To adequately explore through a country's culture, Geert Hofstede developed a six-dimension model that gives a good overview of the country's culture as it relates to other world cultures. He believed that to understand a country's culture deeply; it is important to compare it to the customs of another country. That being the case, to clearly understand Germany's culture we are going to compare it with the United Kingdom on all the six dimensions of the model, that is, power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence.
Power Distance
The dimension points out the fact that not all individuals in a given society are equal as far as their economic power is concerned. Power distance, therefore, is the extent to which the less powerful members of a specific group within a country acknowledge that power is distributed unequally. A greater the score portrays a higher inequality in that case. Germany records a score of 35, seating well within the lower power distant countries in the world (Hofstede Insights, 2018). It reports a co-determined society where rights are extensively comparative and significantly considered by the management. Institutions and organizations adopt a direct and participative communication, showing a free controlling system where leadership is openly challenged. The United Kingdom equally believes that inequalities among individuals should be minimized, and records a score of 35 in power distance, on the same level as Germany.
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Individualism
This dimension addresses the degree of interdependence observed in society among its members. It deals with a people's self-image as being either "me or us." The greater the score, the more likely that the members only concentrate on their well-being and that of their immediate families. With Germany recording a score of 67, it can be termed as a truly individualist society where families only focus on parent-children relationships as opposed to the extended family (Hofstede Insights, 2018). It poses a firm belief in the ideal of self-actualization where loyalty and responsibility are solely based on personal preferences. The United Kingdom records a score of 89 and is considered one of the strongest individualist nations. British children are taught from an early age to think for themselves and discover what their unique attributes are.
Masculinity
A higher score on this dimension would indicate that competition, achievement, and success drive the society. In this case, success is represented by the best individual in a given field. A low score indicates feminism, which is described as value for care for others and quality of life, where quality is the sign of success. Germany records 66 in this field, and greatly values performance and status is shown mainly by material possession (Hofstede Insights, 2018). The United Kingdom marks the same score as Germany on this dimension and is just as much a Masculine society that is success oriented and driven. However, Britain is known for its culture of modesty that advocates for collective well-being and is therefore ironical to its Masculinity. But the country adopts a hypocritical stand where what is said is not what is meant. It advocates for modesty but practices Masculinity (Bridge, Butler, & Lees, 2012).
Uncertainty Avoidance
This has to do with the way a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known and struggle to decide between trying to control it and just letting it happen. A higher score shows the extent to which the members feel threatened by the unknown and have fashioned beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these. Germany records a score of 65, and tends to adopt a deductive rather than an inductive approach in planning and management, emphasized on by the law system (Hofstede Insights, 2018). This contrasts the UK's score of 35. Britain prefers letting things fall into place as the day progresses. They are quite content in dealing with whatever may prevail as compared to setting up laws to try controlling events. Management planning is light and flexible to emerging and changing environments.
Long-Term Orientation
The dimension describes how society has to maintain some links with its past while dealing with the present and future challenges. A high score indicates that a society prioritizes these two existential goals differently, branding it pragmatic where people believe that the truth depends very much on a situation, context and time, and show an ability to acclimatize traditions easily to changed conditions. Germany's high score of 83 directs that it is flexible to changing times (Hofstede Insights, 2018). The United Kingdom, however, records a neutral score of 51. It prefers to hold onto some of its old tradition, evident in the monarchy, while at the same time trying to blend current trends into the system. It strives to find a middle balance between the two existential goals (John, 2010).
Indulgence
This last dimension is defined as the degree to which people try to regulate their motives and impulses based on how they were bred. This is posed by the challenge of socialization, where there is a need to interact with other people who were brought up on different grounds and beliefs. Weak control of one's desires and impulses is called indulgence while a strong control is called restraint, both in relative measures. Germany has a low score of 40, indicating that it is restraint in nature (Hofstede Insights, 2018). Such societies show a cynicism and pessimism tendency. They do not put much importance on leisure time and tend to have a stable control of the gratification of their desires, observing social norms. However, the United Kingdom records a high score of 69, indicating its indulgent nature (Hofstede Insights, 2018). Individuals exhibit their willingness to realize their impulses and desires with regards to having fun and enjoying life. They possess a positive attitude and point towards optimism.
Legend:
Germany’s Statistics
The UK’s Statistics
Source: (Hofstede Insights, 2018)
References
Bridge, G., Butler, T., & Lees, L. (2012). Mixed communities (1st ed., pp. 104-112). Bristol: Policy Press.
Hofstede Insights. (2018). Compare countries . Retrieved from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/
John, P. (2010). Larger and larger? The endless search for efficiency in the UK. In Territorial Choice (pp. 101-117). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
