Australia is a sovereign country with an allocation of the continent’s mainland. The country possessing a huge area is believed to have aboriginal people from Asia and South East Asia, thousand years ago. However, the modern historical glimpse of the country revolves around the explorations and advent of the Dutch in 1606, who were followed by the British in 1788 in massive numbers. It is pertinent to mention that criminal slots of Western societies were also exiled to Australia as punishment. Meanwhile, the newcomers and natives cherished admirable relations for a while but later on, ownership of land broke fights and insurgencies in the country. British declared the Eastern half as its colony which ranged to five crown colonies till the 1850s. However, on 1st January 1901, the British legislature gave governing and independence rights to six colonies as a single federation, the Common Wealth of Australia (McKenna). Meanwhile, the demographic features of the country are thought-provoking, making about eighty percent of the population with European ancestors, i.e., whites. About ten percent are aboriginal people along with Chines, Indian, and other Asian clusters. The largest ethnic groups may include Irish, English, and Australian. Similarly, the geographical dimensions of the country are entitled to the magnificent size owing to a diversified landscape and climate aspects. Rich in natural resources and fertile land, the country has vast deserts with snow-capped mountain ranges, massive forests (tropical and temperate), enormous grasslands, and mighty woodlands (Mark et al.).
While considering the cultural orientation of Australia in comparison to the USA, it is pertinent to identify and comprehend culture. According to Professor Hofstede, “a programming of the human mind that allows one group of people to distinguish itself from another group is termed as culture” (Hofstede). In this context, considering the six dimensions of cultural orientation, a profound similarity can be observed between the two countries with some minor differences. For example, considering the dimensions of power distance, the Australian score ranges from 38 compared to 40 in the USA. The power distance is low in Australia which depicts that power vested with people is equality based. For example, in any Australian organization, the vested authority, sharing of information, and security of rights concerning managers and employees are direct and informal. However, with a minute difference of 2 points the USA also has a similar orientation with equal rights and decision-making freedom as well.
Figure: Comparison of Australia & US (Hofstede Insight Dimensions).
Moreover, the next dimension in the pipeline is individualism where Australia and the USA fall almost in the same range with scores of 90 and 91 respectively (Country Comparison, n.d.). It is somewhat natural that countries with low power distance possess higher individual cultures. The business and management phases in Australian organizations are adorned with self-reliant employees having little tendency to after-work gathering like parties. Both American and Australians have to look after their very immediate families only but Americans are not entitled to develop deep friendships. So Americans may build business ties with foreigners easily compared to Australian who are more inclined towards friendship circles. Similarly, considering masculinity as the next dimeson, the Australian score is 61 (Country Comparison, n.d.). Australians are more concerned with personal achievements in life, mainly focusing on winning goals by resolving conflicts at the personal level. While Americans with soccer of 91 may dominate others by caring about their plans to be executed for success and achievements.
However, another dimension is uncertainty avoidance where the Australian score is 51 while the American score ranges to 46. With a difference of five points, the American people gather more impact than their respective cultures imply. So as a country, Australia is considered high uncertainty avoidance while the USA is considered low. The score depicts that Americans usually are not willing to accept new ideas and changes as quickly as Australians do. Additionally, the fifth dimension relates to long-term orientation where the Australian profile is 21 while the USA score is 26 (Country Comparison, n.d.). Hence, Australia is considered a ‘normative culture’ with a strong respect for traditions along with truth-abiding apprehensions. Contrary to Australia, the USA has a high long-term orientation with a difference of five points, which means they tend towards practicality instead of traditional norms and values-based systems. In the context of business, it is evident that Americans may have high results oriented even with short-term work options due to their practical approach. Further, the final dimension is indulgence where Australia is highly profiled with 71 points compared to 68 points for the USA (Country Comparison, n.d.). Australians enjoy life, cherish fun with a cultural basis, and tend to spend money on leisure. On the other hand, Americans are more hard-working with fun to even unhealthy activities like drugs, etc. The reason for being one of the highest drug-rate countries is that the USA may have a high indulgence profile.
As far as the cross-communication issues between Australia and the US are concerned, there are various solid and varied differences. These differences may create difficulties and confusion, especially in the context of management and business perspectives. Other than accent differences, non-verbal communication may raise problems as well. Australian people are direct communicators with humor and colorful words which are often delivered without deep thinking. On the other hand, Americans explicitly communicate clearly and directly with coming to the point without any delay. The criticism is often delivered by Americans in a vague manner as well as directly without being rude. Contrarily Australians have a low tendency to bear criticism. Meanwhile, such issues between two countries can be resolved by learning about each other’s culture. Organizations should have such measures to ensure that employees learn intercultural aspects, and communication styles, develop effective communication sets, and avoid being frustrated.
Work Cited
Country Comparison. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.hofstedeinsights.com/country-comparison/australia,c
Hofstede, Geert, and Michael H. Bond. “Hofstede’s culture dimensions: An independent validation using Rokeach’s value survey.” Journal of cross-cultural psychology 15.4 (1984): 417-433.
Mark, David M., and Andrew G. Turk. “Landscape categories in Yindjibarndi: Ontology, environment, and language.” Spatial Information Theory. Foundations of Geographic Information Science: International Conference, COSIT 2003, Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland, September 24-28, 2003. Proceedings 6. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2003.
McKenna, Mark. Looking for Blackfellas’ Point: an Australian history of place. UNSW Press, 2002.
