1. Finland & Nigeria
Hofstede’s Dimensions
Layer of Culture
Parson’s Dimensions

3. • Hofstede’s dimensions are
1. Power distance
2. Individualism versus collectivism
3. Masculinity versus femininity
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. Long-term versus short-term orientation

4. FINLAND NIGERIA
POWER DISTANCE Being independent, hierarchy for People accept hierarchical order
convenience, equal rights, superiors which everybody has place and needs
accessible, coaching leader, management no further justification.Hiererchy in
facilitates and empowers. Power is organization is reflecting inherent
decentralized. Employees expect to be inequalities,centralization is
consulted. popular.Ideal boss is benevolent
Control is disliked and attitude towards autocrat.
managers are informal.
INDIVIDUALISIM / Individualistic society. Collecivist society.Extended familly
High preference for a loosely-knit social and relationship.Loyalty is important
COLLECTIVISM framework in which individuals are and over-rides other societal rules and
expected to take care of themselves and regulations.Everyone takes
their immediate families only. Offence responsibility for fellow members of
causes guilt and a loss of self-esteem.The their group.Offence leads to shame
employer/employee relationship is a and loss of face.Employer/employee
contract based on mutual relationships are perceived in moral
advantage, hiring and promotion decisions terms (like a family link), hiring and
are supposed to be based on merit promotion decisions take account of
only, management is the management of the employee’s in-
individuals. group, management is the
management of groups.
MASCULINITY / Feminine society.Working in order to Masculine society.People live to work.
live.managers strive for consensus, people Managers are expected to be decisive
FEMININTY value equality, solidarity and quality in and assertive, the emphasis is on
their working lives. Conflicts are resolved equity, competition and performance
by compromise and negotiation.Effective and conflicts are resolved by fighting
manager is supportive.Decision making them out.
with involvement.

5. FINLAND NIGERIA
UNCERTAINITY AVOIDANCE Medium high prefernce for Preference for avoiding
uncertainity avoidance. uncertainity.
Maintaining rigid codes of belief Same with Finland.
and behaviour and are intolerant
of unorthodox behaviour and
ideas.People have an inner urge to
be busy and work hard, precision
and punctuality are the norm,
innovation may be resisted,
security is an important element in
individual motivation.
LONG /SHORT TERM Short term orientation culture. Short term orientation culture.
exhibits great respect for Same with Finland.
ORIENTATION traditions, a relatively small
propensity to save.Strong concern
with establishing the Truth i.e.
normative.

6. • Layers of culture for Finland(outer-middle-inner layer)
• Finland
Behavior:Talk in moderate tones and do not do anything to call attention to yourself.
Serial conversation is the rule - i.e. listen to the speaker, wait for them to finish and
then reply. Interrupting is rude.Food/Eating:Finnish cuisine has western European,
Scandinavian and Russian elements. Lunch is between 11.00 and 13.00.Evening meals
at home are 17.00-18.00.Meal concludes with coffee. Language:Finnish is main
language but also they know Swedish,all traffic signs have Finnish and Swedish
explanation. English is widely spoken in Finland.French, Spanish and Russian are
popular in school and among adults.Greeting:When greeting, the parties shake hands
and make eye contact.Finnish handshake is brief and firm, and involves no supporting
gestures such as touching the shoulder or upper arm.
Finns have a strong sense of national identity.
There is a long tradition of sexual equality in the sense that women's participation in
political activity and public life has been encouraged.
Respecting old people,taking care of poors,disabled people are important.
Most people in Finland are at least nominally members of a Christian church.

7. • Nigeria
 The culture of Nigeria is shaped by Nigeria's multiple ethnic Western influences,
especially in urban centers, have transformed Nigerian eating habits in many ways.
People are familiar with the canned, frozen, and prepackaged foods found in most
Western-style supermarkets. Foreign restaurants also are common in larger cities.
Food in Nigeria is traditionally eaten by hand. However, with the growing influence
of Western culture, forks and spoons are becoming more common. groups.
 Soccer is extremely popular among the youth. The music of Nigeria includes many
kinds of folk and popular music.
 Men are dominant over women in all areas. A handshake and a long list of well
wishes for a counterpart's family and good health are expected when meeting
someone. Shaking hands, eating, or passing things with the left hand are
unacceptable. The left hand is reserved for personal toiletries and is considered
dirty. It is estimated that 50 percent of Nigerians are Muslim, 40 percent are
Christian, and the remaining 10 percent practice various indigenous religions.

8. • Parson’s Dimension
1. Universalism versus Particularism
2. Individualism versus Communitarianism
3. Neutral versus Emotional
4. Specific versus Diffuse
5. Achievement versus Ascription

9. FINLAND NIGERIA
Universalism versus Particularism Finland has universalist culture. Nigeria has particularist culture.
Believing ideas and practices can be Legal contracts aare modified.People get
applied everywhere without to know each other better.People
modification.Focusing on more change the way in which deals are
formal rules than relationships. executed.
Individualism versus They have individualistic culture. They have communitarianist culture.
Communitarianism
Neutral versus Emotional They have emotional culture. Nigeria has more emotional culture than
Finland.Smile a great deal, talk loudly
when they are excited, and greet each
other with a great deal of enthusiasm.
Specific versus Diffuse Finland has diffuse culture. Nigeria has more diffuse culture than
individuals guard their public space Finland.
carefully. People are notquickly
invited into a person’s open, public
space. Individuals in these cultures
often appear to be indirect and
introverted, and work.
Achievement versus Ascription Finland has achievement culture. Nigeria has ascription culture. based on
Finnish culture gives high status to age, gender,or social connections. For
high achievers,such as the example, in an ascription culture, a
company’s number-one person who has been with the company
salesperson. for 40 years may be listened to carefully
because of the respect that others
havefor the individual’s age and
longevity with the firm.