Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

1 Cultural Summary Paper Culture refers to the collective mental programming of people's minds, thus separating them from another group of individuals. Mental programming affects thinking patterns that determine the meaning individuals attach to life issues and become embedded in society's institutions. The following is a cultural summary of Sweden through the lenses of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and Meyer's cultural map and their implications to businesses.

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2 Hofstede’s Dimensions Power Distance This dimension refers to “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (Hofstede Insights, n.d). With regards to this dimension, Sweden has a low score of 31 (Hofstede Insights). This implies characteristics such as superiors are accessible, equal rights, the hierarchy for convenience only, and being independent. In the Swedish culture, employees expect to be consulted, power is decentralized, and managers significantly bank on their team members' experience. Further, communication is participative and direct, and many dislike being controlled.

Individualism This dimension of culture measures the extent of interdependence maintained in society by its members. While in collectivist societies, individuals belong to groups that look after them in exchange for loyalty, people in individualist societies look after themselves and their immediate family members only. Having a score of 71, Sweden can be categorized as an individualist community (Hofstede Insights, n.d). This implies that the social framework is loosely knit, and people are only to take care of themselves and their immediate family members.

Concerning businesses, hiring and promotions decisions are according to merit only, and an employer-employee relationship is a contract based on mutual benefit.

Masculinity The primary concern in this dimension is what motivates individuals, wanting to be the best (Masculine). A masculine (high score) society is driven by competition, achievement, and success. The best on the field defines success. On the other hand, in a feminine (low score)

3 society, quality life and caring for others are the dominant values. Sweden is a feminine society given its score of 5 (Hofstede Insights, n.d). It is important to maintain a work-life balance in such societies and ensure that everyone is included in decision-making activities. People attach so much value to equality, quality, and solidarity in their working lives. Flexible work hours and free time are some of the incentives highly favored by people of this culture. In Sweden, people can take long hours discussing just to reach a consensus.

Uncertainty Avoidance This dimension measures the extent to which a group of individuals feel threatened by unknown situations and have developed beliefs and institutions that help them avoid such. With a score of 29 (Hofstede Insights, n.d), Sweden has a very low preference for avoiding uncertainty. In such societies, individuals see no need to have more rules than necessary, and if such rules do not work or are ambiguous, they should be changed or left. Innovation is not perceived as a threat; punctuality and precision have to be instilled, hard work is embraced when necessary, and schedules are flexible.

Long-term Orientation This dimension of culture explains how every society has to keep some links with its own past while taking care of the present and future challenges. Societies with high scores in this dimension are more pragmatic in their approach. They encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a means of preparing for the years to come. On the other hand, societies with high scores favor maintaining time-honored norms and traditions while monitoring societal changes with suspicion. Sweden appears not to have a clear preference on this dimension given its intermediate score of 53 (Hofstede Insights, n.d).

Indulgence

4 This dimension of culture describes how individuals in society try to control their desires and impulses based on how they were raised. Cultures can either be restrained or indulgent. The Swedish culture is one of indulgence because of its high score of 78 (Hofstede Insights, n.d).

People in this society generally show a willingness and desire to have fun and enjoy life. These people spend money as they wish, act as they please, and place a higher degree of importance on leisure time. Furthermore, they show a lot of positivity in their attitude and are very optimistic individuals.

Erin Meyer’s Culture Map The present world is a melting pot of cultures, and culture or country has its own norms, rules, and regulations. Interactions between people from different cultures, especially at the workplace, are taking place each day. Thus, organizational leaders need to acknowledge that their organizational members show different behaviors that can best be attributed to the different cultures they are coming from. Erin Meyer’s culture map offers global managers and leaders an opportunity to understand cultural differences and develop their communication according to the culture of the place in which they operate (Meyer, 2016). The culture map features eight culture scales that help organizational leaders understand the various cultural communication styles across the globe. The eight culture scales with regards to Sweden are as discussed below.

Communicating Meyer's communication scale has both low and high-context cultures. The history of the concerned country is what makes the difference between the two. While the scores of Sweden on this particular scale are not available in Meyer's initial study, a reasonable guestimate can be made using the score of the neighboring country, Finland, which rates 36. Thus, Sweden is an example of a low-context culture. Therefore, good communication is clear, explicit, simple, and

5 precise. In Sweden, messages are understood at face value. People appreciate repetition for clarification purposes.

Evaluating The evaluating scale measures a preference for frank versus negative diplomatic feedback. The Swedish are not as direct as Russians in giving their criticism. They use gentle words and mask negative feedback with positive words. People refrain from giving their criticisms in front of other people.

Persuading The persuading scale gives a description of how individuals are inclined to reasoning to understand and start a task successfully and are divided into principles-first reasoning and application-first reasoning. In principles-first reasoning, people are more inclined to the reasoning behind the request. On the other hand, in the applications-first reasoning cultures, persuasion is driven by practice. On this scale, the score of Sweden is 56, meaning managers have to alternate between explaining the reason behind the request and showing the how of the task (Meyer, 2016).

Leading The leading styles of managers and leaders in an organization are also affected by culture. Meyer’s leading scale has an egalitarian culture on one end of the spectrum and a hierarchical culture on the other end. With a scale rating of 8, the style of leading in Sweden is egalitarian style, which features a flat organizational structure (Meyer, 2016). In such a culture, there is a narrow gap between the managers and the employees. A close working relationship is maintained.

Deciding

6 The deciding scale can either be consensual or top-down. With a scale rating of 12, Sweden is a good example of a country with a consensual deciding culture (Meyer, 2016). Here, everyone is involved in the process of decision-making, and the final decision is realized after all the concerned parties have reached a consensus. The consensual decision-making culture ensures the faster making of decisions.

Trusting Trust in business relationships is important for success. In Meyer’s culture mapping, the trusting scale has high task-based and high relationship-based measures. In Sweden, the trust factor is developed as a result of the achievements made out of business relations and profits.

Trust in an individual can be forged or developed with a lot of ease in this culture.

Disagreeing In any given social construct, disagreements are inevitable. Various cultures across the globe may be confrontational or seek to avoid confrontations in the midst of a disagreement. In Sweden, for example, people seek to avoid confrontations because of the belief that open confrontation can disrupt harmonious living in society. It rates 63 on the scale (Meyer, 2016).

Scheduling Peoples' perception of time and schedule varies from one culture to another, and it can range from linear to flexible on Meyer’s cultural mapping scheduling scale. With a scale rating of 19, Swedish operate on linear schedules (Meyer, 2016). They have a strict adherence to deadlines and always have to complete one task at a time before moving to the next.

7 References Hofstede Insight, (n.d). Country Comparison. Retrieved from https://www.hofstedeinsights.com/country-comparison/sweden/ Meyer, E. (2016). The culture map (INTL ED): Decoding how people think, lead, and get things done across cultures. PublicAffairs.