Summer Day Camps thrive by maintaining efficiency in the midst of diversity. Every year, different sets of campers participate in its programs. Although there are regular staff, the majority of the counselors are temporary. This was the setting of the organization which this writer worked for in the past. This summer day camp, thus becomes the focus of the paper. In the succeeding sections, this writer shall assess the summer day camp’s from the perspective of Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions, particularly power distance, individualism, masculinity-femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. Specific examples shall be provided to elaborate the discussion of each cultural dimension.
Power distance
“If anything like this happens again, you’ll be out of here!” Counselors, especially the new ones, are too familiar with this statement. Whenever a counselor makes a mistake, the senior staff does not hesitate to immediately issue this threat before any attempt, if any, was made to discuss the issue and get the side of the counselor. There is a very clear distinction between the roles and status of senior staff and counselors. This writer was hired as a counselor and the distance between these two sets of personnel were almost tangible. Counselors most often felt that they were watched all the time by the senior staff who acts as their supervisors. Despite being provided training and several sets of manuals, this former counselor felt senior staff had very little trust on the capacity of the counselors to decide and facilitate the programs.
This feeling of dissonance between the two types of employees of the Summer Day Camp is an attribute of the cultural dimension referred to by Hofstede as power distance. Here, the linear hierarchy is very evident. Rules are issued by the top management and the subordinates are expected to follow this to the letter. The presence of the senior officers are regarded by the subordinates as “watching for errors” rather than guidance and direction. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie between new/temporary counselors and the senior staff, there is an emotional distance between them.
This perception was evident in another example, one that occurred in the cafeteria. The new counselors were having an animated discussion about a new program when the senior staff walked in. Immediately, there was a sudden shift in the mood and the lively discussion shifted to a less energetic conversation. The counselors’ actions showed that they have accepted they were supposed to act in a certain way when the senior members of the organization. They do not challenge such set-up as they believed that this was the culture of the organization.
Individualism – Collectivism
Counselors facilitate the activities in the camp. This writer was assigned to take charge of several sports activities. It was enjoyable to engage in these sports as this former counselor was quite competitive in sports. However, since the campers were much younger, the counselor had to adjust the level of performance to accommodate the capacity of the campers. The counselor had to always remember that the objective of the games in the camp were to enhance the abilities of the campers, especially the younger ones. They had to be provided with opportunities to develop their skills but at the same time to become more confident as well. All counselors were given trainings on facilitation. The goals and objectives of the programs of the camp were discussed extensively. When the counselor complains that “I had to play at their skill level and not my skill level it was not enjoyable anymore” and yet continues to give what is required, this is evident of the organization being collectivist organization. The individualistic attitude has to be overcome with the collectivist view.
In this type of organization, the Day Camp, it is very important that all personnel maintain the culture of collectivism in implementing their programs. The collectivism atmosphere manifests in the relationship between counselors and campers. This is important because the day campers are mostly young children and they need to feel that all their needs are being addressed. The counselor acts as the father figure or mother figure during the day, when they are in the camp. The counselor therefore, in doing his/her job, has to put the welfare of the group above his own satisfaction. Thus, in the example, the counselor is doing his/her job when he/she plays less skillfully. This is done to satisfy the collective good. The campers would feel that their needs are addressed (being able to play well) and at the same time the entire set of programs of the Summer Day Camp is not compromised.
The success of the Day Camps is very much dependent on the counselors (as facilitators) working as a group. When there is one or two who would put their interests or needs above the campers or the other counselors, then there would be repercussions to the organization. Every counselor has to refrain from getting into the trap of proving his/her skills in a sports event by performing at his very best level. As part of the pool of counselors, this writer felt that it was necessary to adjust the skill level for the welfare of the group. When viewed in the aspect of counselor-camper relationship, the Summer Day Camp is high on collectivism dimension.
Masculinity –Femininity
The Summer Day Camp is neither overly feminine nor masculine. Its femininity dimension is manifested in the organization’s concern for the safety of the campers. Parents naturally are concerned about both the safety and enjoyment of their children. Management provides this by training counselors to be both efficient and people-friendly. The Day Camp has feminine attributes because the emotional gender roles of men and women overlap. In order for the campers to have the best time in the camp, all counselors both male and female, are trained to show genuine concern and be sensitive to the needs and emotions of the campers. Both male and female counselors are also expected to motivate the participants to be competitive in the sports activities.
The masculinity dimension is reflected in the organization’s emphasis on success of the activities. The counselors are expected to perform their job well because failure to do so would have a very big impact on the organization. The organization provides services to each individual camper, thus failure to provide the promised service to even a few campers would mean the Day Camp is not very successful. This is the reason why senior staff are very strict with counselors. Since both attributes of feminine and masculine cultures are present in the Summer Day Camp, then it would score in the middle range in terms of masculinity and femininity.
Uncertainty Avoidance
The Summer Day Camp has a high uncertainty avoidance. This is necessary because it constantly have to deal with a diverse group of individuals. The campers are of varying ages, the counselors are many and come from different backgrounds, and the parents/guardians are very particular of the safety and enjoyment of their kids. To address their health and safety concerns, the camp has registered nurses available at all times in the camp grounds to take care of participants who may not feel well. The programs in the Day Camp involve sports activities such as kickball, European handball, waffle ball, newcomb, tennis, and soccer. This means campers are exposed to the possibilities of getting scratches, bumps, and even serious accidents. Since this is the situation in the day camps, the management anticipates the many things that can go wrong. Thus, there are sets of procedures and manual of operations that will address various situations. In this aspect, the organization has a very high score in uncertainty avoidance.
An example of this is when a parent registers his/her child to the camp. The first thing that he/she would want to know is how safe the camp is. When my child goes swimming, is the counselor capable of giving CPR? How near is the camp to the hospitals? How long have you been doing this? Are your people qualified? To assure the parent, the staff then presents the set of procedures they have prepared to address accidents and other unforeseen circumstances. It is important that all potential risks are avoided and this can be done when the organization has assessed each activity and anticipated the things that can go wrong, from a kid hurting himself to another kid being hurt by someone else.
The Day Camp also prides itself for having a fully-equipped staff. Thus, all counselors have to go through training before they start working. The counselors also have to present evidence of their capacities to perform their responsibilities. All counselors have to pass a first aid training to be able to work in the camp. All these measures show that the camp is very particular in making sure that uncertain situations are being avoided at all cost.
Comparison with Brazil
The Summer Day Camp when compared with the country Brazil is similar in the Collectivism dimension. Brazil has a low score of 38 in the Individualism dimension. The people of Brazil put a higher value of the group over the individual. This is evident in the culture of the families wherein different generations reside in a common abode. The decision to get married or where to work is also largely influenced by the members of the group especially the elders. The young adults can readily make a sacrifice like delaying marriage or taking a less-paying job to be near the family, for the sake of the family. Similar to the example of the counselor playing less skillfully for the welfare of the campers, it is the culture in Brazil that the members of the family, clan, or community prioritize the welfare of the group over their individual interests.
As regards power distance, Brazil has a very high score of 69 in Hofstede’s model. The inequalities in this country are already accepted by the members in society. Brazil’s favelas (slums) are known worldwide and these are in stark contrast to the expensive shops in Rio de Janiero. In Brazil, power status is very important and those in power and resources command respect. The elders also are regarded as powerful. In any ordinary household the parents and grandparents’ decisions and wishes are adhered to by the younger generations. This is similar to what is taking place in the Summer Day Camp where the senior staffs are regarded by the new counselors as holding all the power. As temporary employees, receiving much lower salaries, the counselors have accepted the notion that they have to follow the instructions of the senior staff to the letter or else they would face sanctions.
In terms of masculinity and femininity, Brazil’s score is in the middle (49). This means that their motivation to succeed is a combination of wanting to be the best, and enjoying such job as well. The competitiveness is the masculine aspect while the emotional aspect of liking your activities is the feminine aspect. Thus, in this particular dimension Brazilians are neither overly masculine nor feminine. The situation is the same with the Summer Day Camp where the masculinity and femininity aspects are somewhat balanced.
Brazil is a country with a very high score of 76 in uncertainty avoidance. In their culture, Brazilians feel the need to avoid an uncertain future thus it is important to have plenty of laws and good relationships. The Brazilians are known for their very expressive and demonstrative nature and this is because people relation is very important to them. In Brazil, it is a common practice to have lots of occasions to interact with each other, chat and mingle with family and friends in fiestas and festivals. The annual Mardi Gras (carnival) in Brazil is a perfect example of this country’s expression of their passion and need to maintain good relations among themselves and even with their visitors from all over the world. In comparison, the Summer Day camp also makes sure that it is very much prepared for untoward incidents in the future, thus it has established rules and maintains good relationships with its clients.
Conclusions
The preceding sections have discussed the cultural dimensions of the Summer Day Camp. As a former counselor, this writer provided examples to show that this organization scored high in power distance, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. As regards masculinity-femininity, the Day Camp is in the middle. These scores are compared to the country Brazil and it is interesting to note that the cultural dimensions’ scores are similar. Both Day Camp and Brazil score midway in masculinity-femininity, and high in power distance, uncertainty-avoidance, and collectivism. Thus, despite being located in the US, this the summer day camp organization has similar cultural dimensions with a country across the globe. The reasons for such similarity is not anymore within the scope of this paper, thus this former counselor ends this section by saying that in-depth investigations of the subject would be interesting topics of further research.
