THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE powered by itim GET CERTIFIED in Intercultural Management and Organisational Culture by THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE GEERT HOFSTEDE NATIONAL CULTURE DIMENSIONS COUNTRIES APPLICATIONS COURSES ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE EVENTS AND COURSES FAQ ContactImprint Colombia 67 13 64 80 Colombia PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO Compare your personal score on Hofstedes model to a country of your choice — take the new cultural survey What about Colombia? If we explore the Colombian culture through the lens of the 5-D Model, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of its culture relative to other world cultures. Power distance This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. 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. At 67 Colombia scores high on the scale of the PDI, i.e. a society that believes that inequalities amongst people are simply a fact of life. This inequality is accepted in all layers of society, so a union leader will have a lot of concentrated power compared to his union management team, and they in turn will have more power than other union members. A similar phenomenon will be observed among business leaders and among the highest positions in government. 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 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. At a score of 13 Colombia is amongst the lowest individualistic scores; in other words, it lies amongst the most collectivistic cultures in the world, beaten only by Ecuador, Panama and Guatemala. Since the Colombians are a highly collectivistic people, belonging to an in-group and aligning yourself with that group’s opinion is very important. Combined with the high scores in PDI, this means that groups often have their strong identities tied to class distinctions. Loyalty to such groups is paramount and often it is through “corporative” groups that people obtain privileges and benefits which are not to be found in other cultures. At the same time, conflict is avoided, in order to maintain group harmony and to save face. Relationships are more important than attending to the task at hand, and when a group of people holds an opinion on an issue, they will be joined by all who feel part of that group. Colombians will often go out of their way to help you if they feel there is enough attention given to developing a relationship, or if they perceive an “in-group” connection of some sort, however thin. However, those perceived as “outsiders” can easily be excluded or considered as “enemies”. The preferred communication style is context-rich, so public speeches and written documents are usually extensive and elaborate. Masculinity / Femininity 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 / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour. 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). At 64 Colombia is a masculine society – highly success oriented and driven. Colombians are competitive and status-oriented, yet collectivistic rather than individualistic. This means that competition is directed towards members of other groups (or social classes), not towards those who are perceived as members of your own in-group. People seek membership in groups which give them status and rewards linked to performance, but they often sacrifice leisure against work, as long as this is supported by group membership and by power holders. Uncertainty avoidance The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance 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 UAI score. At 80 Colombia has a high score on uncertainty avoidance which means that as a nation they are seeking mechanisms to avoid ambiguity. Emotions are openly expressed; there are (extensive) rules for everything and social conservatism enjoys quite a following. This is also reflected in religion, which is respected, followed by many and conservative. Rules are not necessarily followed, however: this depends on the in-group’s opinion, on whether the group feels the rules are applicable to their members and it depends, ultimately, on the decision of power holders, who make their own rules. In work terms this results in detailed planning that may not necessarily be followed in practice. The combination of high UAI with the scores on the previous four dimensions means that it is difficult to change the status quo, unless a figure of authority is able to amass a large group of people and lead them towards change. Long term orientation The long term orientation dimension is closely related to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue, the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view. The LTO dimension has not been researched in Colombia.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 15:23:25 +0000
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