L'Espagne (document en anglais)

THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE

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THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE

CULTURAL TOOLS

CULTURAL SURVEY

OCS LIGHT

MOBILE APPS

COUNTRY COMPARISON

CULTURE & STRATEGY

NATIONAL CULTURE

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

PUBLICATIONS

FAQ

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in Intercultural Management and Organisational Culture by

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Spain

57

51

42

86

48

44

Spain

PowerDistance

Individualism

Masculinity

UncertaintyAvoidance

Pragmatism

Indulgence

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What about Spain?

If we explore the Spanish culture through the lens of the 5-D Model, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of Spanish 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.

Spain’s score on this dimension (57) is a high score, which means that Spain has a hierarchical society. This means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organisation is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralisation is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat.

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.

Spain, in comparison with the rest of the European countries (except for Portugal) is Collectivist (because of its score in this dimension: 51). However, compared with other areas of the world it is seen as clearly individualist. This has made Spaniards quite easy to relate with certain cultures -mainly non European- whereas other cultures can be perceived as aggressive and blunt. On the other hand, teamwork is considered as something totally natural, employees tend to work in this way with no need for strong motivation from Management.

Masculinity

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

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