Cultural Background Analysis of the

Countries
Explain Hofstede’s theory and 6 paradigms.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory developed by Hofstede is a framework used to
understand the differences in culture across countries and to discern the ways that business is
done across different cultures. In other words, the framework is used to distinguish between
different national cultures, the dimensions of culture, and assess their impact on a business
setting.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory was created in 1980 by Dutch management researcher
Geert Hofstede. The aim of the study was to determine the dimensions in which cultures varey.

Hofstede identified six categories that define culture:

  Power distance : Power distance is the degree of inequality that exist

between supervisor and subordinate. High power distance country tends to be

practice more control and hierarchy than low power distance country

 Individualism/collectivism : labelled as the degree to which individuals

place more importance to individual goals compared with group or collective

goals. Collectivist cultures put more emphasis on the benefit of the group rather

than their own.

 Indulgence vs restraint : Indulgence societies tend to allow relatively free

gratification of natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun

whereas Restraint societies are more likely to believe that such gratification needs

to be curbed and regulated by strict norms

 Masculinity/ femininity : implies the differences of genders which

describes the duality in behaviors, attitudes, emotions and social rules. High

masculine cultures in society tend to focus more on assertiveness and

decisiveness.

 Long term orientation vs short term orientation : represents the extent to which

members of a culture are cognitively programmed to accept delayed gratification

of material, social, and emotional needs.

 Uncertainty avoidance: Defined as the degree to which people perceive

the future, and if they plan for future or just wait to face the future.
Define and relate the theory for H&M parent country ( Sweden) and Telenor ( Norway) and then
relate both their operation in Bangladesh according to the theory.
Bangladesh has experienced growth in few years in terms of GDP and FDI. On the other hand,
Norway is a highly developed country with a strong economy. There are certain differences
between the cultures of these two countries. As literature shows that local cultures affect the
organizational culture, understanding of different cultural dimensions and the scores of
Bangladesh and Norway in different dimensions can essentially help making comparisons in
better ways.

Sweden is one of the most popular Scandinavian countries and is often described as a
progressive, modern, social welfare state Like any other country. Sweden also has its own
specific culture which was affected by different social groups starting from ancient times. One of
the most famous psychoanalysts Hofstede theory which describes the business behaviors of
people from different cultures. Today we live in the globalization era where every day tens of
international companies are spreading all over the world and which cause people from different
cultures to work together.

(Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Bangladesh Norway Sweden

According to Hofstede business patterns can be categorized by six dimensions and each
dimension can be measured and then compared with other cultures results.

Bangladesh

 Power distance : Bangladesh scores high on this dimension (80) which means that
people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no
further justification.
 Individualism/collectivism : Bangladesh scores with (20 ) is considered a collectivistic
society. Collectivist societies offence leads to shame and loss of face employer and
employee relationships are perceived in moral terms hiring and promotion decisions take
account of the employees in the management of groups.
 Indulgence vs restraint : In indulgence Bangladesh has very low score of 20 this makes
it a restrained country. Societies with a low score in indulgence dimension have a
tendency to cynicism and pessimism and also in contrast to Indulgent societies restrained
societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their
desires.
 Masculinity: Bangladesh with scores (55) on this can be considered as Masculine
society. Masculine countries people (live in order to work) . Managers are expected to be
decisive and assertive the emphasis is on equity competition and performance and
conflicts are resolved by fighting them out.
 Long term orientation vs short term orientation: Bangladesh has an low score at 47 and
this does not indicate a strong preference in either direction.
 Uncertainty avoidance : Bangladesh an high score (60 ) on this dimension. high
Uncertainty avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and behavior and are intolerant of
unorthodox behavior and ideas.

Norway

 Power distance : Norway has scores low (31) which means that the following
characterises the Norwegians style: being independent , equal rights, coaching leader,
 management facilitates and empower. Communication is direct participative and
consensus orientated.
 Individualism/collectivism : Norway has score of (69) and this considered an
Individualist society. This means that the personal opinions are valued & expressed.
Privacy is important and respected and there are clear lines between work life and private
life. The employer and employee relationship is based on a contract and leaders always
focus on management of individuals .
 Indulgence vs restraint : Norway has score of (55) in this dimension. Norway has an
intermediate therefore inconclusive.
 Masculinity: Norway scores (8) in this dimension. A high score on this dimension
indicates “masculine’’ and a low score means “feminine” . After Swedes, norway is the
second most Feminine society. This means that the softer aspects of culture are valued
& encouraged such as consensus independent cooperation and sympathy for the
underdog.
 Long term orientation vs short term orientation: With this low score (35) norway’s
culture is more normative than pragmatic. People in such societies are normative in their
thinking.
 Uncertainty avoidance : Norway scores (50) on this dimension and that does not
indicate a preference on this dimension .

Sweden

 Power distance : Power distance deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are
not equal. On this dimension Sweden scores low (31) which means the characterises
Sweden style: being independent , equal right s, management facilitates and empowers .
As always communication is direct and participative .
 Individualism/collectivism : In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after
themselves and their family only . With score of (71) sweden is an Individualist society
and that means there is a high preference for a social framework in which people are
expected to take care of themselves and their families only.
  Indulgence vs restraint : Culture can be described as Indulgent or Restrained . weak
control is called ‘’Indulgence” and strong control is called ‘’Restraint’’. With a high
score of (78) in this dimension means that Sweden culture is one of Indulgence.
 Masculinity: Sweden is a feminine society . In this dimension Sweden scores (5). In
Feminine countries its important to keep work life balance. Effective manager is
supportive to their people.
 Long term orientation vs short term orientation: Sweden has an intermediate score (53) is
seen to not express a clear preference on this dimension.
 Uncertainty avoidance : 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. In this dimension sweden
score (29) which is a very low preference for avoiding uncertainty. Low uncertainty
societies maintain more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles
and deviance .

Compare your findings

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory can be seen as the important cultural dimension theory that
was developed by Geert Hofstede for cross-cultural communication.

The comparison of Bangladesh with Norway and Sweden with the 6 different cultural factors are
illustrated below-

 POWER DISTANCE: This is the factor that indicates how the people or organizations
that are situated at the lower level feel about the distribution of power in the society.
When it comes to Bangladesh, the country's rating score is 80 which means that people
accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further
justification. Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities while
Norway scores the rating of 31 and Sweden score is 31. This means that in comparison to
Norway and Sweden, the power distribution in Bangladesh is unequal and people have
the feeling that power is not equally distributed.
 INDIVIDUALISM: This factor highlights whether the country is given preference to
individuals' actions or to make the decision in the group. When it comes to Bangladesh,
the country's rating is 20 while Norway scores the rating of 69 and Sweden with a score
 of 71. This means that in comparison to Norway and Sweden, Bangladesh is a more
collective or group-oriented country.
 MASCULINITY: If the country scores high in this regard, it will indicate that the country
is driven by the feeling of intense competition, accomplishment, and success. .When it
comes to Bangladesh, the country's rating is 55 while Norway scores the rating of 8 and
Sweden scores 5. This means that in comparison to Norway and Sweden, Bangladesh is
more masculine than Sweden that has the lowest score on this factor in the world.
 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE: This factor indicates how well the country is prepared
for the unknown future. When it comes to Bangladesh, the country's rating is 60 while
Norway and Sweden scores are rating of 50 and 29. This means that in comparison to
Norway and Sweden, Bangladesh has a high Uncertainty Avoidance that means that these
people value codes of value and intolerant of unorthodox behavior.
 LONG TERM ORIENTATION: This dimension indicates how people maintain some
sort of connection with the past and present and prepare for the future. When it comes to
Bangladesh, the country's rating is 47 while Norway scores the rating of 50 and Sweden
score 53. This means that in comparison to Norway and Sweden, Bangladesh has a
slightly more long-term orientation but there is no significant difference.
 INDULGENCE: It is described as the extent to which people try to control their desires
and impulses, based on the way they were raised which relatively indicates weak control.
Bangladesh has a very low Indulgence score of 20 where Norway and Sweden scores are
55 and 78 indicates higher degree of importance on leisure time.