Culture Essay

International Journal of Cross Cultural
Management
http://ccm.sagepub.com/

A Critique of Hofstede's Fifth National Culture Dimension
Tony Fang
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 2003 3: 347
DOI: 10.1177/1470595803003003006
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Page 347

Commentaries and Critical Articles

CCM

International Journal of

2003 Vol 3(3): 347–368

Cross Cultural
Management

A Critique of Hofstede’s Fifth
National Culture Dimension
Tony Fang
Stockholm University School of Business, Sweden
 Using indigenous knowledge of Chinese culture and philosophy, this article
critiques Geert Hofstede’s fifth national culture dimension, i.e. ‘Confucian dynamism’, also
referred to as ‘long-term orientation’. The basic premise on which the dimension is founded
is scrutinized and the way in which this index has been constructed is assessed in detail. It is
argued that there is a philosophical flaw inherent in this ‘new’ dimension. Given this fatal
flaw and other methodological weaknesses, the usefulness of Hofstede’s fifth dimension is
doubted. The article concludes by calling for new visions and perspectives in our cross
cultural research.
  • Chinese values • Confucian dynamism • cross cultural • Hofstede’s fifth
dimension • long-term...