Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory research was to determine areas of commonality using (a) Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance); (b) regional/country profile data ; and (c) the corruption perception score in order to explore how productive diversity can emerge among the Arab Nations, Israel, and the US. This study involved a qualitative methodology, a document analysis, which is used “to evaluate historical or contemporary confidential or public records, reports, government documents, and opinions.” The document analysis includes the works of Geert Hofstede, the CIA World Factbook, and the 2007 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. This study is neither an economic nor a sociological analysis and offers no related interpretations in these disciplines. The researchers chose the CIA World Factbook because it contained data sources for 2006-2008 for all of the countries identified in Hofstede’s work on cultural profiles. However, it should be noted that procedures for computing many indices (poverty rate, unemployment rate, investment rate, etc.) differ contingent upon the country of origin as each country chooses its own methodology for the reporting of data. This study is not intended to provided comparative analyses of the data extracted from the CIA World Factbook or the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index; rather, it is exploratory in nature and is intended to serve as a platform for future refined, more detailed, research that may incorporate quantitative and mixed methodologies in the analysis of these and other cultures and regions/countries.