HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF FRANCE

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PROJECT REPORT ONTHE HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF FRANCE
PRESENTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:
 Paulo Sambo Prof. Krishna Raina
 Kenneth
 Kanyere
 Zipporah

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CONTENTS
 Francehistory and population
 Weather and climate
 Ethnic groups
 Languages
 Religions
 Greetings in France
 Gestures used in France
 Eating habits used in France
 Family values and relationships
 Activities
 Hofstede’s culturedimensions

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FRANCEHISTORY, CULTURE AND POPULATION.
Franceis a country which is located at north Western Europe, its population is 64,641,000by
2016. Also it’s referred to as French republic. Its termed as historically and culturally most
important nations in the western world. It’s bounded by Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea
.Francehas played a role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the
globe. It’s among the oldest nations, the productof alliance of duchies and principalities under
a single ruler in the middle ages.
Today as we speak that the central authority is vested in a state even though the measureof
autonomy has been granted to the country’s regions in the recent decades. The French people
look at the state as the primary guardian of liberty, and the state in turns it provides generous
programs of amenities for citizens, fromfree education to health care and pension plans.
French culture is derived froman ancient civilization mixture composed mixture of Celtic,
Greco-Roman, and Germanic elements. Especially from the period of roman occupation.
During the middle age a rich culture developed, fostered in particular by monks and scholars in
monasteries and universities and encouraged well into the 18 century by a systemof royaland
aristocratic patronage.
The ministry of culture and communications oversees the major cultural institutions of the
nations; hence it was led by novelist Andre Malraux. Who intended to redoubled arts
awareness among ordinary people, supportthe creation of new art and protecting the existing
French forms and properties as wide ranging as monuments and culture.
French culture has felt the impact made by immigrants, especially those fromNorth Africa
beginning in the1960s.The Muslimcommunities wereformed, notably in Paris and Marseille
,havenot escaped discrimination ,butthere was a wide spread of their contributions in cuisine,
Music, dance, painting and literature. Paris is known for its Haute couture, exemplified by such
houses of high standard fashion namely, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Hubertde Givenchy, Yves
Saint Laurent, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix.
French literature in the 20th
century carried earlier traditions and transformed them, sinceit
was notable for its openness to nonnative writers: the Irish Writer SamwellBeckett produced
all major works in French. Philosophy and criticism havealways played a central part in French
intellectual and cultural life. Various ministries in Franceare responsiblefor promoting cultural
activities.

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WEATHER AND CLIMATEOF FRANCE.
The climate of France is generally cold in winter and mild in summer, but in the mild winters
and hot summers areusually found in the Mediterranean Sea. Along the Rhone valley an
occasionalStrong, cold, dry, north to northwesterly wind blows known as the mistral. Lots of
Snow falls in winter in the mountainous regions like Alps, Pyrenes and Auvergnein July and
Augustit’s the peak of summer.
The major types of climate found in Franceare Oceanic, Continental and Mediterranean, Since
it’s among the western’s Europelargestcountry, Francehas a highly varied topography from
on area to another, area which are said to havevaried climate and weather conditions are:
The North and Northwest, Central and Eastern France, Mountainous regions, Mediterranean
Franceand the Southwest.
ETHNIC GROUPS

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Franceas a country is characterized with the following ethnic groups and they are as follows:
 The Basque
 The Africans
 The Germans
 The Jewish
 The Muslims
 Polish people
 The Southeast Asians/TheFrench Indochinese
LANGUAGES.

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Most spoken languagein Franceis French since it covers almost 88% of the population.
Despite of that 75% covers differentlanguages in France.24% of theselanguages are
European. The governmentensures that everyonein the country has to speak French because
not all members can communicate in English, hence they can speak at least one foreign
language.
During the French revolution French language was favored over the different regional
languages .The revolutionaries thought that the monarchists preferred regionallanguage
because they kept the masses uninformed .Its estimated that more than 300 million people
have French as their official language or mother tongue language.
RELIGIONS

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According to the estimates it shows that83-85% of thepopulations are Roman Catholics, but
the church claims that only 8% are practicing it and 2% are actually Protestants. Muslims make
up to 7-8%.Butin general there are 250000 Jehovah witnesses and between 80000 and
100000 areorthodoxChristians. And 6% haveno any religious affiliation.
The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the governmenttends to accept and
respect this right to practice. Registration for religious groups is not highly required but most
them decide to do so as to gain tax exempt status. Roman Catholic Church is under the
leadership of the Pope, Curia in Rome and the conferences of the French Bishops.
GREETINGS IN FRANCE

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 When greeting people you don’t know you say your name only, and you say bonjour
without a kiss
 For the caseof women if they know each other they would say bonjour kiss each other
on a cheek
 But for Men it’s a different thing because if they know one another they greet each
other by shaking their hands only.
 Most of the common words used to initiate greetings apart frombonjour are as follows:
 Salute meaning hi/bye
 Bonsoir meaning Good evening/Good night/ hello
 Bonne soiree meaning Good evening
 Bonne nut meaning Good night
GESTURES COMMONLY USED

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 To show that someone is crazy putyour index finger to your temple and turn your head
back and forth
 To promiseor to swear to something, place your hand on top of your head
 To apologize or to indicate that you have made a mistake cover your mouth with your
hands
 Signal a taxi by snapping your fingers
 When counting numbers French people do not startwith the index finger they start with
the thumb also if they want to say one, they usually show the thumb and not the index
finger.
 Jay du nez means that you havea good nose for sensing something, hence you tap your
nosewith your index finger to gesturethat you clue into the truth faster than the others
or it shows that you are clever
EATING HABITS IN FRANCE.

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 Breakfastconsists of coffee, tea or chocolate with croissants and bread butter or jam
 Lunch consists of five coursemeal , simple salad or sandwich, this is because lunch is
more important than dinner
 Dinner is served at 7.30pm onwards.
 No children’s dinner becausechildren are supposed to eat like adults
 Eating together is very importantin French culture compared to USA and UK
 French people prefer fresh vegetables and fruits which are either grown fromtheir
farms or their homes
 Time is spenton eating mainly 2hours and 22 minutes
FAMILY VALUES AND RELATIONSHIPS

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 Each member has certain responsibilities and duties
 Extended family provides support
 Practical approach towards marriage
 French people are very private
ACTIVITIES DONEBY THE FRENCH PEOPLE.

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 Fishing
 Hicking
 Cycling
 Horseriding
 Golfing
GEERT’S HOFSTEDECULTURAL DIMENSIONS ON FRANCE.

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Greete Hofstedeis a Dutch psychologistwho conducted a study of cultures across modern
nations whereby he developed a theoretical framework which heexamined the relationships
between cultural beliefs and organizational actions. He was born on October 2 1928, the
Hofstedecultural dimensions model aims to provideinformation about cultural differences so
that they can be bridged.
Cultural dimensions developed by greete Hofstede are as follows:
 Power Distance
 Individualismvs collectivism
 Uncertainty avoidance
 Masculinity
 Long term orientation
 Indulgencevs Restraint
POWER DISTANCEINDEX

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This cultural dimension tends to measure the extent to which less powerfulmembers of the
organization and institution like family accept and except that power is distributed unequally.
Countries with high power distance are characterized with high violence, high dependency and
change is usually by revolution. For the case of Franceit has the high power distanceof 68
because children areraised to be emotionally dependent, the degree to which later their
dependency will be transferred to the teachers and later on to their superiors.
Many French companies have one or two hierarchical levels compared to German and UK.
Example the abbreviation PDG which is presidential Director General has power than CEO
meaning Chief executive officer.
INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM

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This cultural dimension tends to focus on members belonging to a group rather than being him
or herself. In a collectivist society, the goals of a group are given much priority than those of an
individual. For the case of individualists societies people are supposed to look after themselves
only. France has a scoreof 71 and hence it shows it’s an individualist society whereby parents
tend to make their children independent regarding to whatever groups they belong, hence the
study shows thata person is supposed to take care of oneself as well as the family.
The French people except respect for whatthey do since they are so self-motivated.
UNCERTAINITY AVOIDANCE.

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This cultural dimension express the level to which a person feels uncomfortable with the sense
of uncertainty and ambiguity, countries with high uncertainty avoidance tend to follow strict
culture and rules ,while countries with low uncertainty avoidanceabide only with few rules
and are characterized with only few rules incidences of conflicts of interests and chaos.
French has a scoreof 86,hence its uncertainty avoidanceis high this is due to that the French
people mostly don’tlike surprises, thecountry its self is characterized with very strict rules,
laws and regulations .Also before negotiations and meeting with a French person you have to
provideall the necessary information.
MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY

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This cultural dimension tends to focus on the distribution of roles among genders; it measures
the importanceof culture places on stereotypically masculine values such as assertiveness,
ambition, power and materialism .mostimportant relationships. French has a score of 43
meaning it’s a feminist culture because members in this culture tend to sharemodest and
caring views equally to men.
If a society has a high masculinity then it will be driven by high competition, achievement and
success and it tends to continue throughoutthe organizational life
LONGTERM ORIENTATION VS SHORTTERM ORIENTATION.

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This dimension tends to focus on the future, meaning that a society is willing to delay short
term material or social success, if this occurs then the society is characterized with value
perspective, saving and being able to adopt. But for shortterm orientation tends to focus on
present or past and considers it most important than the future, if a society has this then it’s
said to focus mostly on its traditions and current socialhierarchy and fulfilling their social
obligations.
Francehas a scoreof 63 meaning they like to solvetheir problems or providesolutions based
on related facts in a diplomatic way since the truth depends much on a time, context and
situation. Also they show ability to adapt in situations very easily.
GEERT HOFSTEDECULTURAL DIMENSION

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION

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 Questionnaires
 Interview with the French and Congolesepeople
 Internet