ly to possess a long-term time orientation; 4) Americans often fail to recognize that Saudis value courtesy rituals that Americans do not understand or employ.
Culture is defined herein as ôa shared set of meanings that are lived through the material and symbolic practices of everyday life" (Knox & Marston, 2001, p. G-2). A cultural system consists of a collection of interacting elements that taken together constitute a particular group's collective identity (Knox & Marston, 2001). While most individuals obtain from their surrounding and nurturing culture a broad as well as specific understanding of what is (and is not) valued in terms of individual behavior and attitudes, most cultures permit a significant amount of freedom in which individual personality is formed.
Geert Hofstede (1997) proposed a typology of culture in which five key dimensions are included. Such a typology, to be discussed below, permits a comparison of two different cultures with respect to an empirically validated set of measures. It is the purpose of this study to employ the Hofstede (1997) typology to the cases of Saudi Arabia and the United States, identifying the critical differences and similarities between the two countries. The goal of the project is to create an overview of the issue that can be useful to American and Saudi businessmen and professionals likely to be involved in interpersonal or professional relationships.
The study encompasses a review of relevant current literature that can be used to identify the critical differences between North American (i.e., U.S.) and Saudi Arabian culture. It is limited in terms of its relative brevity and the availability of previously published materials. No new data are generated or described in this report.
Hofstede (1997, 2000) has noted that one of the critical factors negatively impacting upon the ability of disparate peoples and the governmental or business institutions that represen...