Power Distance: China 80 – India 77
Individualism: China 20 India 48
Masculinity: China 66 India 56
Uncertainty Avoidance: China 30 India 40
Long Term Orientation: China 87 India 51
Indulgence: China 24 India 26
The Clues are in the numbers. But one thing is undeniable, as the United States the Super Power of the 20th Century begins it’s now evident decline as leader of the world, we are seeing two cultural power houses entering the playing field.
China and India,
But are these scores enough of the story. Can India’s high individualism number and median Long Term Orientation, give it an edge as they take their turn on the world stage. Or are we headed towards more pragmatic times? Does China get the edge culturally, because the world is rejecting inevitable globalism?
The questions are many, the predictions not certain, in our 17th year of the 21st Century we are finally seeing a centurial shift away from America (the un-denied leader of the 20th Century) and towards a new world leader.
In the 15th Century Europe began the age of colonization, and then they colonized America, a country whose individualistic streak gave it the edge the end of the “Victoria Period” the last great European period. Then, As America reign of the 20th Century, comes to an end in its Kardashianistic glory we are seeing The Rise of India and China.
“The rise of India and China,” writes Robyn Meredith in her book, The Elephant and the Dragon, “has caused the entire earth’s economic and political landscape to shift before our eyes.” (Abdoolcarim, 2011) Indian politician Jairam Ramesh attempted to bring the countries together in a collaboration he called : Chindia (Ramesh, 2005)
But the countries could not find commonality, it is those individualism and indulgence scores, it does go to show that when making predictions about what brings countries together Geert Hofstede is a good tool of the trade for any leader.
So who will win this culture war for leadership?
At the beginning and through most of the 20th Century India and China saw themselves in two large stereotypes:
“To the Chinese, the Indians were poor, superstitious and dirty; to the Indians, the Chinese were crass, godless. Indians saw Chinese as superficial, materialistic, and traditional to the point of racism.” (Abdoolcarim, 2011)
These have now changed, Indians in the country are now seen as part of the tech entrepreneurs, and Chinese are seen as the investors in the technology of the future, a natural friendship has formed. But not the natural collaboration that would make Chindia a reality, and before either one can be the leaders of the world, a few action items must take place.
Using Systems Approach to Culture from Managing Cultural Differences, I will explore some of the qualities that make the countries leadership qualities.
The Countries Preparation:
Both countries have to deal with their societal and financial issues. I give India the edge here, because China did an excellent job at dealing with their overpopulation problem, but that leaves it with a smaller youthful generation to take the country into the 21st Century, India however, has a large youthful, eager and driven culture. It is predicted that by 2050 China will begin to feel the drag of having over controlled its population. India takes point one.
India 1 – China 0
Political System:
India has to deal with corruption in their governing structures, which usually slow down progress. China has been in a reflective mode about their politics since they were exposed to the world in the 2008 Olympics. They seem to have fallen in love with that spotlight; so much so that they will be hosting another Olympics in 2022. By which time they have promised a new China, a leader of the new century.
India 1 – China 1
Reputation:
While America has lost a lot of its political and financial might, they still are able to set the cultural tone and in this way, India wins, America has a very romantic eat, pray, love vision of Yoga, food and all things Indian. While America views China with suspicion, a suspicion that Donald Trump has played on. China is the competition, the people looking to decimate our culture. This actually handicaps its negotiation power in the U.S. and while the U.S. may be declining, it is likely they will drag down those they do strong business with.
India 2 – China 1
Association Systems:
China has a close culture, they stick together, but their Masculinity score is off the charts, India score is slowly beginning to come down, if India could empower and mobilize its female force, they would add to their youth power. But while China appears to be less equal, they are actually showing steady growth, and in a recent listing of Forbes, American women in power, were followed by the most Chinese women to ever achieve presence in the power list. “Chinese women may not have parity, but they are amassing incredible wealth and with wealth comes political power.” (Flannery, 2017)
India 2 – China 2
I could go on and on and this will be the way you will see China and India is a race for power. Ultimately, once they solve their interior human rights issues both countries are set to take the planet.
What I’ve learned from Geer Hofstede’s website, from the reading, and from the additional research I’ve done for this blog is that China and India have an incredible opportunity to culturally shape the world; and that we are a generation that are going to see a massive shift away from the American domination of culture towards one of these two countries.
As a business person, I will be playing very close attention to both countries.
References
Abdoolcarim, Z. (2011, November 10). The Chindian Century. Time, pp. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2099180_2099179_2099178-1,00.html.
Flannery, R. (2017, February 6). 2017 Forbes China 100 Top Businesswomen List (Full List). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2017/02/06/2017-forbes-china-100-outstanding-businesswomen-list-full-list/#3e5923097071
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. London : Routledge.
Ramesh, J. (2005). Making sense of Chindia. New Dehli: Indian Research Press .
Edwin E Betances says
Hello Lourdes,
I loved the introduction to this blog and was a very interesting on to read about. Both China and India both are driving very closely to each other and is something what will be interesting seeing unfold in the next couple of years. They are both rich in culture and have great opportunities for growth. The numbers don’t lie about how things are, this can go for anything else in life as well.