Cultursl Comparison

II) COMPARATIVE STUDIES

As our researches went on, we are now able to distinguish the three main fields defining the differences between Mexico and the countries of the Euro-Atlantic bloc: Comparative cultural values, national culture and organizational culture all together will help us understand how these differences affect how individuals react and interact facing changes in a particular organization.

Comparative cultural values

According to Edgar H. Schein: The culture of a group is "a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems". [reference: Schein (1992:12)]

It is obvious that countries share cultural aspects such as idioms, religions or history but considering the definition of culture proposed by Schein to which we add Hofstede's definition of his own expression "software of the mind": As soon as certain patterns of thinking, feeling and acting established within a person's mind, (s)he must unlearn these before being able to learn something different, and unlearning is more difficult than learning the first time". [reference: Hofstede (1991:4)]

We now see how cultural differences arise and can be problematic for a company facing organizational changes.

According to Hofstede Centre's studies [reference: Hofstede (2005:255-258)] with a score of 81 in Power Distance, Mexico is a hierarchical society so people accept a hierarchical order without needing further justification. It means that there is a strong legetimate power. Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat

Finland scores low on this dimension with a score of 33 which means that Finnish people are independent, power is decentralized and managers count on the experience of their team members. So there is a strong consultation power. Control is disliked and attitude towards managers are informal.

With a score of 30 in individualism dimension, Mexico is considered a collectivistic society meaning that there is a long-term commitment to their relatives and extended relations. In collectivist societies offence leads to shame and loss of face and employers can come to consider employees as family and vice-versa.

With a score of 91 on this dimension, the United States are a highly individualistic culture in which people look only after themselves and their immediate families. There is a high degree of acceptance od

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