Poland Culture Paper

With globalization, the characteristics of a country’s culture have been vital in the study of business practices. This is primarily due to the rationale that business practices vary extensively as a function of culture. We examine the characteristics of Poland’s culture using the Hofstede’s dimensions of culture. Hofstede’s dimensions of culture have become the most famous study of various effects across culture.

The first dimension, Power distance, is “the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally” (1). In a society with a lower power distance, members are not seen as very fearful of authorities. Poland’s power distance ranking of 61suggests that in Poland there is a medium level of inequality of power and wealth within the society (Appendix A).

The second dimension, Uncertainty Avoidance, measures “the extent to which different cultures socialize their members into accepting ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty” (1). As we can see from Appendix A, Poland’s uncertainty avoidance ranking of 84 suggests that Poland emphasis greatly on reducing uncertainty avoidance using strict laws and rules, safety and security measures and religious beliefs. “Religion plays an important role in the Polish society and is deeply intertwined with Polish culture” (3).

The third dimension, Individualism and Collectivism, focuses on “the relationship between the individual and his or her fellows” (1). Poland’s individualism ranking of 65 suggests that the ties between individuals are loose where everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his/ her immediate family. The family is the centre of the social structure. One’s obligation is to the family first and foremost. The Polish society encourages strong connections where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group.

The fourth dimension, Masculinity versus Femininity refers to the “relationship...