Geert Hofstede’s 8D Model
According to Geert Hofstede, culture is the mind’s collective programming that differentiates between one category of people and members of one group from another. The term ‘category’ might imply nations, religions, ethnicity, regions across or within nations, genders, organizations, or occupations. The Extended 8D model does also contain the work of Erin Mayer (Communication & Trusting).
In this section we have chosen to compare the following:
1) Top 6 Rating Nations / Sources of labor - 2021
2) The 6 Best Countries to live in - 2021
3) The 6 Biggest Economies in the World - 2020
Power Distance (PDI): This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal, and it expresses the attitude of the culture toward these power inequalities among us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. It has to do with the fact that a society’s inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. In High PDI societies people respect and praise their leader. The society is hierarchical and autocratic.
Individualism: The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are only supposed to look after themselves and their direct family. In Collectivist societies people belong to “in groups” that take care of them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
Top 6 Rating Nations / Sources of labor - 2021
Even though the seafarers are coming from a different background, there are some common cultural traits. The ‘average top 6 rating’ has the following values:
- High Power Distance
- Collectivism
- Restrained
- High Context
If we then take these national traits, and creates an average rating, he(s) is respectful to the higher ranked officers and bosses ashore. They stand together to create a stronger entity, as they have a lower degree of individualistic force. This can be due of lower levels of trust (China is the exception), but also that communication tends not to be straight forward or direct. That is why communication (and word of honor) has to be proven over time to build trust and speed. The average seafarer is also kind of restrained, and have a relatively strong control over their urges. National pride is also a common denominator. In that respect, they are ideal to build strong company cultures.
NB! People are different, and these are just national averages.
It is then important not to stereotyping or labeling the individual crew.
Uncertainty Avoidance: This dimension has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known; should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in the score on Uncertainty Avoidance.
Individualism: The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are only supposed to look after themselves and their direct family. In Collectivist societies people belong to “in groups” that take care of them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
The 6 Best Countries to live in - 2021
Finland has been named as the #1 country in the world in 2021 for Quality of Life, according to the CEOWORLD magazine 2021 report, while Denmark and Norway placed second and third, respectively. The 2021 rankings placed Belgium in fourth ahead of Sweden into fifth; while Switzerland ranked sixth. The most predominant traits are:
- High degree of individualism
- Like to indulge
- Low context
- High degree of trust
All in all, these countries are simple to ‘navigate and operate in’. Trust is after all what fuels speed and faster development. That ‘yes means yes’ and ‘no means no’ makes life simpler and takes the ambiguity away. All these countries enjoy present and tend to be feminine in nature. They also have a very low power distant index (except Belgium).
Masculinity: A high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the “winner” or “best-in-the-field”. This value system starts in childhood and continues throughout one’s life – both in work and leisure pursuits. A low score (Feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A Feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (Masculine) or liking what you do (Feminine).
Long term orientation: This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and societies prioritize these two existential goals differently. Normative societies. which score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain time-honored traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragmatic approach: they encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future.
Indulgence: One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small children are socialised. Without socialisation we do not become “human”. This dimension is defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. A tendency toward a relatively weak control over their impulses is called “Indulgence”, whereas a relatively strong control over their urges is called “Restraint”. Cultures can be described as Indulgent or Restrained.
The 6 Biggest Economies in the World - 2020
GDP of a nation is an estimate of the total value of all the goods and services it produced throughout a specific period. GDP can be calculated by adding up all of the money spent by consumers, businesses, and governments in a given period. It can also be calculated by adding up all of the money received by all the participants in the economy.
There are two main ways to measure GDP:
- by measuring spending or
- by measuring income.
Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions and are calculated at market or government official exchange rates. The global GDP for 2020 was stipulated to be USD 94 trillion, and the top 6 six nations accounted for close to 60% in 2020, according to IMF.
According to the IMF, these are the highest-ranking countries in the world in nominal GDP for 2020:
The most common trait among these nations, is the high degree of masculine values. Though these societies are rather different, they are all driven by competition, achievement and success. ‘The winner takes it all’, to quote a famous Swedish pop group.
Context: High-context cultures are those in which the rules of communication are primarily transmitted through the use of contextual elements (i.e., body language, a person's status, and tone of voice) and are not explicitly stated. This is in direct contrast to low-context cultures, in which information is communicated primarily through language and rules are explicitly spelled out. Members of high-context cultures usually have close relationships that last for an extended period of time. As a result of these years of interacting with one another, the members know what the rules are, how to think, and how to behave, so the rules do not have to be explicitly stated. This makes high-context cultures difficult to navigate for those who do not understand the culture's unwritten rules.
Trust: Trust is defined as a feeling of confidence in someone that shows you believe they are honest, fair, and reliable. Self-reported trust in others is constructed as the number of people responding to the question "Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?" Possible answers include "Most people can be trusted", "Don't know" and "Can't be too careful". Norway is the country with the highest degree of trust in the world, though it is declining.
Personal experience: The hardest cultural domain is the context. In a low context society; ‘yes’ means ‘yes’, but in a high context society, there might be 27 ways of saying ‘yes’, whilst you mean ‘no’. In high context countries, your body language, tone, smile, gesture etc. can offend the other person. I was personally a ‘victim’ of this whilst visiting an Asian country. In a meeting with a high official, I crossed my legs without thinking. My dear friend told after the meting, that I offended the other person by sitting like that. What however saved the meeting was the way I thanked him by showing respect in bowing, a hand gesture towards the heart, a soft smile, and the tone I spoke in.