An Application of Hofstede's Values Survey Module with Aboriginal and Non- Aboriginal Governments in Canada

An Application of Hofstede's Values Survey Module with Aboriginal and Non- Aboriginal Governments in Canada by Ken D. Medd A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2010, Ken D. Medd Library and Archives Bibhotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patnmoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN 978-0-494-79624-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN 978-0-494-79624-5 NOTICE AVIS The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distnbuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats paper, electronic and/or any other formats The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these Ni thesis Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autonsation without the author's permission In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondares ont ete enleves de thesis cette these While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient mclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant of content from the thesis l+l Canada 11 Abstract: The Values Survey Module questionnaire was administered to the willing employees of 10 Aboriginal governments and four non-Aboriginal governments in Canada Each government is affiliated with one of the Algonquin, Athabascan or Anglo- Canadian ethno-hnguistic traditions Indices on five dimensions of culture were calculated for each participating government using the VSM formulas Owing to the small number of participating governments, an alternate method that is based on the VSM was also developed to explore the data The study hypothesized that differences would be found in the indices of governments that do not share the same ethno-hnguistic tradition Statistical tests were conducted to determine whether the VSM and the alternate method could identify differences in the indices of culturally different groups Tests were conducted typically between two groups, 1 e , Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal governments, and among three groups, I e , Algonquin, Athabascan and non-Aboriginal governments The tests confirmed that the VSM and the alternate method are able to identify differences among culturally different groups and showed that the alternate method is better able than the VSM to find differences among small numbers of groups The results support some of the predictions in the Canadian management literature about the relative positions of the VSM indices of Aboriginal and non-Abonginal groups The research shows that Aboriginal groups in Canada are culturally diverse and that comparisons that are made at the level of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups mask differences that become evident when analyses are conducted at the level of three or four groups Ill Acknowledgment: The advice, guidance and patience of Professor David Cray are acknowledged with appreciation and thanks IV An Application of Hofstede's Values Survey Module with Aboriginal and Non- Aboriginal Governments in Canada Table of Contents 1 Introduction and Purpose 1 2 Overview of Hofstede's Approach 11 2 1 Power Distance 11 2 2 Uncertainty Avoidance 14 2 3 Individualism-Collectivism 16 2 4 Masculinity-Femininity 23 2 5 Confucian Dynamism and Long Term Orientation 26 2 6 VSM Indices for Certain National Cultures 29 3 Alternative Values-Based Approaches and Theories 30 3 1 Rokeach 30 3 2 Trompenaars 32 3 3 Schwartz 33 4 Criticisms of Hofstede's Framework and Approach 36 4 1 Inadequate Theoretical Basis 36 4 2 Sample Size 37 4 3 Sample Design 37 4 4 The Concept of National Cultures 38 4 5 Reduction of Culture to a Small Set of Indicators 39 4 6 Cultural Evolution 39 4 7 Construction of Hofstede's Dimensions 40 4 8 Issues with Individual Dimensions 42 4 9 Levels of Culture and Interactions Among Levels 44 4 10 Linkage Between Indices and Behaviour 44 5 Reasons for Using Hofstede's Approach 46 6 Values Associated with Canadians and Canadian Culture 54 6 1 Rokeach 54 6 2 McCarrey et al 56 6 3 Hofstede 59 6 4 Ronen and Shenkar 60 6 5 Punnett and Withane 61 6 6 O'Grady and Lane 65 6 7 Summary 68 V 7 Values Associated with Aboriginal Cultures in Canada 71 7 1 Chapman et al 71 1 2 Redpath and Neilsen 72 7 3 Summary 78 8 Research Questions and Hypotheses 79 8 1 Research Question One 79 8 2 Research Question Two 79 8 2 1 Hypotheses for Research Question Two 80 8 3 Research Question Three 83 8 3 1 Hypotheses for Research Question Three 86 Method 88 91 Data Collection 88 92 Method for Research Question One 91 93 The VSM Method for Research Question Two 92 94 The VSM Method for Research Question Three 94 95 The Alternate Method for Research Questions Two and Three 95 96 Supplemental Analyses for Research Question Two 102 9 6 1 Data Set that Distinguishes Ojibway from Cree 102 9 6 2 Data Set that Substitutes Means for Missing Values 104 97 Other Features of the Method 104 10 Findings 109 101 Participation 109 10 2 General Findings 112 10 3 Findings Based on the Classical VSM Method 114 10 3 1 Findings for Research Question One 114 10 3 2 Findings for Research Question Two Based on the VSM 120 10 3 3 Results for Hypotheses HI and H2 Based on the VSM 122 10 3 4 Findings for Research Question Three Based on the VSM 124 10 3 5 Results for Hypotheses H3 Through H7 Based on the VSM 126 10 4 Findings for Research Question Two Based on the Alternate Method 128 10 4 1 Results for Hypotheses HI and H2 Based on the Alternate Method 132 10 5 Findings for Research Question Three Based on the Alternate Method 133 10 5 1 Results for Hypotheses H3 Through H7 Based on the Alternate Method 136 10 6 Findings from Supplemental Analyses of Research Question Two Based on the Alternate Method 139 10 6 1 Data Set that Distinguishes Ojibway from Cree 140 10 6 2 Data Set that Substitutes Means for Missing Values 147 10 7 Summary of Major Findings 153 VI 11 Interpretation and Significance of the Findings 158 111 Similarities and Differences Among Governments 159 1111 Power Distance 161 1112 Uncertainty Avoidance 163 1113 Individualism-Collectivism 167 11 1 4 Masculinity-Femininity 170 1115 Long Term Orientation 172 1116 Other Comments 175 112 The VSM and Alternate Methods 177 113 Comparisons with Other Studies that Measure Culture of Canadians 181 12 Contributions of the Research 186 13 Biases and Limitations of the Research 193 13 1 Data Limitations 193 13 2 Use of the Alternate Method 193 13 3 Possible Limitations of the Alternate Method 194 13 4 Level of Analysis 195 13 5 Use of English Surveys 197 13 6 Sources of Error 198 13 7 Other Frameworks 199 14 Future Research 200 15 References 207 16 Annexes 220 Vll List of Tables Table 1 Correlations Among Four Hofstede Dimensions and Four CVS Factors Across 20 Nations 27 Table 2 Rokeach's Terminal and Instrumental Values 31 Table 3 Trompenaars' Dimensions of Culture 33 Table 4 Schwartz's Values and Motivational Goals 34 Table 5 Partial Terminal Values Survey Results for Canadians 58 Table 6 VSM Indices for Canada Based on IBM Employees 59 Table 7 VSM Indices for Selected Groups 63 Table 8 Results for Canadians and Americans Using Hofstede's (1980) Dimensions of National Culture 67 Table 9 Features of Aboriginal Management and North American Management 73 Table 10 Outcomes from Government Participation Decisions 109 Table 11 Participating Governments Organized by Language Family 110 Table 12 Missing Responses by Government Group 113 Table 13 Missing Responses by Question 113 Table 14 VSM Indices for 13 Governments in Canada 115 Table 15 VSM Indices for Unidentified Australian Aboriginal Group 119 Table 16 MANOVA for Three Groups of Governments (VSM) 121 Table 17 Significant Differences Related to Power Distance for Three Groups of Governments (VSM) 122 Table 18 Significant Differences Related to Long Term Orientation for Three Groups of Governments (VSM) 122 Table 19 MANOVA for Two Groups of Governments (VSM) 124 Vlll Table 20 Significant Differences Related to Power Distance for Two Groups of Governments (VSM) 125 Table 21 Significant Differences Related to Long term Orientation for Two Groups of Governments (VSM) 126 Table 22 Summary of Significant Differences Arising From the VSM 127 Table 23 MANOVA for Three Groups of Government Employees (Alternate Method) 129 Table 24 Significant Differences Related to Power Distance for Three Groups of Government Employees (Alternate Method) 130 Table 25 Significant Differences

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