LITHUANIA | Internship: At work | Cultural standards
Cultural dimensions in business life
Lithuanian society is formed out of three different generations. The elderly who have been born before the Inter-War Period or the Second World War; the generation, which grew up in Soviet times; and the younger generation who never experienced communism. These generations do not necessarily share the same values, norms or beliefs. According to the recent study of Maik Huettinger (2008), “research related to national identity of former Soviet Union members, was based mainly on stories, stereotypes and individual experience”. In terms of the Geert Hofstede national culture dimensions the traditional Eastern European societies are perceived as possessing high masculinity, low uncertainty avoidance, and strong collectivistic power structures.
Power Distance
Societies of high-power distance show tolerance in accepting power hierarchy, tight control, vertical top-down communication and even discrimination by gender, family background, education level, race and occupation. They rely heavily on authority, centralization and show great tolerance for the lack of autonomy which fosters inequalities in power and wealth. Lithuania ranks as low-moderate in power distance regarding work related values (Maik Huettinger, 2008).
Uncertainty Avoidance
It is defined as “the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations” (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). People of low uncertainty avoidance do not define explicit rules such as job descriptions and accept uncertainty without much discomfort. As they take risks much easier, they do not feel a strong need to control the environment or situations. Lithuania scores moderately for uncertainty avoidance. Lithuania scores very similar and shares its place with Germany (accordingly they take place 43-44) (Maik Huettinger, 2008).
Individualism
In individualistic societies, people prefer to act as individualists, rather than in groups. People develop a sense of autonomy and favour personal achievement. They therefore favour job specialization, a competitive entrepreneurial climate, individual performance orientated towards rewards, along with individual and nuclear family independence. On a list of 76 countries Lithuania ranks at the top. Lithuania is ranked 23-26 together with Poland, Luxembourg and Estonia (Maik Huettinger, 2008).
Masculinity and Femininity
It represents “the dominant sex role pattern in the vast majority of both traditional and modern societies” (Hofstede, 2001). Masculine societies have clearly distinct gender roles, where men are supposed to be assertive, tough and focused on material success. Women in this society are supposed to be modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life. According to the recent research Lithuania scores very low in Masculinity (Maik Huettinger, 2008).
According to the empirical research undertaken by Maik Huettinger (2008), the two dimensions, “power distance” and “uncertainty avoidance”, demonstrates that Lithuania scores very similar to the Germanic cluster. The two other dimensions, “individualism” and “masculinity” show how people behave in organizations (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). In this case Lithuania is located in the Scandinavian cluster.