Adapting to a new culture takes time, it is not only learning to communicate in a foreign language but also feeling that we can adjust and fit in our new environment.
You might be thinking of applying for an international assignment or you are looking forward to move abroad to experience other cultures while you work or study…you might need to start job searching as your current work climate in your own country has made it pretty tough to survive…Whatever might be your reason to leave, be assured that you will find yourself out of your comfort zone, feeling as a stranger in an strange land. I could give you some good tips but to be honest the best thing to do is toinform yourself before you leave, not only securing a job or a course, and a place to stay but also preparing yourself for what is coming.
For all mentioned above I thought of sharing with you the 4 key points of Hofstede´s reasearch. There are other researchers like Trompenaar´s cultural dimensions but for some reason Hofstede sticks on my mind when I compare Spain and the UK, and also when I try to make my point on why Spaniards tend to be relaxed and attached to security and stability, it is in that moment when Hofstede´s research of 4 Key Cultural Country dimensions helps me. As I said to myself, now as I have chosen where to live I have also chosen the culture which I have to adapt….
Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede found there are 4 dimensions of culture that help to explain how and why people from various cultures behave as they do. His initial data was gathered from 2 questionnaire surveys with over 116,000 respondents from over 70 different countries around the world-making the largest organizationally based study ever conducted.
Power distance (PDI) : it is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally. Countries in which people blindly obeys the orders of their superiors have high power distance. In societies with high power distance, strict obedience is found even at the upper levels; examples include Mexico, South Korea and India.
Organizations in low-power-distance countries generally will be decentralized and have flatter organization structures. These organizations will have smaller proportion of supervisory personnel, and the lower strata of the workforce often will consist of highly qualified people. An example of this is the UK and Australia.
Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) : it is the extend to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations, and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these. Countries populated with people who do not like uncertainty tend to have a high need for security and a strong belief in expertsand their knowledge; examples include Germany, Japan and Spain. Cultures with low uncertainty avoidance have people who are more willing to accept that risks are associated with the unknown, that life must go on inspite of this. Examples here include Denmark and Great Britain.
Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV): Individualism is the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family only and collectivism is the tendency of people to belong to groups or collectives an to look after each other in exchange for loyalty. Hofstede found that wealthy countries have higher individualism scores and poorer countries higher collectivism scores. As high individualism we have United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Sweden, among others. Indonesia, Pakistan and a number of South American countries have low individualism.
Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS): Masculinity is defined by Hofstede as “ a situation in which the dominant values in society are success, money and things”. Contrary to some stereotypes, femininityis the term used by Hofstede to describe “ a situation in which the dominant values in society are caring for others and the quality of life”. Countries with high masculinity index, such as Germanic countries, place great importance on earnings, recognition, advancement and challenge. Individuals are encouraged to be independent decision makers, and achievement is defined in terms of recognition and wealth.
Countries with a low masculinity index, such as Norway, tend to place great importance on cooperation, a friendlyatmosphere, and employment security. Individuals are encouraged to be group decision makers, and achievement is defined in terms of layman contacts and the living environment
More dimensions have been added like Long term versus short term orientation (LTO) andIndulgence versus restraint (IVR) If you would like to read more please go to http://geert-hofstede.com. You can also click in national culture and then countries to see the values for the 4 dimensions of your chosen country and you can compare it with other countries.
Research by Geert and others has shown that national cultures differ in particular at the level of, usually unconscious, values held by a majority of the population. Values, in this case, are “broad preferences for one state of affairs over others”. This differs from the often used meaning “cherished moral convictions”, as in “company values”. The Hofstede dimensions of national cultures are rooted in our unconscious values. Because values are acquired in childhood, national cultures are remarkably stable over time; national values change is a matter of generations. http://www.geerthofstede.nl/
Leave A Comment