Submitted By

Aniket Sharma

Roll no. 45

PGDM - Communications

INDIA

UK

CROSS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES & INTER-DEPENDENCE

Hofstede’s Country Comparison

Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

India scores high on this dimension, 71, indicating an appreciation for hierarchy and a top-down structure in society and organizations. Real Power is centralized even though it may not appear to be and managers count on the obedience of their team members. Employees expect to be directed clearly as to their functions and what is expected of them. Control is familiar, even a psychological security, and attitude towards managers are formal even if one is on first name basis. Communication is top down and directive in its style and often feedback which is negative is never offered up the ladder.

UK is a society that believes that inequalities amongst people should be minimized. A sense of fair play drives a belief that people should be treated in some way as equals.

Individualism 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 supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty.

India, despite an intermediate score of 49, is a society with clear collectivistic traits. This means that there is a high preference for belonging to a larger social framework in which individuals are expected to act in accordance to the greater good of one’s defined in-groups.

In such situations, the actions of the individual are influenced by various concepts such as the opinion of one’s family, extended family, neighbours, work group and other such wider social networks that one has some affiliation toward.

At a score of 98 the UK is amongst the highest of the individualistic scores. Children are taught from an early age to think for themselves and to find out what their unique purpose in life is and how they uniquely can contribute to society. 

Masculine society is driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field. 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).

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).

India scores 57 on this dimension and is thus considered a masculine society. Even though it is mildly above the mid-range in score, India is actually very masculine in terms of visual display of success and power. The designer brand label, the flash and ostentation that goes with advertising one’s success, is widely practiced.

At 68 Britain is a masculine society – highly success oriented and driven. A key point of confusion for the foreigner lies in the apparent contradiction between the British culture of modesty and understatement which is at odds with the underlying success driven value system in the culture. Critical to understanding the British is being able to ‘’read between the lines’’ What is said is not always what is meant. In comparison to feminine cultures such as the Scandinavian countries, people in the UK live in order to work and have a clear performance ambition.

Uncertainty Avoidance is 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.

India scores 31 on this dimension and thus has a medium low preference for avoiding uncertainty. In India, there is acceptance of imperfection; nothing has to be perfect nor has to go exactly as planned. India is traditionally a patient country where tolerance for the unexpected is high; even welcomed as a break from monotony. People generally do not feel driven and compelled to take action-initiatives and comfortably settle into established rolls and routines without questioning. Rules are often in place just to be circumvented and one relies on innovative methods to “bypass the system”. A word used often is “adjust” and

means a wide range of things, from turning a blind eye to rules being flouted to finding a unique and inventive solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem. It is this attitude that is both the cause of misery as well as the most empowering aspect of the country. There is a saying that “nothing is impossible” in India, so long as one knows how to “adjust”.

At 26 the UK has a low score on uncertainty avoidance which means that as a nation they are quite happy to wake up not knowing what the day brings and they are happy to ‘make it up as they go along’ changing plans as new information comes to light. There are generally not too many rules in British society, but those that are there are adhered to (the most famous of which of course the British love of queuing which has also to do with the values of fair play).

Pragmatism is defined as how people in the past as well as today relate to the fact that so much that happens around us cannot be explained. In societies with a normative orientation, most people have a strong desire to explain as much as possible. In societies with a pragmatic orientation most people don’t have a need to explain everything, as they believe that it is impossible to understand fully the complexity of life. The challenge is not to know the truth but to live a virtuous life. 

 Indian has an intermediate score (52), but it has a long-term, pragmatic culture. In India the concept of “karma” dominates religious and philosophical thought. Time is not linear, and thus not as important as to western societies which typically score low on this dimension. Countries like India have a great tolerance for religious views from all over the world – Hinduism is often considered a philosophy more than even a religion; an amalgamation of ideas, views, practices and esoteric beliefs. In India there is an acceptance that there are many truths and often depends on the seeker. Societies that have a high score on Pragmatism, typically forgive a lack of punctuality, a changing game-plan based on changing reality and a general comfort with discovering the fated path as one goes along rather than playing to an exact plan.

With an intermediate score of 52 in this dimension, a dominant preference in British culture cannot be determined.

Indulgence is the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. Relatively weak control is called “indulgence” and relatively strong control is called “restraint”. Cultures can, therefore, be described as indulgent or restrained.

India receives a low score of 26 in this dimension, meaning that it is a culture of restraint. Societies with a low score in this dimension have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to indulgent societies, restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong.

A high score of 69 indicates that the British culture is one that is classified as indulgent. People in societies classified by a high score in indulgence generally exhibit a willingness to realise their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. They possess a positive attitude and have a tendency towards optimism. In addition, they place a higher degree of importance on leisure time, act as they please and spend money as they wish.

The British ruled India for more than 2 centuries which had a lasting impact on the Indian culture. More than the differences, we see a lot of similarities in both the cultures. The most important influence the Britishers had on our country was the influx of a new language – English, which today is widely used in almost all spheres of life in India. Apart from that the Indians owe a lot of the present day architecture to the Britishers. On the whole, despite the differences, Indians are more Western than Eastern in their thinking, but their behaviour is very context-sensitive.

REFERENCES

www.http://geert-hofstede.com