2025 Nora's Blog

Hofstede’s Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation In last week’s class, we learned about Hofstede’s Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation, which illustrates how culture perceives time, traditions, and future planning. Long-term oriented societies value perseverance, adaptability, and delayed gratification, while short-term oriented societies emphasize respect for tradition, quick results, and fulfilling social obligations. Although I think Hofstede’s research is outdated and may not be as relevant today. Japan is regarded as a culture that is long-term-oriented. This is reflected through their strong work ethic, long-term company loyalty, careful planning, and their focus on continuous improvement. An example of this is Kaizen, a core principle of the Toyota Production System. As explained by Toyota, “Ka’ means ‘change’ and ‘zen’ means ‘for the better’”(Toyota Blog, 2013). Comparing this to my own Arab culture, I see both differences and similarities. According to Hofstede, Arab culture t...

  Political Culture in Japan and the World Almond’s definition of political culture is “the particular pattern of orientations to political action” (as cited in Welch, 1993, p.2). My own views are shaped by living in very different places. I was born in Syria, lived in Jordan, then in Canada, and now in Japan. An example of political culture I want to discuss is how countries set different legal ages for ‘responsibilities.’ In Japan, individuals can start voting at age 18, but the legal drinking age is 20. Canada also has the voting age at 18, and the drinking age is 18; in some provinces, it’s 19. In my opinion, the drinking age and voting age shouldn’t be the same. A person doesn’t need a fully developed brain to make an informed political decision; many people can learn about government and global issues. However, alcohol can slow down brain development, which continues until the age of 25. Protecting youth health is very different from restricting their political voice. Althoug...

Hofstede's Uncertainty Avoidance     This week's lesson on Hofstede's Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) helped me reflect on cultural responses to ambiguity, especially when I compare Arab culture to Japanese culture. Hofstede defines UA as "the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations" (Hofstede, 2011). Both Arab and Japanese societies demonstrate relatively high levels of UA; however, they express this in different ways. In Arab culture, uncertainty avoidance often manifests in a respect for tradition and clear social roles. People strongly value family, religion, and customs, which offer stability when there is uncertainty. Although formal rules exist, personal relationships and adaptability can sometimes matter more than following rigid protocols, providing a unique balance between structure and flexibility. Japan also scores high on UA, tends to stick closely to rules and likes things to be predictable. People deeply va...