Cultural dimensions of Colombia and The Netherlands

From the book Culture’s Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations by Prof. Geert Hofstede,  2nd Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, 2001.

Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. He analysed a large database of employee value scores collected within IBM between 1967 and 1973. The data covered more than 70 countries, from which Hofstede first used the 40 countries with the largest groups of respondents and afterwards extended the analysis to 50 countries and 3 regions. Subsequent studies validating the earlier results include such respondent groups as commercial airline pilots and students in 23 countries, civil service managers in 14 counties, ‘up-market’ consumers in 15 countries and ‘elites’ in 19 countries. (source: http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html)

Rotterdam Business School and Hogeschool Inholland

Students of the Rotterdam Business School/International Business and Management Studies, Zjir Karwan, Raman Singh and Arash Moulazoy started the research to cross-cultural communication based on the theories of Prof. Geert Hofstede. The students, together with research coordinator Marie-Thérèse Woltering, held interviews with groups of designers. These online interviews were recorded and analyzed in relation to the theory of Geert Hofstede.

Quote from Dutch designers:
‘Colombians get up early and work hard‘ (Masculinity vs Femininity dimension)

Based on the interviews of the Rotterdam Business School a student of Hogeschool Inholland, Anouk Brockhoff, did her graduate research with MTic-design. She included more theories, more interviews and analyses and wrote her thesis ‘Connecting Cultures’ about the intercultural communication between the Netherlands and Colombia.

Intercultural co-creation and innovation: project hypothesis

Mixing cultural practices will lead to design-driven innovation¹ when adequately utilizing the different cultural points of view from the sociocultural and technical context of people. The results (prototypes of products) of the design process will show whether this hypothesis is true.