Bangladesh is three times as big as the Netherlands and it has more than 160 million citizens (CIA Factbook, U.S. census bureau). It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and one of the biggest garments exporting countries in the world. Bangladesh and the Netherlands are quite different, but are there also similarities? And how does this affect the trade between these two countries. I am going to compare Bangladesh with the Netherlands.

The Power distance deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us.
Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.
In Bangladesh the people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat. This is in contrast whit the following, what characterises the Dutch style: Being independent, hierarchy for convenience only, equal rights, superiors accessible, coaching leader, management facilitates and empowers. Power is decentralized and managers count on the experience of their team members. Employees expect to be consulted. Control is disliked and attitude towards managers are informal and on first name basis. Communication is direct and participative.
The fundamental issue addressed by Individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. Bangladesh is considered a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member 'group', be that a family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. In collectivist societies offence leads to shame and loss of face, employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms (like a family link), hiring and promotion decisions take account of the employee’s in-group, management is the management of groups. The Netherlands is an Individualistic society. This means there is a high preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. In individualistic societies offence causes guilt and a loss of self-esteem, the employer/employee relationship is a contract based on mutual advantage, hiring and promotion decisions are supposed to be based on merit only, management is the management of individuals.

Masculine indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour.
Feminine means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable.
Bangladesh can be considered as a masculine society. In masculine countries people “live in order to work”, managers are expected to be decisive and assertive, the emphasis is on equity, competition and performance and conflicts are resolved by fighting them out.
The Netherlands is a feminine society. In feminine countries it is important to keep the life/work balance and you make sure that all are included. An effective manager is supportive to his/her people, and decision making is achieved through involvement. Managers strive for consensus and people value equality, solidarity and quality in their working lives. Conflicts are resolved by compromise and negotiation and Dutch are known for their long discussions until consensus has been reached.
Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? Bangladesh has a high preference for avoiding uncertainty. Countries exhibiting high uncertainty avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. The Netherlands also exhibits a preference for avoiding uncertainty. In both cultures there is an emotional need for rules (even if the rules never seem to work) time is money, people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, precision and punctuality are the norm, innovation may be resisted, security is an important element in individual motivation.

Long term orientation is closely related to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue, the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view.
Bangladesh and the Netherlands both have a short term orientation culture. Societies with a short-term orientation generally exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save, strong social pressure to “keep up with the Joneses”, impatience for achieving quick results, and a strong concern with establishing the Truth i.e. normative.
Western societies are typically found at the short-term end orientation culture, as are the countries of the Middle East.
On long term orientation and uncertainty avoidance Bangladesh and the Netherlands look very alike. They both have a short term orientation culture, and both have a preference for avoiding uncertainty. But on Power distance, Individualism and Masculinity or Femininity they are contrary. In Bangladesh the people accept a hierarchical order, and in the Netherlands we don’t, in the Netherlands it’s about being independent. And where Bangladesh is a collectivistic society, the Netherlands is an individualistic society. Also Bangladesh has a masculine society, and the Netherlands a feminine society. All of these factors should be taken into consideration when cooperating with Bangladesh. You should realize that there is a hierarchical order, so you know there are powerful and less powerful members in the society. Also Bangladesh is a collective society, which means you will probably work with a group of people instead of an individual. Bangladesh is very competitive. They exhibit great respect for traditions, so you should respect their traditions too.
CIA The Factbook,https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
Geert Hofstede, http://geert-hofstede.com/bangladesh.html
By Femke Jonkmans