Hofstede’s ‘Software of the Mind’ Revisited and Tested: The Case of Cadbury Worldwide and Cadbury (Nigeria) Plc - A Qualitative Study
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Date
2012
Authors
George, O
Owoyemi, O
Onakala, U
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Abstract
Hofstede (1980, 2001) contributed in no small way to the impact of national culture on management practices as
he demonstrated the importance of culture on relationships at work which could also be used to account for the
productivity of workers in the workplaces. This cannot come at a better time than when it did, as globalisation,
multinationalisation and internalisation are now the order of the day. The effect of this is more pronounced in the
mobility of labour as people move from one geographical and cultural area to another in search of jobs and
investments. These movements obviously imply ‘moving’ with their national cultures which Hofstede (1980,
2001:1) referred to as ‘the software of the mind’. He (2001:1) went further to warn that this ‘software of the
mind’ is difficult to ‘unlearn’. This paper is a qualitative study based on exploratory semi-structured interviews
conducted on100 participants to create a better understanding of their experiences in their organisations. The
study concludes that the ‘unlearning’ processes are more difficult than the ‘learning’ processes which
demonstrate that culture is enduring in line with the findings of Hofstede (1980, 2001).
Description
Staff publication
Keywords
Employees Relation Practices (ERP) , Learning , Culture , Cadbury (Nigeria) Plc
Citation
George, O, Owoyemi, O and Onakala, U (2012), Hofstede’s ‘Software of the Mind’ Revisited and Tested: The Case of Cadbury Worldwide and Cadbury (Nigeria) Plc - A Qualitative Study. International Business Research, vol.5 (9).