Background
The differences between various cultures demand the proper format of cross-cultural communication. Therefore, one’s values further determine one’s behavior, attitude, and core beliefs. Such knowledge is widely employed in cross-cultural psychology to examine one’s culture’s influence on many personal aspects. Overall, it is crucial to identify the contrast between several cultures while participating in an international group in any setting, work, or even family. One of the most frequently used models to compare cultures is Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions. This project aimed at comparing the Italian and the US cultures and activities of Non-Government Organizations.
Analysis of Cultures
Overview of Cultures
To begin with, my African-American heritage is a vital driving force in my life. To be more exact, family reunions are significant rituals that assist me in maintaining my heritage even in challenging times. Such gatherings should include older members of the family, keepers of the generation’s African-American legacy. Unlike general US population, African Americans are more collectivistic and value tradition. Additionally, as an American, I am short-term oriented and tend to avoid uncertainty. Italians have two distinct cultures, as Southern Italians are Different from Northern Italians. For instance, the northern population is more focused on careers, they share individualistic ideas, and they seem always to be active. The southern residents, on the contrary, find their peace in the family and follow rather collectivistic traditions. In addition, Italians are highly focused on their image and reputation and consequently perceive everyone according to it. However, all Italians are highly patriotic, proud of their nation, and, therefore, value their heritage.
Hofstede’s Model
In 1980, Hofstede introduced a unique model for defining and understanding the national culture of a country. This model includes five dimensions against which national culture can be assessed. Later, another dimension was added to the model. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions include:
- Power distance. This dimension refers to the extent to which less powerful members of the country accept the unequal distribution of power.
- Uncertainty avoidance. This dimension refers to the extent to which the people belonging to a culture feel comfortable in ambiguous situations.
- Individualism vs. collectivism. This dimension refers to the degree to which the people operating in that culture wish to work as individuals overworking as part of a team
- Masculinity vs. femininity. This dimension refers to the degree people support either competition, achievement, and success (masculine values) or modesty, tenderness, and the quality of life (feminine values).
- Long-term vs. short-term orientation. This dimension refers to the consideration people give to the future.
- Indulgence. This dimensions refers to the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses.
Italian Culture
Italian culture was analyzed using the Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions.
- Power Distance. Italy scored 50 in the power distance dimension, which shows that Italians accept the hierarchy and distance from power to a certain extent (Hofstede Insights, n.d.).
- Individualism. Italy scored 76 in terms of individualism, which shows that Italians prefer to care for themselves and for their families (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). The personal ideas and objectives are highly motivating for them, which has a significant effect on the organizational cultures in the country (Hofstede, 2009).
- Masculinity. The country’s masculinity index is 70, which shows that Italian society is driven by competition, achievement, and success (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). Italy appears to be a success-driven country, where citizens see happiness as having a big house, a yacht, and a good car.
- Long-term orientation. Italy scored 61 in long-term orientation, which implies that the society is pragmatic (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). People from pragmatic countries believe that the truth is highly dependent on the situation (Hofstede, 2009).
- Uncertainty avoidance. The country score in uncertainty avoidance is 75, which implies that the citizens are uncomfortable in ambiguous situations (Hofstede Insights, n.d.).
- Indulgence. Italy scored 30 in indulgence, which shows that the nation is quite pessimistic and cynical (Hofstede Insights, n.d.).
Implications for Managing Organizations
The assessment provided above has implications for recommended organization culture. First, the power distance coefficient demonstrates that the organization managers need to balance between shared decision-making and dictatorship depending on the situation (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). Second, high individualism demonstrates that managers should focus on the individual needs of the employees and emphasize personal goals and priorities (Morris, 2020). Third, high masculinity index demonstrates that organizational cultures in Italy should value success more than caring for others and benefits for the society (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). Fourth, long-term orientation means that the workplace culture should not avoid valuing tradition and promote compromise (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). Fifth, the high uncertainty avoidance index demonstrates that managers should give clear directions and describe expectations from every task thoroughly (Hofstede Insights, n.d.). Creativity promotion is not considered desirable. Finally, a low score in terms of indulgence shows that managers working with Italians should set rigid rules and avoid spending too much time on personal gratification (Hofstede Insights, n.d.).
Comparison of Cultures
The analysis demonstrates that the US culture is different from Italian culture in terms of uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence. This implies that managers in the US should give more freedom in the approach to the tasks, focus more on the traditional values and general truths, and provide employees with the opportunity to balance their professional and personal lives.
Analysis of NGOs
NGOs in Italy
NGOs are non-government organizations, which implies that they act independently of the government. These organizations receive the majority of their funds from private donations, which helps them be unbiased in their activity. The missions and visions of NGOs vary in different parts of the world due to cultural and historical differences. Italian NGOs are similar to the European NGOs due to close contact with neighboring countries. NGOs in Italy shape the opinion of the society and influence the activities of corporations.
Types and Mission of NGOs
There are various types of NGOs in Italy and Europe, which differ in their mission, vision, and approaches to actions. The range of problems that NGOs touch upon include environmental protection, human rights, protection of minorities, and humanitarian help. For instance, one of the largest NGOs in Italy with more than €80 million in revenue is AVSI. The organization implements developmental and humanitarian projects in 38 regions of the world. Its mission is to implement “cooperation projects in various sectors with a preferential focus on education, meaning that the person is accompanied towards self-discovery and recognition that the other person is a resource” (AVSI, 2021, para. 4). The organization’s method is to emphasize the value of every person and focus on their strengths to foster positive social change. The largest NGO in Italy is Save the Children Onlus, with more than €113 million in revenues. The organization focuses on the protection, health, and education of children around the globe. The organization’s mission is to attempt to save every child on the planet. NGOs in Italy work in close cooperation with the government and international authorities. For instance, AVSI has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and closely cooperates with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AVSI, 2021). Save the Children work with the government to protect the interests of children in Italy by providing the government with expertise, information, and leadership in addressing the needs of the vulnerable population. Therefore, even though NGOs are independent of the government in Italy, these organizations try to work in close contact with the government to ensure the effectiveness of interventions
History of NGOs in the Region
The history of NGOs in the world officially started after World War II, when the term was coined by the United Nations. However, in Europe, different religious orders, missionary groups, and scientific societies engaged in the activities associated with the functions of modern NGOs. The first known official organization was established in Amsterdam in 1767 under the name of the Society for the Recovery of the Drowned, which specialized in rescuing and resuscitation of shipwreck victims (Nothias, 2016). First known NGO-like organization in Italy was established in 1834 by Giuseppe Mazzini (Nothias, 2016). It was called Young Europe, and its aim was to promote nationalism. The first massive expansion of NGOs in terms of numbers and areas of activities happened during the period between the 1870s to World War I. During this period, more than 400 bodies were established around Europe, including the Universal Scientific Alliance, the World League for Protection of Animals, and the International Council of Women (Nothias, 2016). Organizations of that time were successful in establishing respect for art and printing among the countries, as well as reduced sex trafficking in the region (Nothias, 2016). The development of NGOs spurred after World War II; however, during the cold war, the activities of international NGOs were very limited due to superpower tension (Nothias, 2016). Since the 1990s, international NGOs started to develop rapidly due to increased internationalization (Nothias, 2016). Today, NGOs are a major political and social power in Italy.
NGOs in Italy and the COVID-19
Today, NGOs in Italy united to fight off the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, Save the Children (n.d.) started to promote the idea that children need to return to school as soon as possible, as they are being deprived of their right to education. UNICEF (2021) is giving it every effort to provide children around the globe with the COVID-19 vaccines. The AVSI Foundation raises funds to implement humanitarian missions that fight off the economic impact of the pandemic (US Embassy & Consulates in Italy, 2021). The NGOs work in close cooperation to pursue a common cause, which is an excellent example of how these organizations grew to become a major world power that drives positive social change.
NGOs and Italian Public Sector
Even though more than 85% of NGOs in Italy report the private sector being the central source of financing, the government provides direct and indirect fThe relationships of the NGO sector and the government developed similarly in Italy and the United States. The first NGOs in Italy emerged as helping entities that helped the government to address issues associated with the social problems in the country (Nothias, 2016). However, in the early 1900s, NGOs became one of the central critics of the government sector, which helped the voices of ordinary people be heard (Nothias, 2016). In the late 1900s and the early 2000s, the role of NGOs in Italy evolved from being the rivals of the government to become the central allies in addressing social issues in the country, which is similar to the history of NGOs in the US (Nothias, 2016). However, there are significant barriers to cooperation between NGOs and the Italian government. In particular, NGOs are guided by different ministries depending on the situation, which may have a differing vision on the role of NGOs and utilize different governing principles. Additionally, problems exist with registering NGO, as regional and national register procedures in Italy overlap and set high standards for legally registering an NGO. Thus, a clear and simple paradigm of communication between NGOs and the government is needed to overcome the problems.
NGOs and Italian Private Sector
NGOs have also established functional relationships with the Italian private sector. Companies in Europe prioritize social responsibility as one of the key development sectors, and NGOs help these companies build positive relationships with the customers. The private sector actively participates in the NGOs’ development programs (Oxfam, 2018). Additionally, private companies make significant contributions to support the activities of NGOs (Nothias, 2016).
Geopolitical Environment
Currently, the entire world is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, which defines the dominant roles of NGOs around the globe. However, NGOs also continue to be leaders and experts in other spheres. For instance, in 2020, Europe received an opportunity to become the central strategic global player in the issues of climate change. In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a promise that China will peak carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 and become climate neutral by 2060 (Lazard, 2020). This announcement demonstrated that China decided to join the climate change goals created by the European Union (EU). This implies that China accepted the authority of the EU in terms of the climate change problem and became the EU’s strategic partner. Since the EU is highly dependent on the expertise of NGOs in terms of environmental problems, the change in geopolitical situation is expected to have a tremendous effect on the priorities of NGOs in Italy (FRA, 2017). In particular, such a change in geopolitics is expected to change the priorities of Italian NGOs to make a greater emphasis on leadership and expertise in fighting climate change.
Recommendations
The analysis demonstrates that several reforms are needed to improve the effectiveness of the relationships between private and public sectors and NGOs in Italy.
Provide a single ministry with the power to develop a unified framework for interacting with the NGOs to avoid inconsistencies in managing relationships with NGOs by different ministries (FRA, 2017).
Ensure transparency in funds allocation between different NGOs, as currently there are questions about the distribution of government funds among NGOs in Italy (FRA, 2017).
Provide NGOs with greater power in the decision-making of the environmental issues, as the expertise of international NGOs in this matter are acknowledged worldwide.
The government should create incentives for the private sector to partner with NGOs to address current social issues.
References
AVSI. (2021). Who we are. Web.
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2017). Standing and operational space of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in contributing to respecting and promoting fundamental rights in EU Member States. Web.
Hofstede, G. (1983). Cultural dimensions for project management. International Journal of Project Management, 1(1), 41–48. Web.
Hofstede, G. (2009). Geert Hofstede cultural dimensions. Web.
Hofstede Insights. (n.d.). Compare cultures. Web.
Nothias, J.-C. (2016). NGOs: A long and turbulent history. Web.
Lazard, O. (2020). Climate change and Europe’s new geopolitical role. Web.
Save the Children. (n.d.). What we do. Web.
Statista. (2021). Leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foundations in Italy in 2019, by revenue. Web.
UNICEF. (2021). Global leaders commit further support for global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and COVAX. Web.
US Embassy & Consulates in Italy. (2021). U.S. Government Support for the Italian Private Sector to Fight COVID-19. Web.