Final Blog Post

 When reflecting on the overall insights of where Ghana, The United States, and Japan fall on the various topics related to Hofstede’s research and analysis, I think that most of these results are somewhat true to the characteristics of the country but obviously with some inaccuracies. When we look at the metrics used to determine where the countries I have lived in fall on the country comparison tool they are vastly different. Before I delve into this topic I would like to point out that cultures are constantly shifting. If this survey were to be conducted again in Ghana the scores would be different whether higher or lower. I say this because within the past two years the advancement in Ghana’s modernization has also paved the way for there to be less of a power gap, especially in the cities, which is an ideal that has recently been adopted by many younger generations as the social perception of being modern is to adopt the ideas of the west. I will also like to note that even though there has been a decrease in the power distance, this idea only exists within the cities, in rural Ghana the traditional ideas of hierarchy are still prevalent as per my own experiences. When it comes to power distance, we can determine that when setting Ghana, the United States, and Japan together in this graph, Ghana has the highest acceptance of a hierarchy system in comparison to Japan’s 54 points and the United States' 40 points.  We can follow this observation by noting that both Japan and the United States have the ideal of there being a decreased distance when it comes to a hierarchy on the power distance scale. This means that although they still respect the boundaries between employee and employer, there is more of a common ground and understanding of the roles each party has. 



We can use both the Motivation towards Achievement and Success metric which is self explanatory and Individualism v Collectivism to determine how various countries view being successful. Japan scores highly on the motivation towards achievement success dimension with 95 points in comparison to the United States’ 62 and Ghana’s 40, on the other hand when it comes to the Individualist v Collectivist dimension Japan scores 62, the United States a 60, and Ghana a 9. Based on this information we can conclude that the Japanese and American societies are considered to be on the slightly higher side of being an individualistic society with most people making decisions for themselves and not paying much attention to what others in their circle would want them to do instead. This is the opposite for Ghana, which is considered a highly collectivist society, where it is the social norm to work not for just yourself, but also for your direct family. As true as it is, this is also one of the cultural norms that are changing in Ghana, just like how over the years it has changed in Japan from being collectivist with the son doing the same work as the father under the family business, and eventually leaning towards individualistic with the popular mindset being to focus on working for the family as a whole and more of for the individual. The United States on the other hand has been considered a highly individualistic society historically, but in recent years most people have started to focus on their families and forget the hustle culture. Through this we can conclude that “The cultural values of the U.S. and Japan associated with individualism - collectivism have become more similar” (Bergiel, 2012). I would say that the high score in the Motivation towards Achievement and Success metric contributes to the high score in individualism. Some Americans carry the mindset of working towards success and making their own decisions whether their family is a part of the journey or not, that I know is true. 


On the uncertainty avoidance scale, Japan scores a 92, having people who value planning everything in advance in the case of an emergency which can be attributed to the unpredictable nature of the environment. In the United States, most people like to go with the flow and in Ghana it depends on the community that you grew up in with some communities valuing traditional rules and some who do not care for the traditional rules. This also has ties with the Long-Term Orientation scale with Ghana scoring the lowest score at 1, Japan being immediately in the middle with 50, and the United States scoring the highest score at 100. When it comes to the communities that follow traditional law, they follow the laws just as strict as they follow the legal law, I come from such a community that focuses on the present instead of the future because although things must be planned for, said plans will be scrapped if they don’t achieve good results(one example we could use would be to get married and to have kids within 2 years of marriage or else everyone will look down on you), this isn’t the thinking of the whole of Ghana however. When it comes to the United States in comparison to Ghana, most decisions are made for quick results but on the other hand some decisions are made for use in the near future. Japan however scored the highest, and with that it means that although they do focus on the present, almost all decisions are made with the future in mind. 

The last of these metrics is Indulgence. Ghana scores 72, the United States scores 68, and Japan scores a 42. Most Ghanaians are very optimistic and focus on whatever will make themselves happy and follow their impulses which is the opposite of japanese society where it is more important to show restraint than to give into indulgences. The United States is also a very indulgent country with many people giving into their whims and what will make them both happy and the most money. 


In conclusion I would say that these metrics have been pretty accurate and even though the modern day versions of the stated countries are very descriptive of the values the countries hold, they will eventually change. I think it is a nice way to look at how different countries act as a society to understand the reasoning behind the way those who are from various countries act and make beneficial intercultural decisions.


Citations: 

Bergiel, E. B., Bergiel, B. J., & Upson, J. W. (2012). Revisiting hofstede's dimensions: Examining the cultural convergence of the united states and japan. American Journal of Management, 12(1), 69-79. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.stockton.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/revisiting-hofstedes-dimensions-examining/docview/1355442485/se-2 

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