Understanding Cultural Differences between Spain and the US
...onment will change drastically around them or they encourage change for their personal gain. The U.S. culture has relatively few rules. There are set turnover rates for most authoritative positions and the population usually has some degree of control over the selection of personnel for those positions. There is a greater level of tolerance for a variety of ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. The United States’ culture is primarily masculine, although the culture is shifting towards femininity. In the past decades, the degree of gender differentiation has lowered significantly. The female population has become more competitive with the male population, especially concerning business roles. The United States’ highest dimension is individualism. You and your immediate family are your primary concerns. This individualistic attitude leads to self-reliance and loose bonds. While this attitude helps many people to accomplish extraordinary feats, it can also lead people to have a “me first” attitude which can lead to unethical behavior and bad decisions. A person’s environments and relationships can suffer if their only concern is him or herself. Work can become a competition with friends and competition between friends often will put a strain on the relationship. Long-term orientation concentrates on the degree the society embraces or does not embrace long-term devotion to traditions (Geert Hofstede). The Spanish culture has a long-term orientation and traditions are very important in Spain. There are many parties, celebrations, and events in which people get involved. On the other hand, the Spanish business environment has a shorter-term orientation. People are focused on the present. For instance, people are not focused on saving money, which is why many individuals in Spain are in debt. Spanish people are not focused on future events, especially concerning business. Because of the influence of traditions, outsiders might have a difficult task finding new business partners. The Spanish like to have longer business relationships. On the other hand, an outsider with an established relationship should not have to worry about loosing their relationship with the Spanish. Spain, like the United States, has a low power distance. Their society de-emphasizes the differences between citizen’s power and wealth. Spain is a society where equality and opportunity is stressed for everyone. For instance, everyone is granted access to the public university. “The government subsidizes the education, so any person, no matter the social class, can go to the university if he or she makes an effort” (Geert Hofstede). Spain is considered to have a high uncertainty avoidance level. This means that the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity (Geert Hofstede). This creates a rule-oriented society that institutes laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty. There are many norms and rules that regulate the business life in Spain. The companies do not have the freedom to do what they want because they are restricted by such norms. Unlike the United States, Spain has a low masculinity ranking. This indicates that Spain has a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders. In this culture, females are treated equally to males in all aspects of society. Females have many leading roles in the Spanish culture. People in Spain prefer quality of life to materialistic possessions. Individuals work to live but do not live to work. Family and social relationships are very important. People make a great effort to have plenty of time to spend with their family and friends. Spain does however have an increasing amount of masculine features. Materialism is increasing as the business environment speeds up and opportunities to gain personal wealth present themselves. Spain has a collectivist nature with close ties between individuals. This is a culture which reinforces extended families and in which everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group (Geert Hofstede). Social relationships are very important in Spain. Meal times are centered more around conversation and interaction. Those meal times also take much longer so that plenty of time is available for the interaction. While the United States’ short-term orientation is much more extreme than Spain’s transitioning time orientation, the Spanish business environment is pulling Spain’s orientation towards a short-term orientation. With more opportunities arising in both cultures everyday, opportunities to do business between the two cultures will become available. Spain has a culture of high uncertainty while the United States has a culture of low uncertainty. This is, possibly, the biggest difference between the cultures. An American entering the Spanish market or entering into a partnership with someone in Spain may be very surprised or confused by the amount of laws, regulations, and rules that they will have to take into account when doing business in Spain. The United States masculine society is currently shifting towards the feminine culture that exists in Spain. At the same time however, the opposite is happening in Spain. Their culture, which has always been predominately feminine, is shifting towards masculine characteristics. Another major difference between the cultures is the United States’ individualism and Spain’s collectivism. American’s drive for personal gain is so much higher than Spaniards drive for personal gain. The people of Spain are not nearly as self-centered as Americans. This difference could be a major speed-bump in many business relationships between the cultures if not taken into consideration. Both cultures have a low power distance. This means that both societies put value on the ideas of equality and opportunity. These countries, with this one shared belief, can have a profitable and long-lasting business relationship. All similarities can help build bridges between business cultures but believing in equality means that relationships can form on many different levels between the societies. In understanding the difference in the business cultures between the two nations, it is important to pay close attention to the main business etiquettes. Business attire, public behavior, and the process of making deals or negotiations are some of the main features in the business environment. Based on what is considered business dress in the country, Spaniards are extremely dress conscious and relate attire to professional achievements and social standings (Aspiring Spaniard’s Guide). They favor formal attire at all times. This behavior is different in the United States where formal attire is common in most areas of the eastern part. In the west, Americans tend to favor casual and comfortable business attire (Executive Planet). Another difference arises between the two cultures based on gender as well. Women are expected to wear attire that should not emphasize their physical sexuality in Spain (Executive Planet). They are not supposed to wear attires that articulate their body figures (Alonso Interview). This attitude of dress code would have different outlook in the United States. The working environments in The United States are structured with rules, regulation, laws, and rights, especially pertaining to the idea of gender discrimination. This feature of Spanish culture would be highly challenged in the United States work place due to its possible inclination towards gender discrimination. Therefore there are not many rules and regulations separately defining the two genders, including business attire. Under these atmospheres, Business suits are often the standard attire for both women and men in the United States. When off duty, Americans usually wear casual clothing depending on the activity. If, for instance engaged in sport activities, casual shorts and polo shirts are acceptable in the United States. In Spain, shorts worn during any kind of business meeting are completely unacceptable (Executive Planet). This belief is based on the custom that men are not supposed to expose too much skin and so it is considered vulgar (Alonso Interview). When business attire is used to make a good first impression, exhibiting good and acceptable public behavior of the particular culture helps in avoiding communication barriers. One of ...