The Dutchculture The Dutch culture is in general a very openminded, individual and well-developed culture looking at human rights and theequal relation between genders.
In the Netherlands, the power isdecentralized and managers listen and work together with their team members andemployees and they take their experiences into account. The communication in acompany is informal, direct and participative. Another characteristic in theDutch culture is to be independent, everyone has the same rights and the leaderis more like a coach to the employees and team members. This is understood as alow power distance.In the Netherlands, people are expected totake care the most of themselves and their closest family. They have a verystrong individualism.
In a company, the relationship between employees is basedon a contract on mutual advantage and not because they belong to the same’group’ or work for loyalty. Their self-image is defined in “I” and not in”We”. The Netherlands is an Individualist society.
In terms of Uncertainty avoidance, theNetherlands prefer slightly to avoid uncertainty, but it is still very mixedand do not apply to the whole population. Not everyone has a strong need forrules and represent the will to be busy and work hard. The motivation of the Dutch population isnot the pursuit of being the best, but to like what they are doing. That meansthat the Netherlands is a Feminine society. They like to keep a good work/lifebalance and conflicts are discussed until you solve them by finding acompromise. The Dutch culture has a pragmatic natureand a long-term orientation, they take efforts in modern education to preparewell for the future.
They easily change traditions to change conditions andthey believe that there is not only one truth, but it depends on the situation,context and the time. In the Netherlands, small children aresocialized with relatively weak control. This means that the Dutch culture isan Indulgent culture. They have a strong pursuit to realize their impulses andto do what they like the most and to enjoy life. Just like in the femininesociety they want to have a good balance between work and life. https://www.
hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-netherlands,poland/Typical symbols for the Netherlands aretulips, cows, dikes, gouda cheese, windmills and canals. One of the most popular artists, Vincentvan Gogh was Dutch. In the Dutch history, William I, Prince ofOrange also known as the father of the fatherland, was the main leader of theDutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs what resulted in the independence ofthe United Provinces. Different to many other cultures, theNetherlands celebrate the Sinterklaas more than Christmas. The Polishculture In the Polish culture, people accept to workand live in a hierarchical society.
Everyone has their place and employees expectto be told what to do. In organizations is not an equal climate, and differentto the Dutch culture centralization is common. They have a big power distance.Poland has an Individualist society, whichmeans that it is common to take care only of yourself and your closest family. Acrime makes people feel guilty and they lose their self-esteem. Therelationship in a company between the employer and the employees is based on amutual advantage contract.
The mix of high power distance and individualism isa contradiction, which creates a specific relationship, that is hard to managein the beginning. The manager needs to communicate on a second level, to have apersonal contact to all of the employees to give them the idea of everybodybeing important for the organization in an unequal way. In the Polish culture, it is preferred toavoid uncertainties. They have a strong need for rules, working hard, beingbusy and in time, because time is money.
Also, it is important for theindividual motivation of polish people to be aware of security. Poland is a Masculine society, what meansthat they live in order to work. Thy have a strong pursuit to success. In thissociety is a huge competition and conflicts are usually resolved by fightingthem out and not by discussing and finding a compromise.
Polish people are more normative in theirthinking and it is very important in this culture to always say the absolutetruth. Additional, they care a lot about traditions and do not want to work forthe future, but they focus on working fast and achieving results in a shortperiod of time. They are short-term oriented. The polish culture is not indulgence, theyare restraint. That means that people tend to be pessimism and do not try torealize their desire.
They need control and rules also in their social life. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-netherlands,poland/One of the polish symbols is thewhite-tailed eagle shown in the coat of arms of Poland.They have some common mottos written onflags and banners such as “for our freedom and yours” and “God, Honor,Fatherland”.
