number of different countries. With this VSM ’94 questionnaire scores on the five cultural dimensions of Hofstede can be computed for both countries. This part of the research is descriptive because it describes how Japanese and South Korean students score on the dimensions of culture, and is also explanatory because the scores on the dimensions will be explained.

The scores of both countries will be compared with the scores measured by Hofstede in the period between 1967 and 1973 for Japan and South Korea. The differences in scores will be explained. The second half of the questionnaire consists of questions, which are based on the dimensions of Hofstede but designed by myself. This part of the questionnaire is called the MIMI questionnaire. These questions are designed to find out whether different questions will give the same results on the dimensions of Hofstede as the VSM ’94 questionnaire. This part of the research is also descriptive.

2.3 Problem definition

According to De Leeuw a problem definition has 3 components: - an objective;

- research questions, sub questions, conceptual model; - preconditions.

The objective of a research should give an answer to the following question: ‘What does the

researcher tries to achieve with the research?’ The research questions should result from the

objective and should give an answer to the question: ‘What does the researcher want to

know?’ Sub questions make it possible to give an answer to these research questions. An

assumed link between terms and research questions is graphically reflected in a conceptual model. A research must be delimited so it is necessary to think about preconditions.

2.3.1 Objectives, research questions and conceptual model The objective of this research is twofold:

‘The first objective is to find out whether the scores of the Japanese and South Korean students on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006 differ from the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967-1973 and if they do, how these differences can be explained by means of developments in both countries. The second part of the objective is to find out whether the MIMI questionnaire will give the same results on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede as the 2006 results of the VSM ’94 questionnaire.’

The reserach questions in this research are:

‘To what extent do the scores of the Japanese and South Korean students on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006 differ from the scores measured by Hofstede between 1967- 1973?

‘If the scores are different can these differences be explained by means of developments in both countries?’

‘To what extent do the results of the MIMI questionnaire support the 2006 scores of the Japanese and South Korean students on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede?’

The sub questions of this research are:

1) What is culture?

2) What are the major works in intercultural studies?

3) Why is the theory of Hofstede being used in this research?

4) What is the history of Japan and South Korea since World War II?

5) How do Japanese and South Korean students score on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in 2006?

6) What are the scores of Japan and South Korea on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede between 1967-1973?

7) To what extent do the scores on the VSM ’94 questionnaire differ between male and female Japanese and South Korean students?

8) What are the results of the Japanese and South Korean students on the MIMI questionnaire?

These sub questions will be answered in different chapters of this thesis. Chapter 3 provides the theoretical basis for the research and the first three sub questions will be answered in this chapter. Culture can be defined in many different ways. The definition of culture, the layers of culture, organizational culture and the relevancy of national culture for organizations will be described in paragraph 3.2. The major works in intercultural studies will be described in paragraph 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5. Hofstede is among the pioneers of research in cross-cultural psychology and international management. The number of disciplines, which use Hofstede’s dimensions of culture, is increasing outside of the social science discipline. (Baskerville, 2003, p.2) According to Sivakumar and Nakata (2001) Hofstede’s work have been adopted in marketing, management, organizational development, accounting, business ethics, information decision science, and other business disciplines. The tremendous influence of his work has also a downside. It has perhaps made it too easy for other researchers to use his culture dimensions and associated country scores in an uncritical manner. (Javidan et al., 2006, p.910) However, the number of researchers who have critique on the work of Hofstede is growing. The critique can be subdivided in two categories. First, there is critique on Hofstede’s used definition of culture. Second, there is critique on the methodology of his model. These critiques are discussed in sub paragraph 3.5.2.1 respectively 3.5.2.2.

In chapter 4 an answer to the fourth sub question will be given. The description of the history of Japan as well as the history of South Korea will start from World War II. Since this war both countries have undergone political, economic, and social changes. Paragraph 4.2 will give an introduction into the Japanese history. In the next paragraph the history of South Korean will be described.

In chapter 5 the results of the questionnaire will be presented and an answer to the last four sub questions will be given. First, in paragraph 5.2 a brief overview of the cultural dimensions will be given. The next paragraph will present the scores on the VSM ‘94 questionnaire and an explanation of these scores. In sub paragraph 5.3.3 the scores, which Hofstede measured between 1967-1973 for both countries, will be compared with the scores of the students in 2006. In paragraph 5.3 the results of the MIMI questionnaire will be described. Finally, in chapter 6 the research questions will be answered and the research will be discussed. The conceptualization of the research questions is shown in Fig.2.

2.3.2 Preconditions

In this sub paragraph the preconditions of this research will be discussed. First, in 2.2.3.1 the attention will be focused on the feasibility of the research. Second, a description of the requirements of this thesis will be given in 2.2.3.2. Finally, the way to use the VSM ’94 questionnaire will be described in 2.2.3.3.

2.3.2.1 Feasibility of the research

Before starting a research, it is very important to think about the feasibility. Baarda en De Goede (2001) discuss in their book the factors, which determine the feasibility of a research. These factors are time, access to the respondents, and costs. (Baarda & De Goede, 2001 p.43) The first two factors will be discussed below. The factor costs is not relevant for this research, because they hardly have been made. The amount of time to spend on this research is very limited. Initially, this research had to be finished in four months. But it turned out to be very difficult to gain access to Japanese and South Korean students in the Netherlands, so the data had to be collected from students in Japan and South Korea. As a result, the amount of time had to be extended. But in spite of this extension, only a small number of Japanese and South Korean students can be included in this research. The actual sample of students will be

discussed in §2.6.1. It was not easy to gain access to Japanese and South Korean students because there are not many students from Japan or South Korea studying in The Netherlands. Therefore, the data had to be collected from students in Japan and South Korea. The method of approach to the students will be given in paragraph 2.6.3.

Fig. 2 Conceptual model

2.3.2.2 Requirements of this research

There are three requirements for a research of high quality: verifiability, reliability and validity. (Baarda en De Goede, 2001) The first requirement of a research is the verifiability. This means that another researcher has to be able to repeat the research without problems. This requirement is also called the requirement of duplicability. In a research report an explanation of the research has to be given. The research method, the used theories, the results and an evaluation of the research need to be included in the research report. All these elements are presented in this thesis. The research method, the used theories, the results and the evaluation are described in respectively chapter 2, 3, 5 and 6. The VSM ’94 and the MIMI questionnaire for Japan and South Korea can be found in appendix 1 and 2. The research is verifiable because it can be duplicated.

The second requirement of a research is the reliability. In a reliable research the used research method and the results are independently of the moment on which the research has been conducted, of the researcher, and of the used measuring instrument. (Korzilius, 2000, p.22) This research among the Japanese and South Korean students is reliable because there is no reason to believe that if the same samples of students and the same cultural dimensions are used, the research will produce different results.

Theory of Hofstede VSM questionnaire Scores on cultural dimensions

1967-73 for Japan & South Korea Research question 1 Developments since 1973 in Japan & South Korea Research question 2 Theory of Hofstede Results on MIMI questionnaire Results on VSM ’94 questionnaire Research question 3 Differences in scores between 2006-1973 Scores on cultural dimensions ’06 for

Japan & South Korea

The last requirement of a research is the validity. It refers to getting results that accurately reflect the concept that is measured. The relationship between reliability and validity is shown in figure 3. This research is valid because the results reflect the concept ‘culture’ as defined by Hofstede. The results make it possible to give an answer to the research questions.

Fig. 3 Relationship reliability and validity (Trochim, William M., 2006)

2.3.2.3 How to use and not to use the VSM ’94 questionnaire

As mentioned before, the VSM ‘94 is a 20-item questionnaire developed for comparing culturally determined values of people from two or more countries. It allows scores to be computed on the five dimensions of national or regional culture, on the basis of four questions per dimension. Hofstede has developed a user-manual in which he points out that experience has shown that the answers to the twenty questions differ significantly between nationalities. It is not true that every respondent of one nationality gives one answer and everyone of another nationality gives another answer. But on the average, a sample of respondents of nationality A will always score higher, or always score lower, than a comparable sample of people of nationality B. In statistical terms, an analysis of variance shows a significant country effect.

The answers to the twenty questions will also be influenced by other characteristics of the respondents, such as gender, age, level of education, occupation, kind of work, and the year that the survey was held. Therefore, comparisons of countries should in as far as possible be based on samples of respondents who are matched on all criteria other than nationality. They should be matched on any criteria, other than nationality, which can be expected to affect the answers.

According to Hofstede (1994) when samples of respondents of the same nationality but from different groups were compared, these criteria were not found. Neither were they found when the answers of individual respondents were compared. The answers to most of the questions do vary somewhat from one group to another and sometimes from one individual to another, and the answers to all of the questions vary from one individual to another. However, the mean scores on the questions for different groups from the same nationality will not form the same five clusters. Neither will scores from individual respondents (instead of mean scores for groups of respondents of the same nationality) form the same clusters. If the questionnaire is used to compare responses from individuals, from respondents with different occupations, or from respondents belonging to any other category other than nations or regions, the

answers should be examined question by question and not combined into these five dimensions.

The aim of this research is to find out how Japanese and South Korean students score on the cultural dimensions designed by Hofstede, and to find out if these scores differ from the scores computed by Hofstede between 1967-1973. The Japanese and South Korean students are from the same age, they have the same level of education and the same major, both groups consists of fifty per cent men and women, and the research is held in the same year. They match on a couple of criteria except their nationality.

2.4 Theoretical concepts

The theories described in this research are from Hall, Hofstede and Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner. These researchers are responsible for the main theories in intercultural studies. (Dahl, 2004, p.1) The theories will be described in Chapter 3 but a short introduction will be given in this paragraph.

According to Edward T. Hall (1959, 1969) culture differs in the way of communicating information and in the attitude towards time. He identified two classic dimensions of culture. The first dimension was high-context versus low-context cultures and the second one was polychronic versus monochronic time orientation.

Geert Hofstede started in 1966 with the preparation of a large international survey among IBM-employees. More than 116000 employees from 50 different countries filled in the questionnaire. The results showed that the most important difference between the respondents was the culture. He developed five dimensions of culture: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism versus Collectivism and Masculinity versus Femininity. In his later work, Hofstede introduced a fifth dimension based on Confucian dynamism: Long-Term orientation versus Short-Term orientation. (Hofstede, 1991, p.13)

Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner started in 1997 with a research that focused on the cultural dimensions of business executives. More than 30000 participants completed their questionnaire. In their book called ‘Riding the waves of Culture: Understanding diversity in Global business’, they identified seven fundamental dimensions of culture: Universalism versus Particularism, Individualism versus Communitarianism, Neutral versus Emotional, Specific versus Diffuse, Achievement versus Ascription, Attitudes to time and Attitudes to the environment. (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997, p.8)

2.5 Data sources

De Leeuw (1996) has distinguished six different types of data sources. These data sources include documents, media, databanks, reality (the ‘field’), the imitated reality and the experience of the researchers. The data sources documents, media, databanks and reality will be used in this research to answer the research questions and sub questions. The data source documents consists of books, journals, reports and statements. The media can be used through consulting newspapers, the Internet, television and radio. And the reality can be examined by questionnaires and interviews.

First, the data sources documents and media will be used in this research to describe the main theories in intercultural communication and the history of Japan and South Korea. Books and journals will be revised in the libraries of the University of Groningen (RuG) and the University of Utrecht. The Internet is consulted and also newspapers give relevant

information about Japan and South Korea, which can be very useful. Second, databanks will be used to make a fact book about both countries. (See Appendix 6) Lastly, the reality will be examined with the help of a questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to find out how Japanese and South Korean students score on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede.

2.6 Data collection method

In this research, a questionnaire will be used to examine the reality. A questionnaire is an important instrument of research, a tool for data collection. There are different types of questionnaires: standardized interviews, mail questionnaires, self-administered questionnaires, and group-administered questionnaires. Some decisions have to be made before it is possible to make a start with the questionnaire. These decisions fall into four groups (Oppenheim, 1992, p.101):

- The main type of data collection instruments which are necessary; - The method of approach to respondents;

- The type of question to be used; - The design of the questionnaire.

Before discussing these four groups and decisions, the research population and the actual sample will be described.

2.6.1 Research population and actual sample

Researchers are very interested in finding results that apply to an entire population of people but in most cases they do not have access to every member of a population. Therefore, data are collected from a small sample and researchers use these data to conclude things about the population as a whole. The bigger the sample, the more likely it is to reflect the whole population. (Field, 2000, p.3) The countries Japan and South Korea are the research population in this research. The focus will not be on Japanese and South Korean people in general but on students. Students are young people and they tend to be more in key with changes than older people.

In this research there are two different populations, Japanese and South Korean students. It is not possible to collect data from all Japanese and South Korean students because of two reasons. First, both groups of students are too big. Second, it is not possible to go to Japan or to visit all universities in South Korea during the research period. It is necessary to collect data from two smaller samples.

The first sample consists of Japanese students from the Keio University and the Osaka University. The Keio University was founded in 1858. The founder of the university, Yukichi Fukuzawa, believed that Japan’s only choice for catching up with Western technology and social organization was to always strive for progress and enlightenment, and provide the academic and moral education needed to create a generation of wise and capable leaders. The Keio University has continued to provide intellectual leadership that addresses the issues facing Japanese society in its quest for development, transformation, and modernization. The Japanese Government founded the Osaka University in 1931 with strong support from local governments in the Osaka area. It was established with the aim of creating a centre of higher education inheriting the liberal and progressive academic tradition of the Osaka area that had been the centre of trade for Japan for many centuries. The second sample consists of South Korean students at the Ajou University founded in 1981. Ajou University wants to become the best university in Asia in the 21st century when Asia becomes the centre of the world. The collection of both samples has been at random.

There is a resemblance between the samples Hofstede used in his research and the samples used in this research. Hofstede used employees of IBM, an international organization. The Japanese and South Korean students, who filled in the questionnaire, were studying Business Administration or Economics. It can be expected that this type of students are more international orientated than, for example, medicine students.

According to Hofstede (1994) the minimum number of respondents per sample to be used is 20. Below that number, the influence of single individuals becomes too strong. The ideal number is 50. Even better it is to use more than one respondent sample per country, such as men and women. In this case the numbers 20 and 50 apply to each separate sample. The actual size of the Japanese sample used in this research is 50: 25 men and 25 women. The actual size of the South Korean sample is 100: 50 men and 50 women. The reason why the South Korean sample is higher than the Japanese sample is because it was easier to gain access to South Korean students than to Japanese students because I have been studying at the Ajou University in Suwon, South Korea. Both samples consist more than 20 respondents so the influence of single individuals can be neglected.

2.6.2 Type of data collection instruments

In the previous sub paragraph is explained that there are two samples, Japanese and South Korean students, from which data will be collected. The type of data collection instruments will differ between the two groups of students. The collection of data from the Japanese students has been difficult, because they live in Japan and it is not possible to go there during the period of the research. Therefore, to collect the data from the Japanese students a questionnaire on a web page has been used. Because of the distance and limited amount of time it is not possible to collect the Japanese students in a classroom. Nowadays, every student has access to the Internet so it is very easy for them to fill in the questionnaire.

A questionnaire on a web page has the same advantages and disadvantages as a mail questionnaire. According to Oppenheim (1996, p.102) the main advantages of this type of questionnaire are: low costs of data collection, low costs of processing, avoidance of interviewer bias, ability to reach respondents who live abroad. The disadvantages of a web page questionnaire are: generally low response rates, and consequent biases, unsuitability for respondents of poor literacy, no opportunity to correct misunderstandings or to probe, or to offer explanations or help, no control over the order in which questions are answered, no check on incomplete responses, incomplete questionnaires or the passing on of questionnaires to others, and no opportunity to collect ratings or assessments based on observation.

The collection of data from the South Korean students has been easier because I have been studying in South Korea for 6 months. For this group a self-administered questionnaire has been used, because it was possible to collect the students in a classroom. Someone in an official position, such as a teacher, usually presents this method of data collection to the respondents. It will ensure a high response rate, accurate sampling and a minimum of interviewer bias, while permitting interviewer assessments, providing necessary explanations and giving the benefit of a degree of personal contact. The greatest care is needed in briefing the person who will present the questionnaire so that he/she does not introduce fatal biases. (Oppenheim, 1996, p.103) The way both groups of students have been approached is described in the next sub paragraph.

2.6.3 Method of approach to respondents

It is important to approach the respondents on a right way. There are a couple of factors that increase response rates: advance warning, explanation of selection, confidentiality and reminders. (Korzilius, 2000, p.87)

The group of Japanese students will get an mail in advance. A contact-person sends this e-mail, so the selection of students will be at random. The contact person of the Keio University is Miss Haruna Hemmi, a student assistant, and the contact person of the Osaka University is Mr. Masahiko Chiseki, the coordinator of the Osaka University Office in Groningen. He has sent the e-mail to a professor of the Osaka University who will forward it to the students. The e-mail will inform the students about the research and invite them to participate. After a couple of weeks another e-mail will been send to the students. This e-mail will reveal the aim of the research again and will give the hyperlink to the web page where the students can fill in the questionnaire. On the web page has prominently been displayed that all data will be treated as confidential and that information about identifying the respondent will not be disclosed under any circumstances. If the response rates are very low reminders will be sent out after a couple of weeks.

Even after the reminders the response rate was very low so other steps had to be taken. The faculty of Arts of the RuG, the International Office of Management & Organization of the RuG, the Center for Japanese Studies in Groningen, the Nuffic (Netherlands organization for international cooperation in higher education), the Japanese Embassy in The Netherlands, the Dutch Embassy in Japan, and the Japanese-Netherlands society in Japan were asked if they had access to Japanese students. The first two could not give addresses because of privacy reasons but they promised to send them the e-mail. The other institutions did not have contact with Japanese students in The Netherlands. The response rate increased slowly after these steps.

The approach of the Korean students has been different than the approach of the Japanese students. The questionnaire has been translated into Korean, so it was easier for the students to understand the questions. Before the start of the class Professor Il Joon Chung of the Ajou University has been asked to introduce the questionnaire to the Korean students. The professor has been briefed before the class started. At the end of the class the questionnaires have been collected by myself. This has been done a couple of times until the number of 100 students has been reached.

2.6.4 Type of question

There are two types of questions: open and closed. With open questions the respondent has to formulate his or her own answer. A closed question gives the respondent a couple of alternatives from which he or she can choose. In his book ‘Questionnaire design, Interviewing and Attitude measurement’ Oppenheim (1996) compares the open question with the closed one. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of open questions are: freedom and spontaneity of the answers, opportunity to probe and usefulness for testing hypotheses about ideas or awareness. The disadvantages are: time-consuming, very costly, slow to process and demanding more effort from the respondents. The advantages of closed questions are: requires little time, low costs, easy to process, easy to make group comparisons and useful for testing specific hypotheses. The disadvantages are: it may irritate respondents, loss of spontaneous responses, bias in answer categories and sometimes too crude.

Hofstede has used closed questions in the VSM ’94 questionnaire. Therefore, closed questions are also the best option for the MIMI questionnaire. They are easy to process and they make group comparisons easy. In the MIMI questionnaire attitude statements have been used to learn how Japanese and South Korean students think about their culture. An attitude statement expresses a point of view, a belief, a preference, a judgment, an emotional feeling, a position

for or against something. It will be phrased in a way that the respondents can agree or

disagree with it. (Oppenheim, 1996, p.174) 2.6.5 Design of the questionnaire

A questionnaire must have a logical sequence. The clusters in the questionnaire will be designed according to the dimensions of culture developed by Hofstede. He has named five cultural dimensions: Power Distance, Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-term orientation versus Short-term orientation. The explanations of these dimensions and the choice for using this theory will be described in chapter 3.

The questionnaire consists of two different parts: the VSM ’94 questionnaire and the MIMI questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire is the Value Survey Module ’94. The questions are designed by Hofstede. The first four questions are items about the private life of the respondents, the next eight questions are items about the ideal job according to the respondents, and the last eight questions are statements. Hofstede designed four questions for each dimension. The 5 x 4 content questions were selected because, when matched samples from different countries are compared, the mean scores for the countries on the four questions belonging to the same dimension usually vary together (if one is high, the other is high, or low if it is a negatively formulated question; if one is low, the other is low).

In statistical terms, the country mean scores are strongly correlated. The mean scores for the countries on questions belonging to different dimensions usually do not vary together (are uncorrelated). Therefore, the 20 questions form 5 clusters of 4 questions each. The five clusters stand for the five dimensions of national culture identified by Hofstede.

The questions for the MIMI questionnaire are selected by myself based on the dimensions of Hofstede. According to Trompenaars et al. (1997) the way of questioning is very important. For example, “Strong individuals create effective groups” is not the same as “Effective groups create strong individuals”. With this in mind four questions have been designed for each dimension. Hofstede described in his book ‘Cultures and Organizations: software of the mind’ (1991) key differences between small and large power distance societies, collectivist and individualist societies, feminine and masculine societies, weak and strong uncertainty avoidance societies, and between short-term and long-term societies. For each type of society two questions have been designed by myself. The mean scores for Japan and South Korea on the four questions belonging to the same dimension should correlate. For example, if a student agrees with the two questions about a large power distance, the student should disagree with the two questions about a small power distance. To make sure that all questions measure the dimension they suppose to measure an item analyze will be done for each dimension. The way this has been done is explained in paragraph 2.7.

In both questionnaires the measuring of the statements has been done with the Likert scale. The Likert scale is a bipolar scaling method, measuring either positive or negative response to a statement and is very often used in questionnaires. This is also the reason why it will be used in this research. The following steps have to be taken when a five-point Likert scale is used:

- define what needs to be measured;

- create statements/questions about the topics;

- ask the respondents whether they strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree or strongly disagree with the statements;

- give each degree of agreement a numerical value from one to five;

- decide whether a high scale score means a favourable or an unfavourable attitude. The data collected are ordinal. They have a sequence so they can be ranked. But an ordinal scale tells nothing about the intervals between the points. The difference for example between agree and strongly agree is not the same as the difference between agree and neither agree or disagree. All questions are scored on five-point scales. Each question of the VSM ’94 questionnaire has the ranking 1-2-3-4-5. The distinction between a favourable or unfavourable score has been processed in the formulas (See Appendix 4). However, this is not the case with the questions of the MIMI questionnaire. The distinction has been made in the ranking of each degree of agreement by question. (See Appendix 3) For example, question number 24 and 25 represent a large power distance and question number 23 and 26 a small power distance. If a student agrees with the high power distance questions he or she should disagree with the small power distance questions. The ranking should be the other way around. High power distance questions have the ranking 5-4-3-2-1 and small power distance questions 1-2-3-4-5. Therefore, if a student agree with the high power distance questions and disagree with the small power distance questions he or she should score a high average on the dimension power distance.

2.7 Analysis & report

The way the collected data are analyzed and processed, will be discussed in this paragraph. First, the mean scores of the questions of the VSM ’94 questionnaire and the MIMI questionnaire will be measured. This will be done for the whole sample, for men, and for women. After this the approach will differ between both questionnaires. The results of the questionnaires will be given in chapter 5.

2.7.1 Analysis of the VSM ’94 questionnaire

Hofstede has developed formulas to calculate index scores on the five dimensions of culture. (See appendix 4) All questions of the VSM ’94 questionnaire are scored on five-points scales. Index scores are derived from the mean scores on the questions. These mean scores are filled in the formulas to calculate the index scores on the five cultural dimensions. The VSM ’94 questionnaire is an existing instrument, which already has been tested for its validity and reliability, so it is not necessary to test it again. If the index scores measured in 2006 will differ from the index scores measured between 1967-73 it is necessary to determine when a difference is significant. In his research, Hofstede did not make a distinction between male and female. But it is interesting to find out if there are any differences between the male and female students scores. Therefore, it is also necessary to determine if a difference is significant.

2.7.1.1 Independent t-Test

To make sure the differences are significant an Independent t-Test has to be done. This is a parametic statistical test, which can be used to examine if the (sample) mean of a normally distributed variable deviates from a certain value (Independent One-Sample t-Test), or if there is a difference between the means of two groups in the population (IndependenSamples t-Test). This test can be used when the samples from the populations are taken at random and if the population is normally distributed. (Kiewiet, 2001, p. 58) This research meets these requirements of the Independent t-Test. To determine if the difference between the Hofstede scores and the 2006 scores are significant the Independent One-Sample t-Test will be used. To determine if the differences between the male and female scores are significant the Independent-Samples t-Test will be used.

Several steps have to be taken before the test can be used. These steps are for both types of t-Tests the same. First, it is necessary to develop hypotheses (H0: no difference between the Hofstede scores and the 2006 scores/male and female scores and H1: difference between the Hofstede scores and the 2006 scores/male and female scores). Second, the alpha has to be chosen. In this case, the alpha of 0,05 will be used because in general in social and management science this one is used. Finally, determine when which hypothesis will be accepted (if Significance level>alpha: accept H0 and if Significance level<alpha: accept H1). The results of these tests will be described in sub paragraph 5.3.3.

2.7.2 Analysis of the MIMI questionnaire

A former student assistant at the department of Strategy & Business Research Methods of the faculty Management & Organization of the RuG, Susan Schwarte, gave valuable advise of how to analyze the data from the MIMI questionnaire. The important elements of the analysis of the MIMI questionnaire are the reliability of the measure instrument, the confidence interval, and the Independent-Samples t-Test. These elements will be described in the next sub paragraphs.

2.7.2.1 Reliability of the measure instrument

Internal consistency estimates reliability by grouping questions in a questionnaire that measure the same concept. As mentioned before, the five dimensions are measured by four questions. A common way for testing the internal consistency is by using Cronbach’s Alpha (α). The Cronbach’s Alpha indicates the extent to which a set of questions can be treated as measuring a single variable. A score is calculated from each question and the overall rating, called a scale is defined by the sum of these scores over all the questions. Then reliability is defined to be the square of the correlation between the measured scale and the underlying variable the scale was supposed to measure. The Cronbach’s α takes value between minus infinity and one. The closer it is to one, the higher the reliability. In general, a question should only be used if the α has a value of 0.70 or higher. Tests of intelligence or achievement tend to be more reliable than tests of attitudes or personality. (Santos, 1999) However, in this research all five dimensions must have a α of 0.70 or higher otherwise the results of the MIMI questionnaire are not valid and cannot be compared with the results of the VSM ’94 questionnaire of Hofstede.