Nordic Culture, Scandinavian, and Swedish Culture.
[6-mins]
Is this One Region?
Americans crossing the Atlantic often say they’re going to “Europe“, thinking in terms of a region. But of course, Europe is a continent and not one country. Europe is in fact one of the most culturally diverse places in the world.
Having said that, can we speak of a Nordic culture? Maybe, but keep on reading (and watch this short, 3-minute, video too).
It’s like this: if you are not from a Nordic culture, you will likely not see the differences between Norway and Sweden. Much like if you’re from the US you will likely not see the differences between a Mexican and a Guatemalan.
But… if you are from a Nordic culture you will certainly see the difference between the cultures in the Nordic area.
From a cultural standpoint, you can argue that the Nordic region indeed forms one cluster; the Nordic Culture Cluster.
Nordic Culture(s) in Specifics![Nordic Culture flags](https://culturematters.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Scandinavian-culture-300x150.png)
Let’s list all the countries that belong to the Nordic culture:
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- Finland (often forgotten)
- Iceland
Below you can find a table with the scores of the Nordic culture:
Hierarchy | Loyalty | Goal Orientation | Predictability | |
Denmark | 21 | 76 | 19 | 25 |
Norway | 33 | 71 | 11 | 47 |
Sweden | 33 | 74 | 7 | 26 |
Finland | 35 | 68 | 25 | 49 |
Iceland | 35 | 65 | 15 | 45 |
For more info on each of these primary cultural dimensions, click here.
As you can see, there are some differences within the Nordic culture but it is minimal.
Doing Business With the Nordic Culture
When it comes to doing business with the Scandinavian culture as a non-Scandinavian, the pitfalls are generally the same.
Hierarchy is relatively low in Scandinavian countries. This means that the boss doesn’t act in a very hierarchical fashion, but is more seen as a colleague with a different function: there is a relatively high degree of delegation in the organization.
Loyalty: All Nordic culture countries are individualistic. This means that their loyalty lies with themselves, rather than with the group they belong to. For non-Scandinavians, this is often confusing, because they see these countries as very social in which people take care of each other in society. But this is because of their low score on Goal-orientation.
Goal-orientation: this is a common trademark of all Scandinavian culture countries: they are more process-oriented than goal-oriented. This means that there is a lot of consensus-seeking amongst the stakeholders. Decisions are often meant as taking matters in a certain direction and many times are not even final.
Predictability is the dimension that differs most between these countries. Whereby Sweden and Denmark score the lowest. But only when you’re from any of the Nordic culture countries will you notice these differences.
Nordic Culture and the Forgotten Countries
It may sound obvious to only group the Nordic culture or Scandinavian cultures as clusters. But some countries also follow the same cultural profile as the Nordics do. Namely the Baltic states and the Netherlands.
The Baltic states are “too young” to formally add them to the Scandinavian culture but I think it is likely that they will follow the same cultural pattern.
With certainty, I can say that the Netherlands very closely follows the Nordic culture profile. See the updated table below with the numbers for the Dutch added.
Hierarchy | Loyalty | Goal Orientation | Predictability | |
Denmark | 21 | 76 | 19 | 25 |
Norway | 33 | 71 | 11 | 47 |
Sweden | 33 | 74 | 7 | 26 |
Finland | 35 | 68 | 25 | 49 |
Iceland | 35 | 65 | 15 | 45 |
the Netherlands | 34 | 81 | 17 | 50 |
Swedish Culture![Nordic culture & Swedish culture](https://culturematters.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Swedish-culture-300x200.jpg)
When it comes to Swedish culture, they stick out with their low score on the third dimension: goal orientation. This makes them the strongest consensus-seeking nation in the world.
Swedish culture also seems to be the “biggest” at pretty much everything: land mass, inhabitants, and GDP. For a clear overview of the differences, click here.
The Swedish consensus-seeking culture, which results in a long decision-making process and may lead to decisions that are not permanent, does mean a lack of success.
Sweden has produced several very successful organizations. Think of Ikea, Volvo, and Spotify (Nokia is a Finnish company).
If you want to read more about a specific case study involving Nordic countries, click here.
An article about the differences between American and Dutch culture can be found here.
Nordic Culture on Culture Matters.
Any comments? Leave them below.
If would you like to know more about doing business with the Nordic culture (or Dutch culture), get in touch with me now.
Get a Taste of How Chris Presents, Watch his TEDx Talk
Call Direct: +32476524957
European Office (Paris) Whatsapp: +32476524957
The Americas (USA; Atlanta, GA; también en Español): +1 678 301 8369
Book Chris Smit as a Speaker
If you're looking for an Engaging, Exciting, and Interactive speaker on the subject of Intercultural Management & Awareness you came to the right place.
Chris has spoken at hundreds of events and to thousands of people on the subject of Cultural Diversity & Cultural Competence.
This is What Others Say About Chris:
- “Very Interactive and Engaging”
- “In little time he knew how to get the audience inspired and connected to his story”
- “His ability to make large groups of participants quickly and adequately aware of the huge impact of cultural differences is excellent”
- “Chris is a dedicated and inspirational professional”
In addition, his presentations can cover specific topics cultural topics, or generally on Cultural differences.
Presentations can vary anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours and are given worldwide.
Book Chris now by simply sending an email. Click here to do so.
Read more about what Chris can do for you.
- Percentage of People Rating a Presentation as Excellent 86%
- Rating the Presentation as Practical 89%
- Applicability of Chris' presentation 90%
About Peter van der Lende
Peter has joined forces with Culture Matters.
Because he has years and years of international business development experience joining forces therefore only seemed logical.
Being born and raised in the Netherlands, he has lived in more than 9 countries of which most were in Latin America.
He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) with his family.
You can find out more at https://expand360.com/
Or find out what Peter can do for you here.
- 179 Cross-cultural business in India with Frank Seidel - 3 September 2024
- 178 Toby Mildon - 8 May 2024
- 177 Russian Culture Explained with Mark Steinberg - 22 February 2024
Hello! Thank you for the interesting article but as a Finn it was kind of sad to remark that Nokia was stated to be the pride of the Swedes. Despite the fact that Sweden has indeed produced many successful companies, Nokia is not one of them. Thus, the sentence” think of Nokia, Ikea, Volvo, and Spotify” is not entirely correct as in fact Nokia is a Finnish company.
Hi Sofia…
Thank you so much for correcting me… That was quite stupid of me.
I’ve taken Nokia out of the Swedish country and added it separately as a Finnish country.