Six dimensions of national culture as defined by professor Geert Hofstede outline the cultural preferences of one country compared to another countries (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.a, para. 2). It is worth mentioning that this dimensions concentrate on the whole country rather than on individuals. Even that all individuals are unique, as a group they form a society that follows a set of cultural preferences. Also the scores on dimensions for different countries don 't have much meaning by themselves. They only work when compared with different countries.
The six dimensions of national culture are: Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Long Term …show more content…
Following this thought, different individuals have different amounts of power over other people. PDI measures how much the less powerful members of the society agree with the fact that there is inequality in the power distribution. This two indexes are quite different for the USA and Poland. While the first one scores 40, Poland scores 68. Low score for the USA comes from the fact that the country was founded with the “liberty and justice for all” in mind, and people expect to be treated exactly the same way in most aspects of their life. Less powerful members of the society still have access to the more powerful people and the more powerful people have to consider opinions of the other members. Authority can be questioned and is not absolute. In business world organizational structures are more flat and informal. Information is often shared directly between employees and managers and superiors often seek advise from their employees. However I don 't work for a huge organization, but this is how I feel about my company for most of the time. My superior is easily approachable and will consider my suggestions, however in this particular case he himself rarely asks for advise. I on the other hand consult my employees very frequently, assuring that my ideas align with the work they are performing. I would not feel comfortable forcing a rule on somebody while not knowing how this rule will …show more content…
The two options here are to emphasize the “I” or “We” when placing yourself in the group of people. Society that emphasizes the “I” approach is a society of individualists. In this kind of society people only look for themselves and their close families. In the collectivist societies people usually belong to a group that takes care of it 's members (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.b, para. 4).
Both USA and Poland have high enough scores for this dimension to be called individualists societies. USA 's score of 91 is however much higher than Poland 's 60. In the United States employees are expected to show initiative and are rewarded based on their knowledge and abilities, while in Poland initiative is not requested and sometimes seen as stepping over the line. People can still be rewarded for showing their knowledge and abilities. In both countries you can see the “I” attitude in everyday life which sometimes even leads to disregarding other people needs and considerations. The high score on power distance and high score on individualism create a contradiction in Polish culture. Polish people while being individualists still need strong hierarchy to function properly (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.b, para. 6). From my experience many Polish people think that they have all the necessary answers, but they rather don 't take the initiative. They feel more comfortable when other
The six dimensions of national culture are: Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Long Term …show more content…
Following this thought, different individuals have different amounts of power over other people. PDI measures how much the less powerful members of the society agree with the fact that there is inequality in the power distribution. This two indexes are quite different for the USA and Poland. While the first one scores 40, Poland scores 68. Low score for the USA comes from the fact that the country was founded with the “liberty and justice for all” in mind, and people expect to be treated exactly the same way in most aspects of their life. Less powerful members of the society still have access to the more powerful people and the more powerful people have to consider opinions of the other members. Authority can be questioned and is not absolute. In business world organizational structures are more flat and informal. Information is often shared directly between employees and managers and superiors often seek advise from their employees. However I don 't work for a huge organization, but this is how I feel about my company for most of the time. My superior is easily approachable and will consider my suggestions, however in this particular case he himself rarely asks for advise. I on the other hand consult my employees very frequently, assuring that my ideas align with the work they are performing. I would not feel comfortable forcing a rule on somebody while not knowing how this rule will …show more content…
The two options here are to emphasize the “I” or “We” when placing yourself in the group of people. Society that emphasizes the “I” approach is a society of individualists. In this kind of society people only look for themselves and their close families. In the collectivist societies people usually belong to a group that takes care of it 's members (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.b, para. 4).
Both USA and Poland have high enough scores for this dimension to be called individualists societies. USA 's score of 91 is however much higher than Poland 's 60. In the United States employees are expected to show initiative and are rewarded based on their knowledge and abilities, while in Poland initiative is not requested and sometimes seen as stepping over the line. People can still be rewarded for showing their knowledge and abilities. In both countries you can see the “I” attitude in everyday life which sometimes even leads to disregarding other people needs and considerations. The high score on power distance and high score on individualism create a contradiction in Polish culture. Polish people while being individualists still need strong hierarchy to function properly (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.b, para. 6). From my experience many Polish people think that they have all the necessary answers, but they rather don 't take the initiative. They feel more comfortable when other