Cultural Impact on National Competitiveness

Culture has become an essential factor in understanding different economic and business environment s. The influence culture has on people and societ y has been studied, defined and categorized by scholars through various models. The framework of five cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede is the most popular cultural model , but problems still exist regarding its accuracy. In this paper, the five dimensions have been revised into three dimensions – Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Openness – and have been applied in an empirical study with a country-based perspective. Through this new cultural model, companies and governments can get a better understanding of culture and its relationship to national competitiveness and the business environment.