IMPACT OF CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF THE HOST COUNTRY FOR THE OPERATIONS OF DHL

• Studies on cross cultural aspects show that management approaches and perceptions
differ with culture.
• The cultural framework provided by Hofstede has been accepted worldwide as a unit for
measuring differences among nations.

• Dr Geert Hofstede, in cooperation with Dr Michael H. Bond and Michael Minkov scored
each country on a scale of 0 to 100 for each dimension.
• Based on that score each of the four main Cultural dimensions in the host country of DHL
Sri Lanka which is Sri Lanka is compared with that of DHL’s parent country, USA as
shown in the diagram below.

USA Sri Lanka

100

91
75 80

50 62
46 45
40 35
25

10
0
Power Distance Masculinity
Fig 1 - Comparison between the
scores of Cultural Dimensions of
USA and Sri Lanka
POWER DISTANCE

• Sri Lanka it is a country with a comparatively high power distance

• Whereas in DHL’s mother country USA, organisations have established hierarchy only for

convenience

• In DHL Sri Lanka the power distance within the organisation is low unlike in the typical Sri

Lankan companies

• The employees are always encouraged to directly communicate with the superiors regar-

ding any matter and they do so freely without any hesitation.

yone feel comfortable at work

• Not only that a Manager at DHL is always willing to go on a delivery if they have free time

just like any ordinary employee would without thinking that it is not befitting for their

image since they hold higher designations.

• This is indeed admirable and this helps make a good bond between the superiors and

subordinates.

• When it comes to power distance it is seen that DHL has deviated from the norm in Sri

Lanka.

INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM

• Sri Lanka is considered a collectivistic society

• In normal Sri Lankan culture employer-employee relationships are perceived in moral

terms like a family link

• In their parent country, USA the society is loosely knit

• The expectation is that people look after themselves and their immediate families only

and should not rely too much on authorities for support.

• At DHL Sri Lanka, a collectivistic environment is seen

• employees always rely on each other for support because delivering a package is a

tremendous task which requires the cooperation of many employees together as a team

and it is not as simple as one may think.

• And they make use of the Certified International Specialist (CIS) program which is recog-

nized as best in class for training their employees unlike in an Individualistic culture

where employees do not expect a training or guidance

prominence to the collectivistic concept

• So rather than enjoying individual freedom and time they try to achieve their goals to-

gether as a team and work hard for it since they are a part of the DHL family.

• The employees at DHL Sri Lanka are a majority of Sri Lankans

• So although a greater prominence is given to their tasks, they also balance their family

life and responsibilities while making sure that they perform their job at DHL to the best of

their capability.

• This contrasts to Individualistic countries where relationships are neglected while giving

prominence to work life.

MASCULINITY VERSUS FEMININITY

• Sri Lanka is considered a Feminine society.

• In Sri Lankan society managers strive for consensus and people value equality, solidarity

and quality in their working lives.

• Conflicts are resolved by compromising and negotiation.

• Also incentives such as free time and flexibility are favoured.

• Focus is on well-being and status is not shown or emphasized.

• At DHL Sri Lanka, the employees mainly expect and are happy with intrinsic rewards

such as recognition and appreciation rather than monetary and other extrinsic rewards

• This makes them feel like they are part of one big family and they strive to work to bring

glory to the whole organization rather than to themselves.

• So they are not keen to show off their individual successes

• They value equality and there are seldom any conflicts.

Lanka in this regard

Uncertainty Avoidance

• “A society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity” This is a dimension that measures

the way a society deals with unknown situations, unexpected events, and the stress of

change. Cultures that score high on this index are less tolerant of change and tend to

minimize the anxiety of the unknown by implementing rigid rules, regulations, and/or

laws. Societies that score low on this index are more open to change and have fewer

rules and laws and more loose guidelines.

This aspect measures how much the culture has made its members feel comfortable or

uncomfortable in unstructured situations. The relatively intermediate score of 45 indicates

that Sri Lanka does not indicate a strong preference in this