Denmark and USA National Culture Essay Example

Denmark's culture is described under aspects of simplicity, politeness, and equality. The country does not emphasize the acquisition of high earnings, as it holds a view that showing off is a sign of arrogance. Again, during leisure or holiday, the people of Denmark tend to assume comfort when together a scenario termed as hygge. The politeness of these people is depicted by the type of polite greetings they accord to visitors. They give handshakes as they introduce themselves to strangers with their first names. The culture does not allow for locals to sit beside the strangers in a bus. The aspect of equality is exhibited by equal treatment of the citizens regardless of their gender. As such, both men and women are subject to equal payments as well as promotions. Therefore, Denmark has managed to fetch adequate revenue from her cooperative population for national development (Levisen, 2013). The paper gives an overview of the culture dimensions and the cultural layers of Denmark in comparison to those of the USA.

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The culture of the Danish is propelled by aspects that are similar to other cultures across the world. The propelling forces are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty, avoidance, long term orientation as well as an indulgence (Hofstede, 2009). Power distance which puts into consideration the differences that people possess. In a bid to bridge the gap between the powerful institutions within the country and the less powerful one's power distance is employed. The basic assumption is that less powerful organizations tend to feel left out. The extent to which they feel left out constitute the power distance. The power distance in Danish culture is rated quite low as compared to other countries. The low rating of 18 scores is usually attributed to the Danes believe in independence, equality, and reachability of those in senior positions. Contrastingly, power distance in the United States is relatively higher than in Denmark as it has a score of 40 (Hale,2007). The implication made is that a higher number of citizens in the less powerful organizations in the United States are not of the idea that power equitably distributed.

The degree of interdependence that society assumes among its members which constitutes individualism is at 74score while that of the united states is at 91. The implication is that the Danes identify themselves in groups that is their social framework are stronger than those of the united states. Again, collectiveness in the United States is relatively low as compared to Denmark as people take care of themselves and their immediate families alone. The high-level individualism in the united states can be attributed to the high degree of geographical mobility among the Americans resulting from losing touch among them.

The way society copes with uncertainties of tomorrow describes the dimension of uncertainty avoidance. The extent to which members of society fear for what is likely to happen in the future has resulted in the creation of beliefs and institutions that will curb the negative occurrences of tomorrow. The United States score 46 on the avoidance of uncertainties an aspect that is attributed to their willingness to try different and new things. On the contrary, Denmark scores 23 in matters of avoidance of uncertainties. The score implies that there is little to no need for structure and predictions in the lives of the Danes as they easily adapt to changes.

Long term orientation is another dimension of culture and which the Danes attain a score of 35 implying that their society is normative. As such the Danes have a fear of changing the societal norms and traditions. They, in turn, cling on to their long-time traditions. The score is an indication of the strong attachment the Danes have in the establishment of the absolute truth. The United States, on the other hand, depicts a lower score of 26 making an impression of they seek more truth through analysis of information than the Danes. Compared to the Danes, the Americas are more practical, and they have strong explanations behind what is wrong or right.

Another dimension of culture is indulgence which is the extent at which individuals strive to keep their desires in check about their upbringing. The united states pose a score of 68 which is above average and facilitated by the policy of working hard and playing hard in that there formal televangelists who appear to be of questionable morals. Denmark, on the other hand, has an indulgence score of 70 implying that the Danes are always willing to realize their willingness and desires as well as impulses to enjoy life and have fun a little more than the Americans. As such the Danes are optimistic and they attach a lot of importance towards leisure time.

The cultural layers in Denmark revolve around, the Danes visual reality of behavior, language, housing, food, language as well as the mode of dressing. The people of Denmark converse in the Danish language. Pork meat, hotdogs, bacon, mince are common Danish delicacies. Hotdogs and bacon are served as breakfast while cut off pork or mince with potatoes and gravy is the ideal Danish dinner. The cultural clothing of the Dani shares homemade wool or flax yarn and whose colors were made of vegetable dye. Men wore jerseys, long shirts, and jackets. Women wore leather dresses with leather buckles in the front.

The middle layer encompasses the values and norms held by the Danish. They encompass what they perceived as wrong or right. Equality, respect, perserverance, a high sense of mutual trust as well as freedom are key values among the Danish. As such the Danish prefer striking a balance between work and leisure. Also, most Danes perceive the church as an important cultural institution. Danish parents and their children participate in various cultural activities and those who keep them in touch with natured like bicycle riding (Kingsley, 2014).

The inner layer consists of basic assumptions. The regulations of dealing with the problems that the society faces, developing a clear understanding of our culture and what systems will aide working with other cultures.in a bid to provide a clear ground for interaction the Danish processes a high degree of etiquette and operate under cultural dimensions of masculinity, indulgence, long term orientation, and individualism . The Danish have a rich cultural heritage as well as cultural events. Denmark is a home of great architectural designs, artwork, movies, ballet dancing, and opera singing (Kingsley, 2014). Again, the lifestyle of the Danish is feared for its Viking warriors.

Conclusion

Overall, the culture of Denmark has resulted in the creation of an impression of the Danes as people who are open to the world, generous, happiest people and people with high business culture. The business culture is enhanced by its hardworking character. Their companies are always open for more ideas that will enhance innovation platforms. As a consequence, these companies are in a continuous search for markets for their products. A comparison of between Denmark and the united states shows different scores in cultural dimensions for each country as influenced by the various factors within these countries (Hofstede, 2009).

References

Hale, J. R., & Fields, D. L. (2007). Exploring servant leadership across cultures: A study of followers in Ghana and the USA. Leadership, 3(4), 397-417.

Hofstede, G. (2009). Geert Hofstede cultural dimensions.

Kingsley, P. (2014). How to Be Danish: A Journey to the Cultural Heart of Denmark. Simon & Schuster.

Levisen, C. (2013). Cultural Semantics and Social Cognition: A Case Study on the Danish Universe of Meaning. Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter.