Hoefstede
Love Litzell
Dr. Carolyn E. Predmore
January 30, 2015
International Marketing
Hofstede Exploration
The first part of Sweden’s Hofstede’s score was a 31 on Power Distance. 31 is a relatively low score at Power Distance and factors that influence this score is independence, equality and superiors accessibility. Gender equality is one of the cornerstones of modern Swedish society and they have ranked as one of the most gender-egalitarian countries in the world several times. This is mainly because of the fact that Sweden has a firm belief in the idea of men and women sharing power and influence equally. This ideology combined with their extensive welfare system gives both sexes a good opportunity of balancing work and family life. Sweden has high score of individualism with 71, this is mainly characterized by a high preference for loosely-defined social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their direct family only. This is somewhat paradoxical considering their strong believe in a comprehensive welfare system. Sweden scores 5 on masculinity and is therefore a feminine society. A feminine society is characterized by having quality of life as a sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. Sweden has such a strong culture influenced by femininity that there’s a famous word called “lagom”. Lagom is something which is not too much, not too little, not too noticeable, focusing on moderation. A result of lagom is a fictional law called “Jante Law”, which tries to ensure that people doesn’t boast or raise themselves above others. Sweden has a score of 29 on the uncertainty avoidance and thus has a very low preference for avoiding uncertainty. It’s quite common in countries with a high uncertainty avoidance to have employees that are promoted according to seniority. In Sweden, on the other hand, actual work performance tends to be of greater significance. As a result, young men and women are frequently seen
Dr. Carolyn E. Predmore
January 30, 2015
International Marketing
Hofstede Exploration
The first part of Sweden’s Hofstede’s score was a 31 on Power Distance. 31 is a relatively low score at Power Distance and factors that influence this score is independence, equality and superiors accessibility. Gender equality is one of the cornerstones of modern Swedish society and they have ranked as one of the most gender-egalitarian countries in the world several times. This is mainly because of the fact that Sweden has a firm belief in the idea of men and women sharing power and influence equally. This ideology combined with their extensive welfare system gives both sexes a good opportunity of balancing work and family life. Sweden has high score of individualism with 71, this is mainly characterized by a high preference for loosely-defined social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their direct family only. This is somewhat paradoxical considering their strong believe in a comprehensive welfare system. Sweden scores 5 on masculinity and is therefore a feminine society. A feminine society is characterized by having quality of life as a sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. Sweden has such a strong culture influenced by femininity that there’s a famous word called “lagom”. Lagom is something which is not too much, not too little, not too noticeable, focusing on moderation. A result of lagom is a fictional law called “Jante Law”, which tries to ensure that people doesn’t boast or raise themselves above others. Sweden has a score of 29 on the uncertainty avoidance and thus has a very low preference for avoiding uncertainty. It’s quite common in countries with a high uncertainty avoidance to have employees that are promoted according to seniority. In Sweden, on the other hand, actual work performance tends to be of greater significance. As a result, young men and women are frequently seen
References: https://sweden.se/society/ http://geert-hofstede.com/sweden.html http://mariekedemooij.com/articles/demooij_2010_int_journal_adv.pdf