Hofstede’s ‘Software of the Mind’ Revisited and Tested: The Case of Cadbury Worldwide and Cadbury (Nigeria) Plc - A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Hofstede (1980, 2001) contributed in no small way to the impact of national culture on management practices as he demonstrated the importance of culture on relationships at work which could also be used to account for the productivity of workers in the workplaces. This cannot come at a better time than when it did, as globalisation, multinationalisation and internalisation are now the order of the day. The effect of this is more pronounced in the mobility of labour as people move from one geographical and cultural area to another in search of jobs and investments. These movements obviously imply 'moving' with their national cultures which Hofstede (1980, 2001) referred to as 'the software of the mind'. He (2001:1) went further to warn that this 'software of the mind' is difficult to 'unlearn'. This paper is a qualitative study based on exploratory semi-structured interviews conducted on100 participants to create a better understanding of their experiences in their organisations. The study concludes that the 'unlearning' processes are more difficult than the 'learning' processes which demonstrate that culture is enduring in line with the findings of Hofstede (1980, 2001).