Country Culture Guide to Sweden

Nathan Temesgen

Professor Darren Pierre

ENES472

December 7th 2023

 When you think of Sweden, what comes to mind automatically? Most people think 2

things: IKEA and Swedish Fish. Honestly, I was the same way; all I knew was that Sweden was

the country for my favorite furniture store, candy and were also somewhat technologically

advanced. I also knew that they were regarded as a happy country, and put joy first but other than

that, not much. However, after extensive research, I’ve learned that Sweden’s culture is a rich,

diverse culture that has much more than meets the eye.

Sweden is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, surrounded by water and other

Scandinavian countries. It’s the largest Nordic country and with a population of 10.5 million and

over 490,000 kilometers, it’s the fifth largest country in Europe (by land size). However, it does

have a lower population density with 25.5 inhabitants per square

kilometer. One thing to also note is that 87 percent of the Swedish

population actually lives in the central or southern part of the

country, with that being majority urban space, and up the country

you will get more nature and a landscape extremely different from

the scene down south. In terms of Sweden’s demographical makeup,

they are 80.3% Swedish, 1.9% Syrian, 1.4% Iraqi, 1.4% Finnish, and

other countries make up the other 15% (IndexMundi, 2020). In the

past few centuries, Sweden has evolved from ethnically

homogenous to a more diverse country due to opportunities and ease

of immigrations from countries within the EU and other countries combined with the fact that

Sweden is 7th in the Human Development Index (an index taking factors such as life expectancy,
education, per capita income, etc. into account), Sweden is a very desirable country to live in.

Let’s dig deeper into what Sweden’s political, economic, and cultural environment looks like.

Starting with Sweden’s political environment; Sweden’s political system is structured

around their parliament, known as the Riksdag, with 349 members elected by the people in four

year terms. The Riksdag also appoints its speakers and cmmittees representing parties in

proportion to their strength, or however many votes the party has made in the previous

election(s). The Riksdag also nominates the prime minister for the country through the speaker

of the Riksdag, a position similar to the US’s Speaker of the House and the actual voting for the

prime minster happens through negative parliamentarism. Negative parliamentarism is an

interesting concept, especially in the field of politics, as it basically states that a government

needs (in Sweden’s case 349) 175 out of 349 members to NOT vote against a topic for it to pass

voting. I think that this method revolves around the idea of letting ideas and concepts evolve and

grow because from a politician’s view, it’s a lot less work and comes with a lot less heat just

allowing something to be, versus a positive parliamentarism position, where votes would need a

majority to be for in favor of something. I think this encourages the government to allow for

ideas to continue a lot easier and develop fully but could be a negative if an idea runs past its

time and is just being strung out just because. They also have another branch of government,

which is headed by the prime minister, with 22 ministers representing and handling a variety of

issues, such as health, education, etc. These ministers are also appointed by the prime minister.

One thing to also mention is that Sweden does have a monarchy, however, the monarchy doesn’t

actually hold any power and is moreso just representative of the Swedish people. In terms of the

political stability of Sweden, the Swedish government is considered to be politically stable, as on

a scale from -2.5 (weakest, volatile, unstable) to 2.5 (strongest, stable) Sweden has averaged a
score of about 1.18 from 1996 to 2021 (The World Bank, 2023) and in 2021, was ranked as the

23rd most politically

stable country in the

world. When it comes to

political risks and

bribery, their ranking on

the index correlates, as

there are no immediate political risks, as well as a very, very low corruption risk, scoring an 85

out of 100 (100 being very clean) on a Corruptions Perceptions Index (Transparency

International, 2023).

Moving onto the culture of Sweden, using Hofstede’s 6 Dimensions of Culture, a

framework used to investigate and study a country’s culture, and how they relate to the society’s

behavior, with its structure being derived from factor analysis (Adeoye, 2014). Starting wth

Power Distance Index, which deals with the fact that all individuals are not inherently equal, so

how does that society deal with those said inequalities? We’ll compare Sweden with US for

context to our everyday culture.

Sweden scored a 31, as Sweden’s culture revolves around the fact that everything is mostly based

around the idea of individualism; the idea that people should take care of themselves and direct

family before anyone else. Outside of that, the culture revolves around being independent,

hierarchy solely for the purpose of convenience, not power, equal rights, and decentralization of

political power evident in their political structure of a parliament and government branches.

When comparing Sweden with the US, we see the US has a score of 40, so similar values are

shared within their societies. Moving onto individualism, Sweden scores really high, with a score

of 87 meaning that Sweden really values individualism within their society, which is something I

accentuated earlier in the paper compared to the US’ 60 score, which means the society

definitely does lean to individualism, however, there are small differences in the way everyone

interacts that make it more collectivist. One example could be that communication can be

informal, direct and participative rather than just keeping it in an ineer circle in the context of a

public conversation. In terms of business, Americans are also expected to be more self-reliant in

work and display initiative which is a bit different from the Swedes. One huge contrast that I saw

was in the motivation towards achievement and success dimension, where Sweden scored a 5
while the US scored a 62. The main reason for this was because Sweden’s culture is also a

culture that revolves a lot around work-life balance and is regarded as a Consensus society. This

means that in the workplace, managers and leaders have to keep in mind their workers’ life

outside of work and they value quality of conditions and work in their work lives. This is a huge

difference from the American culture, where society is driven by competition, achievement and

success in almost every aspect of life; whether that means education, work, and more and

subsequently, a lot of society’s structure in the US is based around that; for example, moving out

of your neighborhood once you’re making more money, flexing, etc. One last dimension I think

is important to bring up is the uncertainty avoidance scores, with Sweden scoring a 29 and the

US scoring a 46. Uncertainty avoidance is basically how a country deals with uncertainty of the

future; and how they deal with the simple, but complex question of how should we deal with the

future? Sweden prefers to avoid uncertainty in almost any context, and that means in their laws

and in a lot of situations, they will make sure to allow for ambiguity of rules and regulations and

being satisfied with the bare minimum amount of rules as possible, to allow for wiggle room in

situations where things may not be predicted. This also means that in the commercial space and

even in the political space, laws and traditions will not usually be broken and Swedes are more

likely to stick to what they know. In the US, uncertainty avoidance is a lot more towards the

middle and they accept new ideas, however, when we look at the past, the culture also seems

very reactive to major events (9/11 with airport security, school shootings with gun safety, and

more) and agendas and ideas are always being shifted to the back or forefront depending on

current events.

When it comes to economic and business practices and culture, Sweden is known for its

diverse economy, with major exports ranging from machinery and equipment to automobiles,
chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. On the flip side, the nation imports refined petroleum,

machinery, and food products (OEC, 2021). Notably, Sweden has strong trade relationships with

countries in the area for the most part, with its favorite partners for export being Norway,

Germany, United States, Denmark and Finland. For imports, they were Germany, Norway,

Netherlands, Denmark and China (The World Bank, 2021). As mentioned before, Sweden has

always been a country who’s been neutral and avoids uncertainty, and so in alot of wars, that’s

why we haven’t seen much Swedish involvement. However, when it comes to foreign

investment, Sweden welcomes foreign investors with open arms. The government has adopted a

pro-business stance, offering a transparent and reliable legal framework. The commitment to free

trade and a liberal economic policy makes Sweden an attractive destination for foreign

investments.One thing to note is that they are high commercial risk (Allianz, 2023) due to their

high sense of individualism and

support union groups, which has

recently gotten companies like

Tesla into a lot of trouble for not

signing a collective bargaining

agreement with the mechanics

and employees of Tesla for factories they set up in Sweden and doesn’t match the hard-work,

work first culture of a lot of companies who may want to set up shop in Sweden. Sweden's

currency is the Swedish Krona (SEK). While not a member of the Eurozone, Sweden actively

participates in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). These

affiliations promote regional economic cooperation and facilitate smooth trade

relationships.Education is highly valued in Sweden, with a commitment to providing quality

education for all. The country boasts high literacy rates, and its education system is renowned for

its innovation and emphasis on critical thinking. The well-educated workforce contributes

significantly to Sweden's economic prowess. This goes hand in hand with the fact that Sweden

takes pride in its highly skilled labor force. The nation's commitment to education and vocational

training ensures a pool of competent professionals and Sweden upholds strong labor rights,

emphasizing fair wages, reasonable working hours, and safe working conditions.

When thinking about the pros and cons of setting up business in Sweden as an American

business. As mentioned earlier, Sweden boasts a workforce renowned for its high level of

education and skill. Combined with a substantial investment in research and development, it lays

a solid foundation for innovation and productivity. The country's export portfolio is impressively

diverse, offering opportunities for businesses in various sectors. Moreover, Sweden's

commitment to openness to foreign investments, coupled with sound public finances and

comparatively low corporate tax rates, makes it an attractive destination for global entrepreneurs.

However, amid the glittering prospects, there are still a few red flags. A significant concern is the

mounting household debt and the steep rise in housing prices, signaling potential challenges in

the domestic market. Not to mention, an ageing population prompts questions about the

sustainability of certain policies. Furthermore, the high personal income tax, exceeding the

OECD average, poses a consideration for both individuals and businesses. Additionally, the

tightly regulated labor market and high unit labor costs necessitate strategic planning. I believe

that keys to success lay within looking at what is valued by multiple aspects of the Swedish

culture. First off is respecting the individualism within the culture, making sure you are

providing for your employees, and acknowledging their well-being and family life; and in return,

they will provide you with high level work. Another big thing that they value is transparency and
socially and politically, Swedes prefer systems that are well-regulated and transparent, as evident

by their low corruption score. In communication, they value open and direct communication, and

dislike aggressive or confrontational communication styles which is something to keep in mind

that I believe contrasts with the US styles of communication, where Americans can definitely be

more aggressive or confrontational at times. I believe another huge key is in local investment, as

the government is currently trying to promote entrepreneurs and provide resources to foreign

investors and entrepreneurs as well. On top of that, Sweden’s business culture also revolves

around that mutual interest and benefit between management and workers, or community and

business so that means also partnering with local businesses, networking with others, etc. One

minor thing to mention that I believe is still important as a small business is emphasis on

environmental sustainability, as Sweden is also very big on sustainability and the environment,

so integrating sustainable practices are also a huge plus for the society. All in all, I believe that

Sweden is a great place to invest in and to work in and recommend trying to build a sustainable

business there.
 References:

2021 corruption perceptions index - explore Sweden’s results. Transparency.org. (2021).

https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021/index/swe

Adeoye, B. F. (2014, June 30). Effects of information capitalism and globalization on

teaching and learning. Google Books.

https://books.google.com/books?id=ap5_BAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Allianz: Country risk report sweden. Allianz.com. (n.d.).

https://www.allianz.com/en/economic_research/publications/country-risk/sweden.html

Anamaria Dutceac Segesten Senior Lecturer in European Studies. (2023, June

8). Sweden election: Yes, the far right made gains, but we’re not falling apart. The

Conversation.

https://theconversation.com/sweden-election-yes-the-far-right-made-gains-but-were-not-fal

ling-apart-102920

Country comparison tool. Hofstede Insights. (n.d.).

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=sweden

Si. (2023, July 3). Swedish government. sweden.se.

https://sweden.se/life/democracy/swedish-government

Sweden Demographics Profile. Sweden demographics profile. (n.d.).

https://www.indexmundi.com/sweden/demographics_profile.html
Sweden political stability - data, Chart. TheGlobalEconomy.com. (n.d.).

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Sweden/wb_political_stability/

Sweden trade balance, exports and imports by country. Sweden trade balance, exports,

imports by country 2021 | WITS Data. (n.d.).

https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/SWE/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/EXPI

MP/Partner/by-country#:~:text=Sweden%20trade%20balance%2C%20exports%20and%2

0imports%20by%20country&text=In%202021%2C%20Sweden%20major%20trading,%2

C%20Netherlands%2C%20Denmark%20and%20China