International Cultural Management - United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, majorly known as the UK, forms the major and most widely known part of the western world. This document focuses on a study of the culture of the United Kingdom. Uses the model of Geert Hoefsted on the business culture which can give significant input regarding the prevailing situations in the UK.

International Cultural Management
A study on the culture of
The United Kingdom (UK)
Basic UK culture
The United Kingdom, majorly known as UK, forms the major and most widely known
part of the western world. It is constituted of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland. It happens to be a part of European Union, and major one at that
as well. With an approximated population of 63 million people and the dominant national
language set as English, the UK has come a long way in its history (passport to trade,
2014). The parliamentarian politics that the world follows today has been introduced by
the glorious revolution of UK. But even before it revolutionized the world politics, UK
made a major contribution towards building the modern world through the industrial
revolution. The introduction of railways, machineries and steam engines began from the
streets of UK and went ahead to the entire world. The culture of import and export with
the East India Company (EIC) was also initiated by the entrepreneurs of UK. Through
EIC, a healthy trend of competitive selling and low cost production has also begun. IT
pioneered the era of colonialism, which revolved around the idea of taking over
countries, extracting cheap raw materials from there and selling the high cost finished
goods back to them. Although the businesses in UK earned a lot in this era, yet it came
to an end with the World War 2, when tackling the colonies became way too much to
handle. But despite that, UK got to learn a lot from the experience of it. The trend of
profit motivation stayed in UK, and is still responsible for the competitive production in
the region. Hence the general standard of living in UK has improved. Since a very long
time, UK has hosted the best educational institutes in the world. The improved
conditions of the region can be largely related to the exceptional educational facilities
available there. As a result people immigrate to UK in pursuit of a better life. As
individuals from various nationalities, cultures and traditions moved to UK, the place
now hosts diverse people. Consequently, UK has many languages that are spoken
around, with English being the dominant mode of communication. As far as religion is
concerned, from Islam to Christianity, Buddhism to Judaism; many religions are being
followed in the region, with Christianity being the dominant one so far. The cultural
diversity can turn out to become a challenge at times, but the way UK has catered it
through tolerance and efficiency has yielded benefits to the country such that it is a
developed hub, where it could regressed into a chaotic warzone.
Hoefsted’s Dimensions
The model of Geert Hoefsted on the business culture can give significant input
regarding the prevailing situations in UK. The 6-D model gives criteria through which the
culture UK can easily be compared to that of Singapore, through the indices that have
been provided. It gives an in depth detail of the general and business cultures of the two
areas and the fact that how can they be so different, yet the same on the development
front (kwintessential).
Power Distance:
Power distance is the willingness of the people of a society to accept that the authority
in the region is not properly distributed. Being a developed country as it is, the fact that
UK is ranked 35 on the power distance index does not come as much of a shock

(Hofstede). This low score reflects the thought span of people and establishes that they
believe in minimizing the unequal distribution of power on an organizational level. This
result is interesting in particular as despite the monarchs existence, which automatically
creates a class system which propagates the birth right superiority, the people of UK
believes in everyone being given the same chance to excel. Where UK with its low
score of 35 at power distance index reflected the even distribution of power, Singapore
rates almost double at the same scale with its 74 points (O'Connor, 1995) .This shows
that not only the people of Singapore fail at accepting the inequality in organizations, but
they are also ready to accept the status quo. They refuse to take any action whatsoever
in attempting to cater it and improve their conditions. They have accepted their
situations and prefer to work in situations where they are given orders and are closely
monitored.
Individualism:
For a society to work, the roles of individuals are interconnected. Where some societies
are interdependent on each other, others are highly individual, who operate on basis of
people working for their own selves. The societies that make individuals independent
who work for themselves from an early age tend to score higher on the individualism
index. With a whooping 89, UK follows one of the most individual trends, in which the
children are taught from a very early age to take care of their own affairs and earn for
their own selves (Hofstede).The results of individualism of the two regions are different
as well. Where the people of UK were generally seen as self sufficient individuals who
were independent, Singaporeans do not follow the same trend. Hofstede’s model
highlights how diverse the two countries are, with UK scoring 89 while Singapore has a
meager 20.
Masculinity:
This is indicative of the society being a profit motivated competitive one or a nurturing
society which puts other individuals over monetary dominance. The difference in
approach has to do with the motivations of people and the upbringing of the society.
With its score of 66, UK happens to be a masculine region, where the people are
motivated by profit (Hofstede). The markets are highly competitive and people are
constantly pursuing higher levels of success (Ogbonna& Harris, 2000) . Perhaps this is
what makes the UK such a successful country in terms of business culture. The fact that
accomplishments and higher degree of success is at stake, makes the people
constantly strive for more. Singaporean business culture and the perspectives of people
are not as profit motivated as that of UK are. In fact the Singaporean culture is rather
moderate, leaning a little towards femininity, whereas UK had a strong masculine
culture. This shows that the former society is one that is more nurturing and caring. The
hofstede model has indexes that vary between the two countries. Where UK scored 66,
Singapore contrasted to its score with a 48.

Uncertainty Avoidance:
This dimension of the model is about the degree of risk that people are willingly taking.
Where countries with political and economic instability will see a high score on this
radar, the UK has a low 35 (Hofstede). This means that the people of UK are generally
ready for the uncertain challenges that they might have to face and are pretty confident
about the stability in the land. The political and economic situations of Singapore are
very stable. So much so that the people take little measures, if any, to cater risky
situations. This is because they keep on progressing, and have faith in their prevailing
situation. They have let go of their past and keep on thrusting forward using technology
and education. Hence they scored a low 8 on uncertainty avoidance scale where UK
had 35; and a high 72 on long term orientation while their rival had a 51 point score.
Long-term orientations:
The UK, with its moderate score of 51 on this horizon is rather unclear as to the side
that it takes (Hofstede). This dimension has to do about the links that the society has
with its past and how the past relates to the future that the culture may evolve into.
Where UK has grasped the modern culture by going for the new technologies and
educational systems, it has also held tightly to its traditional values of the nobility and
the monarch.
Indulgence:
Indulgence as part of the model has to do with the degree of control people have over
their impulses and desires. Some countries have cultures which support realization of
their desires, which is one step ahead of their needs, while others operate such that, the
people have to retrain their desires. The UK with its score of 69 is indicative of the fact
the society is indulgent (Hofstede). This means that people get to realize their desires
and earn enough to get more than their needs. They have the degree of freedom
required to get their personal wishes satisfied. The people of UK enjoy the liberty of little
restraint over their spending with a high level of indulgence. Singapore is somewhat
moderate on the indulgence scal (With 46 points) leaning slightly towards restraint.
Lifestyle
Keeping in view the results from Hofstede model, it can be seen that the people of UK
are living a rather comfortable and free life. They have the liberty to make their own
choices and pursue their own dreams. They can work their way up for self actualization
without their basic rights being put in jeopardy. The rule of their lives is simple. You reap
what you sow, meaning that the residents capitalize from their hard work. Where the
high prevailing competition and power hunger may be seen as a negative thing, this is
what boosts the economic activity and improves the standard and quality of products. In
order to meet their impulses and desires, people get motivated to earn more. For their
hard works, they reward themselves with the monetary satisfaction and that of self
actualization.
 Education:

Education in UK has always been a very selective issue. It has been the top most
priority of the society which has emerged on the intellectual fronts. The fact that UK
hosts the oldest and the highest ranked institutes of the world is proof of the high
standards of education in the region. The people have always given a high priority to
education. This is why primary education has been made compulsory for all individual
children of the country. The educational systems of UK have gone beyond the
boundaries of the country, and the educational systems of the Cambridge and Oxford
universities are followed all over the world. The sophistication, the decency and the
mannerism of the people has been largely inspired by the education that they have so
far achieved. Through their credentials on academic fronts, the people have worked
such that the country has advanced with the world. In fact UK has contributed to
pioneering the further advancement of the world. The literacy ratio in the country is
exceptionally high and the world has been following its lead. But the system works such
that the education does not make the youth dependant on anyone. The early education
is provided free of all costs. The further system is designed in a way that children are
given education loans to fund their tuition fees. For their daily needs, they get part time
jobs, where they work on their off days. In this way, a systematic approach is sorted out,
which makes the process of education a highly individualized one. The students do not
depend on their families for their needs. Instead they support their own selves and pave
a highly independent way to fund their education. As a result, the society gets to grow
on its own accord.
 Social Structure:
The social structure of the United Kingdom is a very well developed one. The UK is a
very old region, which has been working in accord to the traditions and values of the
area. The society has been working in a particular way since a very long time, and
those traditions are continuously being followed. These traditions have been embedded
in their culture such that the people have learnt to respect them and live with them. UK
has a rich history of the monarchs rule. The kings and queens of the land have ruled for
centuries. As a result, the social class distribution has hence been working accordingly.
The royalty, the nobility and the general population have been systematically divided.
This traditional system was somewhat changed in the glorious revolution. Although
democracy has evolved, yet the queen’s rule prevails. The royalty is still respected and
kept in high regard, although their authority is somewhat questionable. The social
stature of people has also changed. All men and women, regardless of their birth and
ancestors, are deemed equal. No one is seen as superior or inferior on basis of
materialistic differences. The contemporary world and its equality have made way to UK
as well. The society is highly unbiased and the people are seen as humans before.
Women are becoming more and more powerful, owing to the empowerment that
feminism has been bringing in. The society of UK has transitioned, from a rule of birth
right superiority to the one where everyone is seen and treated as equal. It is an
example of perfect growth from a suppressive society, to a model one for the rest of the
work to follow. A society which not only regards people as humans and as they are; but
also respect them for their worth and their history.

Bibliography
Hofstede, G. (n.d.). thehofstedecentre. Retrieved from geert-hofstede.com: http://geert-
hofstede.com/united-kingdom.html
kwintessential. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.kwintessential.co.uk:
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/singapore.html
O'Connor, N. G. (1995). The influence of organizational culture on the usefulness of budget
participation by Singaporean-Chinese managers .Accounting Organizations and Society , 383-
403.
Ogbonna, E., & Harris, L. C. (2000). Leadership style, organizational cultureand performance:
empirical evidence from UK companies. International Journal of Human Resource
Management .
passport to trade. (2014).Retrieved from businessculture.org:
http://businessculture.org/northern-europe/uk-business-culture/