Hofstede

Just to note there is also Individualism Vs Collectivism, Power Distance, Masculinity VS Feminitiy and Time Orientation.

Power Distance is “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions andorganizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally”. (Hofstede, 1991), It shows how inequality is clear at the bottom of a hierarchy of society, and not from the top as it is approved by the factions as much by the authorities. Dominance and disparity are very important in defining how a society works as any MNC manager should realise that all societies face inequality, but some a greater than others.

In an organizational context what’s accepted indicates how greatly superiors can influence the actions and behaviour of their inferiors (subordinates) and the principles and philosophy that superiors and subordinates follow a hierarchy as distinct members.

Greece has a PDI score of 64 (http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_greece.shtml) which is an average score relative to all the other countries studied.

Example

A study conducted in Greece Furrer et al. (2000) proposed that the exercise of power in service encounters depend on whether customers are (or consider themselves) powerful or weak in relation to service employees/agents. Matilla (1999) assumed that powerful customers in luxury hotels exercise power over weaker service employees. Powerful customers with a high score in Power Distance consider that they deserve extremely good treatment from weaker service employees/agents. Hence, they focus on Reliability, Responsiveness and Empathy. However, such customers do not put emphasis on Assurance. They don’t need to be assured by weaker service employees/agents (Matilla, 1999; Furrer et al., 2000).

Uncertainty avoidance

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with acceptance, ethics and what is important towards tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth (absolute truth). It shows how comfortable or uncomfortable society’s members feel in unplanned circumstances When situations are not structured uncertainty avoidance cultures attempt to reduce ambiguity via strict social systems and institutes i.e. politics, education and business), safety and protection methods, strict laws and rules where regulations control and religious and beliefs of absolute truth. It leads to a higher comfort level where stability and certainty is the most important