Cultural Impact on National Competitiveness

Abstract

Culture has become an essential factor in understanding different economic and business environments. The influence culture has on people and society has been studied, defined and categorized by scholars through various models. The framework of five cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede is the most popular cultural model, but problems still exist regarding its accuracy. In this paper, the five dimensions have been revised into three dimensions -Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Openness - and have been applied in an empirical study with a country-based perspective. Through this new cultural model, companies and governments can get a better understanding of culture and its relationship to national competitiveness and the business environment.