Page 237 - Cultures and Organizations

210 DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES

having been divested of any practical meaning. He compared this situation
to what has been written about the French ancien régime (the eighteenth-
century, pre-Napoleon monarchy): “une règle rigide, une pratique molle”
(“a strict rule, but a lenient practice”). 39
Countries with weak uncertainty avoidance can show the opposite,
an emotional horror of formal rules. People think that rules should be
established only in case of absolute necessity, such as to determine whether

traffic should keep left or right. They believe that many problems can be
solved without formal rules. Germans, coming from a fairly uncertainty-
avoiding culture, are impressed by the public discipline shown by the Brit-
ish in forming neat queues at bus stops and in shops. There is no law in
Britain governing queuing behavior; it is based on a public habit continu-
ously reinforced by social control. The paradox here is that although rules
in countries with weak uncertainty avoidance are less sacred, they are often
better followed.
British queuing behavior is facilitated by the unemotional and patient
nature of most British subjects. As argued earlier in this chapter, weak
uncertainty avoidance also stands for low anxiety. At the workplace the
anxiety component of uncertainty avoidance leads to noticeable differ-
ences between strong and weak uncertainty- avoidance societies. In strong
uncertainty- avoidance societies, people like to work hard or at least to
be always busy. Life is hurried, and time is money. In weak uncertainty-
avoidance societies, people are able to work hard if there is a need for it, but
they are not driven by an inner urge toward constant activity. They like to
relax. Time is a framework in which to orient oneself but not something
one is constantly watching.
In the 1970s, during courses at INSEAD business school in Fontaine-
bleau, France, professor André Laurent surveyed managers from ten indus-

trialized countries about their beliefs regarding organization. Items for
which the country mean scores correlated with UAI were as follows:

■ Most organizations would be better off if conflict could be eliminated
forever.
■ It is important for a manager to have at hand precise answers to most
of the questions that subordinates may raise about their work.
■ If you want a competent person to do a job properly, it is often best to
provide precise instructions on how to do it.