Theory discussion based on Greet Hofstede tools
In this post I am going to make a cultural comparison about Finland and China by using chart tool of Greet Hofstede. Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on national values, introducing the dimension concept. His most popular book, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, has been translated into 20 different languages.
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. it is obvious that Finnish style is being independent, hierarchy for convenience only, equal rights. Finnish really are independent. Unlikely to China, China scores high on power distance which means power distribution is highly unequal. As a matter of fact, the gap between the rich and the poor is increasingly being expanded.
Individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. Finnish people are independent. However, China highly followings collectivism which leads to hit the bottom of individualism.
Finland scores 26 on tmasculinity , thus it is considered a Feminine society. Feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. Therefore in Finland, people hardly make comparison with others and focus only on own life quality. In contrast, from the figure we could see that China have a high score on masculinity. people in China do care more about achievement on career or study. At the same time, they pay less attention and effort to improve the quality of life or even health. At home, parent ask children to study hard so that they could have decent job in the future, but they care less about the enjoyment of their childhoods. At school, students compare with others by academic performance. After stepping into society, they judge people by the jobs. Honestly this phenomenon is really awful.
66 scores for Finland in uncertainty avoidance means that Finnish are more like to avoid uncertainty. They are highly-organised planner. But China is quiet different.
Long term orientation shows how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future. China scores much more higher here. Chinese adapt traditions easily to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.
For Indulgence dimension, Finnish people classified by a high score in Indulgence generally exhibit a willingness to realize their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. However, China has low score of 24 because they do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires, they are pushed to study or work.