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Iceland-Cultural Dimension

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Power Distance

The power distance measure has been a great tool in deciding how to manage our business structure since it is a measure of the distribution of power and wealth between people in a nation. Iceland has very little difference in working class, since income is distributed evenly which is the main reason for its low score. Canada also has a low score in power distance as well, so we will implement the same decentralized business structure to help utilize the employees’ variety of knowledge and skills to make the correct business decisions.

- Individualism
“I’m sorry to interrupt you but I think I got a better point”
Icelanders tend to be known as individualistic, independent, friendly and open-minded people with responsibility for one’s self being one of the highest values in Icelandic socialization.
On the business side of things, employees are expected to be independent and display initiative which makes for an excellent workforce.
Icelanders also have strong family ties, and like to celebrate national holidays and special events,
Therefore It would be great to be aware of national holidays such as Icelandic National Day on June 17th Trading day on August 06…..

– Uncertainty Avoidance
Iceland has low uncertainty avoidance, due to their adverse natural environment, the ever changing weather, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions make it very difficult to avoid uncertainty. However, low uncertainty avoidance nations have been known to report greater happiness and a survey confirms this as Denmark is the only other European nation to be happier than Iceland. The uncertainty causes Icelanders to be more practical and realistic than idealistic. This optimistic and positive state of mind makes Icelanders flexible and easy to cope with organizations and business. Therefore we would expect Iceland to have success in business sectors requiring the ability to innovate, think of the customer and cooperate; this gives them a competitive advantage in science and technology.

- Masculinity
“That’s a great point! Now I will talk about their Masculinity.”
The residents of Iceland hold strong feminine values; they are very gentle and affectionate towards children, so it is no surprise they want more children with the average between two or three and the ideal number of children being three.
With the large number and importance of children in the Icelandic society, we may need to implement an, at-work daycare for our employees and stay away from long days so families can spend the right amount of time with their children. They also have a very high standard of living which is enjoyed by the majority of the population so we will have to provide employees with a fair pay so they can maintain their high standard of living. Icelanders have a strong egalitarianism believes and believe that everyone is created equal; this is something that really intrigues our company, since this will create good relationships between employees and superiors.

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