by Javier Vinsome
Culture is a fascinating aspect of our day to day work that many of us aren’t even aware of. What is Canadian business culture? Many of us know it, without actually knowing because we grew up in Canada and the cultural norms are ingrained behaviors that we do without even thinking about it!
Dr. Geert Hofstede created a series of indexes to study dimensions of culture for each country: Power Distance Index, Individualism vs. Collectivism, Masculinity vs. Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, Long Term vs. Short Term Orientation and Indulgence versus Restraint.
The Hofstede model can provide cultural insights to help define “what is culture and how is it defined?”
If you want to see where Canada falls in this category, and other cultural index categories you can look here:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/canada/
This site allows you to compare indexes of cultural dimensions across different countries using the comparison country drop-down menu. You can compare two and even three countries side by side.
What can this tool tell you?
If you are an internationally educated professional, or perhaps someone interested in hiring one, it can give you an indication of the dimensions of the culture of the home country compared to Canada. This can help in recognizing, and reconciling cultural differences you may encounter in the workplace.