Countries Characteristics: Hofstede’s Cultural Framework

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Cultural influence results in significant differences in various business operations. For this assignment, such countries as Saudi Arabia, China, and Poland were selected as these states represent different cultures and traditions in the business environment. The following table identifies and describes the characteristics of the chosen countries according to Hofstede’s cultural framework.

Characteristics	[Middle East] Saudi Arabia	[Asia] China	[Europe] Poland
Power Distance	This characteristic has a very high score in Saudi Arabia because people of this country tend to accept hierarchy in an organizational environment due to Islamic traditions. It means that everyone knows one’s place and responsibilities and do what they are told to do.	This characteristic has a high score in China because this society accepts inequalities between people. It is stated that the traditions of Chinese religions had a great impact on the development of strict hierarchy in the society, which is also group-oriented and holistic (Liu, Meng, & Fellows, 2015).	This characteristic is scored high in Poland, but it is lower than in two other countries because this is a Catholic country and it has less strict rules of hierarchy. It is noted that “Polish managers tend to avoid consultations with subordinates and employees are afraid to disagree with their superiors” (Liu et al., 2015, p. 567).
Uncertainty Avoidance	This characteristic has a high score in the country because people there tend to maintain certain codes of behavior due to their religious traditions. The performance of prayers five times a day influences their business culture and schedule. They usually avoid innovations in business.	China has a low score of this characteristic because people there are traditionally comfortable with the ambiguity due to their language rules and traditions that are difficult to understand to the representatives of Western civilization.	Poland has a very high score of uncertainty avoidance because the businesses there tend to accept only familiar risks due to certain cultural traditions and economic environment.
Individualism/Collectivism	The country has a low rate of individualism because of strict religious beliefs. For instance, in Islam, charity is obligatory, and usury is forbidden. The business is influenced by the religious traditions of collectivism as well.	China has a low rate of individualism, which might be even lower than in Saudi Arabia. The political traditions of this country cause strong orientation to collectivism and Chinese culture supports collective responsibility.	In Poland, an individualism rate is rather high or medium. It is caused by the traditions of western civilization. Still, Poland businesses need a hierarchy structure, which causes tension in organizational structures.
Masculinity/Femininity	Masculinity is medium in Saudi Arabia due to specific religious traditions, by which the church is inseparable from the state. Still, it is characterized as a strong masculine-oriented society with tough traditions in business, orientation to high performance, and competition.	China has a high rate of masculinity. This country is oriented to business success. People tend to sacrifice their leisure time and families to increase performance and reach the set business goals.	Poland has a medium rate of masculinity which is closer to high. The businesses are also oriented to high performance, although people tend to value their leisure time more than in China.
Long-term/Short-term Orientation	This country has a low score of this characteristic because of specific Islamic traditions. Businesses tend to maintain certain traditions that are often related to religious beliefs and low investment rates. It is stated that such “normative societies may exhibit fewer discrepancies between values and practices than pragmatic societies” (Saleem & Larimo, 2017, p. 252).	China shows a high score of this characteristic, it is a long-term oriented country. It is capable of adapting to new conditions easily and transform old traditions. Chinese businesses tend to make big investments to achieve quicker results.	Poland has a low score of this characteristic and is a short-term oriented country. Its businesses have more normative traditions due to cultural and religious beliefs. They respect traditions and do not make big investments.

According to the provided descriptions, it is possible to say that China is most unlike the United States. Although China and the United States have almost the same level of masculinity in business, Chinese traditions are different because this country is long-term oriented and utilizes big investments, strict hierarchy levels, and a collectivism approach. It easily adapts to the new reality of the business environment, and the level of uncertainty avoidance in China is lower than in the United States because of the specific cultural traditions. The power distance in China is significantly higher while the United States tends to use democracy approach and principles of equality for the employees. Nevertheless, some researchers state that countries with high power distance index make more successful structural decisions (Yayla-Küllü, Tansitpong, Gnanlet, McDermott, & Durgee, 2015).

Poland is most similar to the United States because the characteristics scores of this country are closer to the ones of the U.S. when compared to the other two countries. Although Poland utilizes a hierarchy approach, it is influenced by strong individualism, which makes it possible to say that this country might transform its approaches to management in the future. Long-term orientation and masculinity levels are almost the same in both countries. Still, Poland has a high uncertainty avoidance level while the United States has a medium rate of avoiding uncertain situations and might except risks in business due to a higher level of economic development. Still, it is a general opinion that Poland is closer to the business traditions of western civilization than two other countries.

The given paper dealt with Hofstede’s cultural framework. Three countries were picked for the description of the main characteristics. The comparison of the countries to the United States was made to detect the countries which are most and less similar to it by cultural traditions.

References

Liu, J., Meng, F., & Fellows, R. (2015). An exploratory study of understanding project risk management from the perspective of national culture. International Journal of Project Management, 33(3), 564-575.

Saleem, S., & Larimo, J. (2017). Hofstede cultural framework and advertising research: An assessment of the literature. Advances in Advertising Research, VII(1), 247-263.

Yayla-Küllü, H. M., Tansitpong, P., Gnanlet, A., McDermott, C. M., & Durgee, J. F. (2015). Employees’ national culture and service quality: An integrative review. Service Science, 7(1), 11-28.

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Countries Characteristics: Hofstede’s Cultural Framework

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