Bus 600 Wk 2 Assignment Cultural Comparison

Cultural Comparison of France and Germany

Knowledge of the cultural habits in other countries can be very helpful to avoid problems when doing business internationally because there can be many ways that two countries are alike culturally as well as ways they are different from each other. To successfully conduct business internationally, it is important to avoid insulting people from another country by unintentionally breaking any of their usual customs. By understanding and following another country's customs, it will show mutual respect that can create very effective international business interactions.

This paper will look at the research information found in Geert Hofstede’s national culture dimension groups and utilize the individual country results for each dimension to compare and contrast the cultures of both France and Germany.

The Power Distance dimension is explained as “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (Hofstede, 2014). In the Power Distance dimension, France scored a 68 while Germany scored a 35. The score difference indicates that France places a higher importance on being in a position of power than Germany does. France’s education system offers a large number of entrepreneurial educational degree programs (Klapper, 2013). French company executives are less likely to be accessible to staff members than Germany executives (Hofstede, 2014).

The Individualism dimension is “the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members” (Hofstede, 2014). In the individualism dimension group, both countries have similar results. France scored a 71 and Germany close behind with a score of 67. The Hofstede (2014) information includes that it is unusual for a country to score high in both the Power Distance and Individualism dimensions as France has done.

The Masculinity dimension is explained by stating that “The fundamental...