Cultural dimensions in business life: Hofstede's indices for Latvia and Lithuania

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the culture dimensions of young Latvians and Lithuanians in accordance with Geert Hofstede's indices. These culture characteristics are discussed from the perspective of their similarity with Estonia and the Scandinavian countries.Design/methodology/approachThe research is part of the Hofstede national culture studies. The survey is based on more than 800 questionnaires, which were handed out to students in Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden. The Swedish scores were used to calibrate the Lithuanian and Latvian values to the existing Hofstede database.FindingsThe study shows that respondents of both countries score very similar for all five dimensions of the Hofstede model: power distance moderate low, moderate for uncertainty avoidance, very low for masculinity, individualism moderate‐high, and very low in long‐term orientation.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical research was limited to participants who classified themselves as belonging to the dominating ethnic class. Ethnical minorities were excluded – however they might have a considerable influence in daily business life. A second weakness might be that the students sample represents the values of young Lithuanians and Latvians – the future society of the countries. An examination of the majority of population who grew up with communist ideology might have shown different results.Practical implicationsThe results of the study have shown that the three Baltic countries score pretty uniformly and much more similar to Scandinavia than Russia and/or Poland. International business actors should therefore include the Baltics in their Nordic strategy – rather than adding them to central and eastern Europe.Originality/valueThe main value of this study is that the Hofstede methodology was for the first time applied for Latvia. The results for Latvia and Lithuania were meanwhile reviewed by Prof. Hofstede and included into his database.

The role of cultural dimensions of international and Dutch students on academic and social integration and academic performance in the Netherlands

“…The assignment of students to cultural dimensions was based on nationality data available, whereby for 51 countries the cultural dimension scores of Hofstede were available. In addition, scores for Latvian and Lithuanian students were based upon calculations by Huettinger (2008). As a result, for 1275 students cultural dimensions scores were available, whereby the largest group of international students came from Germany (35%), followed by China (4%), Belgium (3%), Poland, France, USA, Indonesia and Iran (each 1%).…”

The Identification of Cultural Diversity Factors in Swaziland’s Public Schools

“…Long term/short term orientation with regards to tradition and concern with the effect of actions and policies on future generations Adapted from Huettinger, (2008) …”

Cultural Context of Career Management in Civil Service

“…G. Hofstede identifies 5 main dimensions according to which all the cultures of the world are different. The study on the Lithuanian culture shows that the Lithuanian respondents demonstrate the following levels of: power distance -moderate low, moderate high for uncertainty avoidance, very low for masculinity, individualism moderate-high, and very low in long-term orientation (Huettinger, 2008). In this context the following question is relevant: how the levels of expression of the main cultural dimensions influence the career development processes on the part of individuals and on the part of organizations.…”