Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

In China, decisions tend to come from the top, titles and seniority carry weight, and the ideal boss is a caring authority who decides firmly and looks after the team like a parent.2 Employees rarely contradict a superior in front of others.3 In Germany, employees expect to be consulted, and managers must back their decisions with arguments. Challenging a superior is normal, and works councils have a legal say in working hours, hiring and dismissals.

In both countries, working styles now vary by generation, industry and region. In China, younger employees still accept authority but react against purely controlling management,4 and many technology firms run flatter structures than state-owned and traditional companies. In Germany, start-ups tend to be flatter than large traditional firms and the public sector. At the same time, the legal guarantee of Germany’s low power distance is weakening: works councils, the elected staff bodies through which employees share in company decisions, covered about half of private-sector employees in 1996 but only 37% in 2024.5 The related topics in Section 2 and the country Deep Dives explain these differences in detail.

In China, people tend to act as members of a team: harmony in the group matters, loyalty to the boss and colleagues is expected, and credit and blame are often shared. Personal relationships open doors in hiring, sales and problem-solving,6 and criticism is rarely made in public so that no one loses face. In Germany, each person is responsible for their own tasks and results, roles are clearly defined, and loyalty to the employer rests on the contract. Work and private life are kept apart, and feedback goes directly to the individual.

China is becoming more individualist, but unevenly. Individualist words in Chinese books rose steadily over four decades,7 and younger employees are markedly more individualistic than older ones, while still accepting hierarchy.8 A 102-country study finds that individualism rises with economic development and security rather than following an East-West line.9 Germany has also become more individualist across generations,10 so the gap has not closed.

In both countries, competition and achievement are valued more than modesty. Rewards follow performance, managers are expected to be decisive, and success is meant to be visible. Expectations of men and women also tend to be more distinct, for example in who is expected to pursue a career.

The drive to achieve holds in both, but its price is now questioned. In China, young people push back against endless competition, known as involution, and some opt out by “lying flat”,11 although average working hours in enterprises stayed at around 48.7 a week in 2024.12 In Germany, preferred working hours fell by about three hours a week between 2007 and 2021, across all age groups, not only among the young.13

In Germany, projects start with detailed planning: specifications, contracts and processes are fixed before work begins, deadlines are binding, and late changes are unwelcome. Experts are trusted to reduce uncertainty. In China, work often starts before every detail is settled, plans are adjusted along the way, and rules are applied flexibly to the situation. China’s economic reform followed the same pattern: try locally, adjust, then roll out nationally.14

The gap is narrower than the scores suggest. Hofstede’s index measures anxiety about the unknown, not reliance on rules; GLOBE, which measures rules, rates both countries high in practice.15 In China, young people increasingly look for security: applicants for the national civil service exam rose from about 2.6 million in 2023 to more than 3.7 million in 2026, partly reflecting a tougher job market.16 In Germany, managers say they want fewer rules than they practise (Section 02).

Both plan for the long run. In China, this shows in long planning horizons, from five-year plans to firms willing to accept early losses to build market share, and in high household saving. In Germany, it shows in family-owned companies that plan across generations, in thorough apprenticeship training, and in supplier relationships kept for decades.

The reading depends on how the dimension is measured: the original and the revised versions show a clear gap between China and Germany, while the current scores show almost none.1718 In Germany, long-term thinking is strong in private saving and family firms but weaker in public investment, where a large backlog has built up.19

Both put duty before pleasure, but in different ways. In China, long hours and being reachable in the evening and at weekends are common, and leisure comes second to work and family obligations. In Germany, people work with discipline during working hours, but evenings (Feierabend), weekends and holidays are protected, by habit and by law.

Restraint is easing in both. In China, the Supreme People’s Court and the labour ministry ruled in 2021 that the “996” schedule violates labour law,20 and younger employees increasingly guard their private time,11 though actual hours have not yet fallen.12 In Germany, full-time working hours fell from 41.5 to 40.2 a week between 2014 and 2024,21 and in a 2024 four-day-week pilot, most participating companies chose to continue.22