National Culture

Professor Geert Hofstede has defined National Culture as the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others (National Culture: Hofstede Insights, n.d.) Hofstede breaks down culture into 6 different dimensions. They are Power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation, and indulgence. I will compare these 6 different dimensions between Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Power distance
The term power distance means the degree to which citizens in the society within a country agree or co-operate within certain levels of power. Depending on which country it is power is either distributed equally or unequally

In the society of the UAE identity and loyalty to a group of people is of most importance. Loyalty to a group and maintaining flow and order within a group is more important than social norms and moral matters. These may be close long-term relationships with groups such as family, and other groups like those work related or dealing with religion. They put the needs of others within a group before themselves, and work mainly for the betterment of the group. On the other hand Canada scores, the highest score in this dimension with a score of 80. This means that Canada is a very individualistic society. Everyone in the Canadian society are seen as independent and should be able to fend for themselves. People are expected to shown their interest in anything that they are doing and it would be better if everyone were to fend for themselves. They put a lot of value in the idea of hard work, and a lot of value into people’s free time and

This may sometimes bring anxiety or panic within a society, and people within cultures have created institutions and beliefs so they can have a guided control to where the future is headed. A country with high uncertainty avoidance means that they don’t not like change and would try to guide the future. However, a country with a low uncertainty avoidance does not mind not knowing the future and loves change. Canada in the dimension if uncertainty has a score of 48 which means they have a low uncertainty avoidance and are more accepting of the unknown future. Therefore, Canada is accepting of new concepts and ideas, it is ready to try new ideas and innovative products. Also in Canada people are open to hear different perspectives and ideas from those in all walks of life. However the UAE has a score of 80 in the dimension of uncertainty avoidance. This shows how much this society does not like change at all. The UAE live their live strictly on rules and beliefs especially from religion. The UAE is way more conservative than Canada and are not open to new ideas and way of think. The people believe that they are fine and are doing well the way their life is