5 differences in business between France and Germany
Although they are two neighboring countries, France and Germany differ in their respective cultures. But what is culture above all?
According to UNESCO, the culture of a country represents the set of distinctive features, spiritual and material, intellectual and emotional, that characterize a society or social group. Thus, in the world of work and business, the two cultures remain different. The Dutch philosopher Geert Hofstede has also worked at length on the subject, presenting 5 to 6 intercultural dimensions to be taken into account. Here are the 5 major intercultural differences between France and Germany.
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Comparison of the 6 intercultural dimensions between France and Germany according to Hofstede.
Source: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/
1. Hierarchical distance
This first dimension represents the degrees of distance from power and indicates the ability of individuals to accept/tolerate an unequal distribution of power. As you will have understood, the values of this dimension are not the same for France and Germany. For example, in Germany, tutoring will be easier to use in business, where voicing is a well-established habit in France. There is a strong hierarchical dimension in France (68%) against 35% for Germany. And on the contrary, Germany is one of the countries where the hierarchical distance remains low. In Germany, participatory management will be much more present than in France. Whereas in France, company employees will have less chance of taking part in decision-making.
2. Individualism
Individualism is a fairly simple term to understand. It represents the intensity by which individuals feel connected to the group. The higher these degrees, the more individualistic the country's culture is. Thus, an individualistic society represents the opposite of a society where the whole/ group matters. For example, China is a country where the dimension of individualism is low, since community matters more. To compare France and Germany, we can deduce from the “hierarchical distance” dimension that Germany is a less individualistic society. The two countries have similar degrees of individualism (67% for Germany against 71% for France, cf. chart). On the other hand, this difference remains less obvious than for other dimensions between countries.
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3. masculinity VS Femininity
A term that is at the very least definite and probably obsolete, the Dutch philosopher decided to emphasize this term to refer to the division of gender roles in a country. If the index is low, the company is a so-called “female” company according to Hofstede. If the index is high, society is “male.” The philosopher put forward the idea that there is a distinction between exclusively male roles and exclusively female roles. However, it must be taken into account that a so-called “feminine” society does not correspond to a society where the role of the sexes is clearly determined. In a “feminine” culture, social relationships, the environment, and humans are taken more seriously. On the contrary, in a “masculine” society, money and materialism are much more important values. France is One more society feminine Only masculine (43% of masculinity) when Germany has a score of 66%, which makes it a country whose culture is rather masculine.
4. Uncertainty control
This dimension is a bit more complicated to understand at first glance. Let's keep it simple and we'll use the United States as an example in the rest of this paragraph. Uncertainty control is the degree of tolerance a country has about “not being safe” and about ambiguity. How does a company manage the unknown, the unexpected? And above all, how a country reacts to anxiety about change There are companies that will reduce their risk of anxiety about the unexpected and the unknown. They will avoid uncertainty and will be much more clear-cut in their rules and with less flexibility in their laws for example. When a country is less tolerant of change, innovation happens more slowly or not at all depending on the country. The higher this index, the more the country is afraid of the unknown.
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If we compare the United States and France, and we have all heard it before, American culture is more focused on trying and getting started, even if it means not being afraid of a possible stumble. French people don't like surprises! France (86%) is almost half as tolerant of change compared to the US (46%). Using the first graph, and to compare France to Germany, you must take into account in your international development approach that Germany (65%) is more tolerant of changes than France. However, the two countries remain much more suspicious than the United States on this dimension.
5. Short-term orientation and long-term orientation
This dimension is similar to the previous one, namely the control of uncertainty, but will support certain points not mentioned. A company with a long-term vision is a company that will focus on its intensity in preparing for the future. Related efforts to prepare for the future will be more possible thana company with a short-term vision. The latter will be rooted in its habits and will emphasize its traditions and normality in the face of change. Again, this is another factor linked to the fear of change. Comparing France and Germany, again according to Hofstede, we notice that Germany is a country very oriented on a long-term vision (83%) whilst France, which remains a country oriented towards a long term vision as well but with smaller proportions (63%). Both countries will still think about saving, investing and staying disciplined in order to achieve their goals.
6. Indulgence in the face of severity (BONUS)
This new dimension, officially included in 2010 in the intercultural dimensions of Hofstede, complements the other 5. Do happiness and the pleasures of life exist in all moments of life and even at work? Do they have to be experienced explicitly? An indulgent society is a society whose individuals consider that happiness and joy of life are everyone's right and can be adapted and experienced in several areas of life..
On the other hand, severity will represent the fact that happiness and pleasures should serve as a deserved reward. According to cultureinworkplace.com, within a so-called “severe” societyRather, happiness, and enjoyment of life are seen as the hard-won rewards of moderation, restraint, duty, and putting aside your own needs, because life is not exactly 'funny'.” A temporal dimension of happiness therefore, where the joy of life must be “postponed in time.”. What about Germany and France? According to Hofstede, France gets a score of 48%. With a slightly lower value, Germany, for its part, gets a score of 40%. La France Is almost lenient and severe at the same time, when theGermany mostly keeps this dimension on the side of severity.. According to the Dutch philosopher, German society is more of a cynical and pessimistic type of society. Even if the low 48% of French indulgence, however, seem to show that French people enjoy life less than what is commonly used.
Well let's summarize: despite being two neighboring countries, whose intercultural dimensions remain similar, France and Germany have intercultural differences that should not be overlooked. France is a country whose society pays more attention to human beings and its environment, while Germany will focus more on money and material goods. The French hierarchical distance can culturally upset some of our German neighbors, because in Germany participatory management and relationships are much more entrenched. Let us not forget that German society is a much more collectivist society than French society that tends towards individualism. Finally, it is important to note, in your development process on the German market, that Germany is less “fearful” in the face of the unknown and will be more focused on innovation and change than France.
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