UNCERTAINTY
AVOIDANCE
Uncertainty
versus avoidance is defined as the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened
by uncertain or unknown situation. This is among five dimensions of Hofstede
and it is the most difficult one to explain in a Cultural Awareness Training.
Reason being is that most people seem to associate Uncertainty Avoidance with
only formal rules and nothing else.
HIGH
AND LOW UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
·
Few rules, little structure: makes
sense, right?
·
Entrepreneurial: starting your own
business is seen as very normal; the same goes for risk taking (no guts, no
glory)
·
Stress-free: people experience life as
being relatively stress free.
·
Cool, calm and collected; there is a
premium in society to look cool, calm and collected. Think of the British stiff
upper lip
.
Examples of low scoring country;
Tanzania
HIGH UNCERTAINTY
AVOIDANCE
·
Structure, rules, expertise: makes sense
too, right? But not only formal rules like the maximum speed on the freeway,
but also informal rules like how do you do properly poor a glass of wine and
taste it.
·
Security (avoidance the unfamiliar):
rather than taking risks, people prefer that what they know already.
·
Hectic: life is being perceived as
hectic and stress full. Pretty much from all angles.
·
Emotions/passion: showing your emotions
is seen as a way to blow off steam. Consider a minor car collision in Rome
(high scoring) versus London (low scoring). Example of high scoring country is
Tanzania as a case study.
And
other examples of counties are;
Greece
Belgium
Russia
Italy
Korea
Mexico
RISK OR NO RISK?
Low
scoring cultures are generally higher risk takers than high scoring countries.
Examples are the credit crisis that started in the US (a relatively low scoring
country). Versus Belgium a very high scoring culture where the level of risk
involved in mortgages is pretty much zero.
By KINGALU AVIN
BAPRM 42697
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