Cultural Inside Indonesia

Get one step closer to understanding Indonesian culture with the help of Geert Hofstede’s dimension method

Introduction | The Republic of Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands such as Sumatra, Java, Borneo etc. and has the fourth largest population in the world with approximately 279 million inhabitants. Indonesia is located in the regions of South Asia and Oceania and lies along the equator. This means that the climate is relatively uniform and alternates between rainy and dry seasons. The Indonesian region is relatively unstable due to possible natural disasters such as earthquakes (tectonic plate movements) or various volcanoes. (Wikipedia contributors, 2024). Indonesia consists of a variety of different influences from home and abroad and was embossed through various historical interactions through regions such as Far East, Middle East, plus South Asia. Furthermore, Indonesians are influenced by many different religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, modern Islam, traditional Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, etc. In addition, they have also been biased by western culture in the fields of science, technology, entertainment and politics. (Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran – Jakarta, n.d.).

Target and Structure | The aim of this story is to strengthen Indonesian cultural knowledge for foreigners and to gain insights into their cultural foundations with the help of the dimensions defined by Geert Hofstede. The structure of the story consists of different chapters such as introduction, literature review, Indonesians inside and conclusion. In the introduction, some aspects about the region and religion in Indonesia are defined. Furthermore, the literature review shows the method of researching the characteristics of Indonesian culture. The main chapter Indonesians Inside also explains the dimensions of Indonesian culture based on the six methods. Finally, the last chapter summarises all the results and findings of the article.

Literature Review | An approach of G. Hofstede is cultural programming. He explains cultural programming within three pyramid-shaped layers, which are divided into the lower layer of natural humanity, the middle layer of culture and the upper layer of personality. On the one hand, these three layers are universal, group-specific, category-specific and individual. On the other hand, it is about heredity, learning and personal experience (EA Editor, 2023). Culture consist of several layers, these are values, rituals, heroes, and symbols from the inner to the outer sphere (What Do We Mean by “Culture”?, n.d.). A common method of defining and understanding cultures is G. Hofstede’s six dimensions approach. G. Hofstede’s various dimensions are divided into Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term Orientation and Indulgence. With this approach, it is possible to explain the stereotyping of cultures (The 6 Dimensions Model of National Culture by Geert Hofstede, 2021).

The Power Distance dimension shows the difference of unequals in societies between instances of higher and lower power. The next dimension, Individualism, represents the social network that takes into account the core family or a larger group of family members. With a low value, the Masculinity dimension describes that the mentality of the culture is more geared towards working to live. Managers are interested in consensus solutions, and values such as equality, solidarity and the quality of the working environment are important to employees. Furthermore, where Masculinity is low, conflicts are resolved through compromise and negotiation. Furthermore, free time and flexibility are more valuable than status symbols. Besides, in a department with low masculinity, it is important to be an effective, decisive and supportive manager. The cultural dimension Uncertainty Avoidance describes the challenge of dealing with and mastering an unknown future. The dimension of long-term orientation explains how we deal with current and future situations. The evaluation from the perspective of society is different, because on the one hand there are normative societies with a low value, which seek the traditional and are suspicious of change. On the other hand, there is the pragmatic approach. This approach means that a pragmatically oriented society strives for a modern education in order to be prepared for the future. Finally, the last dimension is called indulgence. It shows the high degree of socialisation and defines the ability to control impulses and desires. Cultures with a low value are defined as Restraint.

Cultural Inside Indonesia

Indonesia | This sector discuss the Indonesian culture in the before introduced cultural dimensions of G. Hofstede. With the aid of the Country Comparison Tool, we will get insight about the six various dimension of the Indonesian culture. This dimensions give explanations about the cultural differences. There are a lot of contrasts in every culture so we create a stereotyping picture about the culture. (Country Comparison Tool, n.d.)

Individualism | The first dimension, individualism, is very low in Indonesia with a value of (5). Indonesian culture is therefore a collectivist-oriented culture. The emphasis in collectivist societies is very much on the social framework, such as marriage. Here it is important that the husband introduces himself to the wife’s family. In addition, the relationship between children and parents is very strong. Parents support their children throughout their lives wherever they can and, conversely, the children are responsible for their parents when they grow old and need financial and social support. The view in Indonesia is centred on the nuclear family. Furthermore, the following local quote supports the content described above.

“You can get another wife or husband but not another father or mother.“

Masculinity | The value for motivation and achievement (46) is higher than in some Northern European countries, but lower than in Asian countries such as Japan or China. Furthermore, symbols of success are important, but not only material gain. In addition, there is another fact called gengsi, which means external appearance. It is important to cultivate the gengsi to create an impressive aura of status. In countries with a low score, the mentality of people is to work to live. The scores show a medium level with a little more work to live.

Power Distance | The Power Distance dimension is high in Indonesia with a value of (78). This means that the leadership style is characterised by dependence on the hierarchy, that there are unequal rights between owners and non-owners, that managers have a traditional and direct leadership style, and that management controls and delegates necessary tasks. Management has a centralised and respectful style of leadership. The communication style is indirect and negative feedback is mostly hidden.

Uncertainty Avoidance | In addition, the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension has a value of (48). This means that the Indonesian culture does not want any emotional reactions such as anger or negative emotions to be expressed. Indonesian culture is a smiling culture and wants to achieve harmony in any bad situation. Moreover, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news. In conflict situations, direct communication is not the right solution. A helpful way to resolve conflict situations is to work with a trusted third person, because this way harmony can be maintained and the person does not lose face. The key phrase Asal Bapak Senang (Keep the boss happy) succinctly describes the attitude of employees to be good at their work. If this is achieved, the employee does not have to accept any consequences in economic or status terms.

Long-Term-Orientation | Indonesians are a short-term oriented culture as they have been given a low value (29), which means that the culture is a short-term oriented. People want to find out the truth, they are traditional, they do not plan much into the future and they need quick results.

Indulgence | The last dimension of Indulgence in G. Hofstede’s repertoire presents the Indonesians with a value of (35). This means that the culture is very strongly oriented towards restraint. A low score on this dimension indicates that people appear to be cynical and pessimistic. People are not interested in leisure and control their needs. The general attitude towards self-care is sensitive because people think that it is not right to take care of themselves.

Conclusion | Based on the previous results and with the help of G. Hofstede’s dimensions, it can be deduced that Indonesian culture is a group-thinking, traditional culture living in the present. In the dimension Masculinity Indonesia follows more an attitude of an work to live instead live to work society. Furthermore, the culture is centralised and employees need clear and direct instructions. It is also important to resolve conflict situations indirectly and with the help of a third person. Also, emotions such as frustration or anger should never be shown with strong facial expressions or directly. It is also important to communicate goals and intentions briefly or at short notice. This can help to better achieve goals with the team. For example, it can strengthen employees in a team if they work together in the group to achieve goals or at certain team events.

References

• Wikipedia contributors. (2024, January 28). Indonesia – Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia
• Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran – Jakarta. (n.d.). Indonesian Culture. https://indonesia.mfa.gov.ir/en/generalcategoryservices/8447/indonesian-culturehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia
• The 6 dimensions model of national culture by Geert Hofstede. (2021, February 20). Geert Hofstede. https://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/
• Country comparison tool. (n.d.). https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=germany%2Cindonesia
• What do we mean by “culture”? (n.d.). https://news.hofstede-insights.com/news/what-do-we-mean-by-culture
• EA Editor. (2023, March 8). Beyond Cultural Programming | Evolutionary Archetypes : Innovation Research and Consulting. Evolutionary Archetypes : Innovation Research and Consulting. https://ea.consulting/beyond-cultural-programming/