Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

Manifestations of culture
Hofstede selects symbols, heroes, rituals and values as four key manifesta-
tions of culture. He likens these to the skins of an onion, with symbols 
representing the most superficial outer layer, values the innermost layer, and 
heroes and rituals in the middle. These are summarized below.
Symbols
These are specific to a particular culture and are important only to those who 
are part of that culture. They are often transitory (for example, national flags 
which may change, styles of dress and jargon in popular speech), although 
some are more permanent (for example, national anthems, memorials).

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42 Cross-Cultural Communication
Heroes
These can be from the past or from more recent times and can include war 
heroes, nation builders and folk heroes who can be seen as role models for 
a particular culture. Examples include Churchill, Napoleon, William Tell, 
Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
Rituals
These are mainly religious or social (for example, church services, funerals, 
weddings, styles of greeting, and Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations) 
and are generally collectivist in practice.
Values
These comprise the fundamental mores of a culture. They are acquired at an 
early age and are passed down from generation to generation. They become 
instinctive and are seldom questioned. Examples include what is accepted 
as beautiful or ugly, evil or good, normal or abnormal behaviour and polite 
or impolite. Change in values in any society or culture happen only very 
slowly and with difficulty.
How is Hofstede’s research viewed today?
Over 40 years after his original research was conducted, Hofstede’s four 
dimensions remain the basic tool used in assessing national cultures and 
management styles. The main reason for this is that his initial research 
constitutes the most comprehensive analysis of cultural differences between 
nationalities conducted in the field using standardized questionnaires and, 
in addition, that it is validated according to scientific, psychological and 
statistical principles. He is seen as the pioneer in the field and has been a 
huge influence on management theorists and other researchers in the cross-
cultural field. Hofstede himself recognizes that some cultural relativism is 
necessary, as it is difficult to establish specific criteria and there is no escap-
ing some bias. He has over time used several versions of his questionnaire 
in analysing the IBM data.
However, inevitably there have been criticisms of his work. These can be 
divided into six areas.