Hofstede analysis
Egypt is a country located in the southwest of Asia and northeast of Africa. Its eastern border lies the Red sea and Israel, while its northern border is the Mediterranean Sea. On the north is Sudan, and on the west lies Libya. It is known for its natural beauty and architecture, which attracts many tourists. Tourism plays a big part in Egypt’s economy, with visitors flocking into the country to see ancient monuments. Egypt’s civilization dates back to approximately 3200BC. Two-thirds of the global historical monuments are located in Egypt. The current population of Egypt is 101,581,696, with 90% of the population practicing the Islam religion. Egyptians are usually aggregated with the Arabs due to their Islamic traditions and language, but this is not precise. There are still nomadic tribal Egyptians who live in isolated places throughout the country (Nafie, 2018). Egypt is majorly dry since it is a desert country, and since the River Nile crosses the country, most of the cultivated land is located near the banks of the river. The most available resources are oil and gas, which are exported to other countries.
Six cultural dimensions can associate or differentiate countries based on Hofstede’s data and research. Those cultural dimensions include uncertainty avoidance, power distance, indulgence, masculinity, individualism, and long-term orientation. Uncertainty avoidance is the way people survive with the untold of the future (Yacout & Hefny, 2014). Egypt’s uncertainty avoidance is excellent since they avoid taking risks as much as possible to avoid the unknown. In an attempt to minimize this measure of uncertainty, laws, policies, strict rules, and regulations are put in place with the ultimate goal of controlling everything to get rid of the unexpected.
Power distance is affiliated with the inequality among people within a culture that is accepted. Egypt’s power distance is high, which means that their organizations seem to be hierarchical, and the leaders are not easily accessible. According to the Egyptians, people in positions of authority are to be feared and respected at all times, and women are rarely in management positions (Elsaid & Elsaid, 2020). In decision making, Egyptians may consult with their associates, but they will not do so with employees with low positions than them, but mostly, the decision making is left to the leader alone.
Indulgence is the capability to control one’s desires and actions. Egyptians have a high score in this, which means that they restrain themselves a lot. Egyptians are loyal to collective culture as compared to other societal rules (Yacout & Hefny, 2014). Masculine culture is whereby individuals are driven by their achievements and success. On the other hand, feminine culture is when people are motivated to help others. Egypt has a low score in the masculinity index.
Individualism is when the people of a particular society are only accountable to themselves and their families. Egypt has a high score in individualism, unlike in collectivism, where groups are formed, and the members of these groups are taken care of and gives their loyalty in return. Finally, long-term orientation is the way countries are linked to their past while facing things during the present and the future (Yacout & Hefny, 2014). Egypt has a low score in long-term orientation, meaning that they are normative. Egyptians are traditional, they want fast results and barely saves for the future.