Comparing National Cultures for Canada against Various Nations
This paper explores the degree to which various countries are similar or different compared to Canada. The issues highlighted include the nature of the society in terms of power distance between members of the society, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance index, and long term versus short term orientation and indulgence versus restraint. The paper describes how these values define the societies of Australia, Burkina Faso, Malaysia, Brazil and South Korea as posted by Hofstede (2010).
On the power distance, Australia compares fairly with Canada on most of the societal values described above. Both countries score low on the power distance between members of the society, with Australia at a score of 36 against Canada’s 39, representing the two as countries where the inequality between the powerful and the less powerful is not endorsed by both factions of the society (Greckhamer 2011). Brazil's scores stand at 69 against Canada’s 39 representing Brazil as a culture that accepts the inequality between members. Burkina Faso’s power distance score stands at 70 while that of South Korea stands at 60. Malaysia displays the greatest degree of inequality at a score of 100, all against Canada’s score of 39. On average, therefore, Canada stands out as a country where the policies and practices discourage power gaps between the haves and the have-nots while other countries highlighted present rampant power disparity between their members.
On individualism, Australia and Brazil come out as extremely individualistic societies relative to Canada. This implies a situation where members of the society and families are expected to take care of themselves with minimal reliance on the society for assistance. Similarly, according to Hofstede (2010), employees are expected to be self-reliant and show initiative in their jobs as opposed to collective performance in which the success is attributed to all who participated no matter their individual contribution.
On the other hand, Burkina Faso, Malaysia and South Korea display a more cohesive society relative to Canada. This translates to a situation where the members of a society are likely even to organize for a job for one of their members in their businesses not based on merit or what one can deliver, but just out of courteous consideration. The success of such societies is attributed to the group and not the particular role of individuals involved in the accomplishment.
On masculinity Burkina Faso, Malaysia and Brazil compare at nearly equal scores with Canada. More specifically, the scores stand midway which represents a balance between masculinity and femininity. The implication, according to De Mooij & Hofstede (2010), is that in these societies, there is a near sound balance between work and life activities. This further represents societies in which people are not just judged by their achievements and success, but also by their nature of life in terms of care for one another and the general consideration of welfare in the society.
On the other hand, Australia and South Korea score slightly higher than Canada on matters of masculinity which denotes these societies as those where there is fierce competition between members of the society. This is motivated by the nature of these societies to gauge people based on their achievements and success as opposed to the general wellbeing of the society. The results also indicate a situation where there is less care among members of the society as every member is obsessed with being better than others as opposed to improving the entire society that they live in.
On uncertainty avoidance, Malaysia, Burkina Faso and Australia emerge as societies that share their view in terms of the need to take on new risks as opposed to keeping the normal order of doing things. The trend, however, posts Malaysia as showing the greatest avoidance of risk followed by Burkina Faso and Australia respectively. These countries show a greater openness to ideas and new concepts of life. According to Hofstede (2011), their societies comprise of members who are not afraid to welcome competition and innovation both in business and in life practices. Their practices compare closely with that of Canada as is evidenced by their near similar score in this respect.
Malaysia and Brazil, on the other hand, show no interest in trying new things as can be demonstrated by their avoidance of new ideas in business and technology. Their practices consist of bureaucratic systems that demand strict adherence to promote a certain order of life. Where rules are not followed or are unpleasant, these societies devise new rules that are easy to follow.
On the issue of long term over short term orientation, Malaysia Burkina Faso, Australia and Brazil compare closely with Canada denoting their societies as those less likely to plan for the long term. All the four countries score below 50 on their desire to plan for the long term which denotes them as societies likely to prefer a normative culture where practices and values are maintained. This also implies that these countries engage in practices that deliver quick results, a reluctance to save for the future and a general habit to preserve traditions and their cultural practices.
South Korea, on the other hand, compares poorly with Canada, at a score of 100 against Canada's 36. The impression is that the country is more aware of uncertainties of the future and would thus engage in practices to save for future and re-invent traditions to conform to modernity.
On indulgence versus restraint, Malaysia, Brazil and Australia emerge as nations that engage in massive indulgence scoring 57, 59 and 71 respectively. This is compared to Canada's 68 which represents a near fair comparison in their rates of indulgence. The scores portray these nations as those likely to spend a better part of their time on leisure, and generally, place a higher premium on their free time. There is also a likely tendency on these nations to show optimism in their activities and show a positive attitude in their undertakings.
In contrast, Burkina Faso and South Korea score poorly in their rates of indulgence at 18 and 29 respectively against Canada’s score of 68. This represents the societies in these nations as generally dull and showing less optimism in their endeavours Hofstede (2010). These nations are also likely to prefer to save their money as opposed to spending it lavishly on fun and entertainment. Further, these societies have a negative attitude towards most of what they undertake and are unlikely to respond positively to their desires and impulses to have fun. A common characteristic of these societies is to control the degree to which kids are socialized which becomes inherent in them even as they grow to be adults.
References
De Mooij, M., & Hofstede, G. (2010). The Hofstede model: Applications to global branding and advertising strategy and research. International Journal of Advertising, 29(1), 85-110.
Greckhamer, T. (2011). Cross-cultural differences in compensation level and inequality across occupations: A set-theoretic analysis. Organization Studies, 32(1), 85-115.
Hofstede, G. (2010). Geert hofstede. National cultural dimensions.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online readings in psychology and culture, 2(1), 8.
