A Breakdown of Culture

In a dictionary you may find culture defined as “a society’s unique set of values and norms that govern how people live and interact,” but from what I have learned in class, there is more to the definition than the surface levels to culture that we can declare as stereotypical when thinking of the norms in a different country. On the surface, culture also embodies the values, the invisible rules that define right and wrong, as well as assumptions. Assumptions are often confused with stereotypes, but these are the understandings of culture and contain inferences on common understandings of key issues about the world, human nature, roles and relationships, reality, time, etc.

 

One of the concepts in my class, Globalization and Business (IBUS 310), is how a culture can have a large impact on how a country functions, the level of productivity in a country, and the different observances that can be found inside of a work culture. One of the frameworks that we used in class to compare the cultural effect on business between two countries was the Hofstede Framework. The Hofstede Framework balances 6 cultural dimensions within a country: Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative orientation (LTO),  and Indulgence versus Restraint (IND) as seen in my notes down below. 

 

One of the biggest events that happened while I was abroad was the country of Chile was mourning and remembering the 50th anniversary of the US-backed military coup that unseated President Allende in 1973. This was an event that found many civilians being tortured, and executed and many people are still missing to this day. The Pinochet administration was corrupt but was placed into power as President Allende had a socialist-based agenda for his presidency and many larger economies were fearful of his success as this was during the fight against socialism in the Cold War.

 

During the week of the remembrance, I went to the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos, to see artifacts from this tragic time and learn more about the history and foreign involvement. It was truly saddening to see and hear the stories of survivors and those who still have family members missing. On the day of September 11th, I walked to the National Stadium, a historic structure that is often associated with where citizens were kept and tortured after being taken from their homes, the most notable is singer Victor Jara, whose story is now a documentary on Netflix. In front of the stadium, thousands of people gathered to mourn together those who were still missing but at the same time, others were singing, dancing, and laughing with music playing as they celebrated 33 years in a democracy.

 

This was the moment that I finally understood the culture and just how impactful this dictatorship had on a country even after 50 years, as seen in my journal entry below. Graffiti decorates the streets covering everything from the outside of churches to just a fence outside of someone’s home. During the dictatorship, freedom of expression was incredibly limited, and many spoke out about their beliefs or demanded change through graffiti and artwork and it is still a prominent way to speak your beliefs today. Additionally, there is a large sense of national pride within Chile. Starting from the dictatorship where it was not allowed to be called a “dictatorship” but rather “the government of Pinochet.” Today, their Independence Day celebrations are rivaling the crowds of a US state fair because a large amount of the population lived through this hard time, and those who hadn’t heard about it and have lived in the aftermath their whole life, and their Independence Day is a time to celebrate their freedoms and spend time with the people in your life.

 

The culture had changed after the dictatorship, but history has given a perfect explanation of why Chile ranks within the Hofstede Framework. During the dictatorship, there was a high-power distance (PDI) that still exists today within the workforce but is seen even more now with social classes post-dictatorship. There is a general acceptance of the hierarchical order in both the workforce and in society and that is rarely questioned. In the United States, we strive to create a more equalization of power or wage and frequently call out the inequalities of power, whereas this was not a very typical response in Chile.

 

The most understanding as a result of the dictatorship is the high uncertainty avoidance index (UAI). For example, the United States currently scores as 46 on the UAI index. Chile scores 86 out of 100. By definition, it means that they “maintain codes of belief and behavior and are intolerant of unorthodox behavior and ideas.”  From my experience with living with a host family as well as observing some of the things my friends had said, Chile functions with traditional gender roles within the home, with mothers spending time to cook and clean for the family and the fathers working and fixing things around the house. 

 

This was not seen by my host family, but many of the older generations would physically stop and stare at us “gringos” on the street, and in social settings, we would get questioned about why we were in Chile. The xenophobia is less expressed in the younger generations but since Chile was closed off during the dictatorship, many older generations find it harder to enjoy tourism to the country or to be welcoming to diversity or different cultures as expressed through the high UAI rating.

 

Finally, Chile was ranked to be more on the side of Short-Term Normative Orientation. This means that as a society, they value long-standing traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. In the month of September, from the first day of the month, starts a month-wide celebration to honor their Independence Day on the 18th.  The parties we attended to celebrate were more than just a barbeque at someone’s house or a church picnic, it was state fair-sized celebrations with dancing, music, food, and a welcoming to all who wanted to celebrate. We went with my host sibling on the night of the 18th to celebrate with the event’s themed drink, conveniently named a Teremoto, and danced with strangers and celebrated with traditional music. This yearly tradition was bigger than Christmas in the United States and is the perfect example of how much the Chileans honor their traditions.

 

When I first learned about Hofstede’s Framework, I didn’t think it was an accurate way of looking at intercultural management but spending nine months in a different country made me reflect on that statement and opened my mind to the different things that I experienced or observed. In the future, I want to explore a career that allows me to work closely with a Latin American division or branch, and by understanding culture as defined by the Hofstede Framework it will be easier to assimilate the different work cultures as well. 

 

In addition to having a professional learning curve, the framework allowed me to break down the culture on a personal level. Being able to understand the culture and identify why it is the way it is made it so much easier for me to adjust and overcome the challenges of living in a different country and will benefit the way I approach working with other countries in the future. Having a transnational mindset allows anyone to adapt to different cultures as a greater phenomenon that impacts human nature and behavior toward key issues in the world. Once I was able to start to adapt to the culture, I was able to connect the concepts from my classes and identify them in the new world around me and grow in understanding how Chile frames the world.