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Note: cultural value dimension country means for Japan

  • 1.  Note: cultural value dimension country means for Japan

    Posted 10-19-2010 23:57

    Note: cultural value dimension country means for Japan

    I find a disturbing number of comments in articles in refereed academic journals stating, without qualification, comment, or investigation of relativity:
    1. Japan is a high Power Distance society.
    2. Japan is high Collectivism society.

    In the GLOBE project study the "as is" score for Power Distance for Japan is in the middle range of the B band, at 5.11, similar to Ireland and the UK (5.15), relatively low PD in the group of countries studied.

    In the GLOBE project study the "as is" score for In-group/Family Collectivism for Japan is in the low range of the B band, between Austria and western Germany, relatively low Collectivism in the group of countries studied.

    The country mean score for Hofstede's Individualism dimension for Japan is 46, a moderate score, in the top half of countries for which I have found data (moderately low Collectivism).

    Minkov reports an Exclusionism (Collectivism) country score of 233 for Japan, which is below the mean for the countries for which scores are reported, relatively low Colletivism.

    The country mean score for Hofstede's Power Distance for Japan is 54, moderately low for countries for which I have found data.

    In my university classes I warn my students of the fact that many journal articles misrepresent Japan's scores, but nonetheless I find them parroting the incorrect information in their term papers.

    It is incumbent upon authors, journal editors, and journal reviewers to exercise due diligence in their commentary on relative cultural dimension scores in general.



    Hope for the USA? "If something is unsustainable, it will stop."--Herb Stein, an economic adviser to Richard Nixon
    Romie F. Littrell, BA, MBA,PhD, FIAIR, An fánaí fiáin
    AUT Business School N.Z., romie.littrell@aut.ac.nz
    http://www.romielittrellpubs.homestead.com/
    Facilitator, Leadership & Management in Sub-Sahara Africa Conferences
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