Intercultural Competency - a Cultural Comparison of Germany and Spain

4316 Words18 Pages
Term paper in Intercultural Competency A cultural comparison of Germany and Spain - Due to the impact of demographic change and skill shortages on the German labor market Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Current situation of labor markets and its impacts 2 2.1 Demographic change and lack of skilled workers in Germany 2 2.2 Spanish labor market 3 2.3 Measures and labor policies for the German labor market 5 3. The Cultural aspect of Societies 6 3.1 Hofstede’s Definition of Culture 6 3.2 Cultural Dimensions and its Meaning 8 3.3 Analyzing the German Culture by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions 10 3.4 Analyzing the Spanish Culture by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions 12 3.5 Cultural comparison of Germany and Spain 14 4. Conclusion 16 List of tables Abbildung 1 Youth unemployment rate in OECD countries, % 6 Abbildung 2 National Culture, Culture Dimensions, Germany 12 Abbildung 3 National Culture, Culture Dimensions, Spain 14 1. Introduction Demographic change is one the most challenging issues for the German economy. At the same time as the population is ageing, the working population will decline and this leads to a lack of skilled workers. But not only the German economy and labor market is affected. This will also have impacts on the culture in Germany. To face these economic issues, Germany needs to integrate workers from other countries. Especially from Spain, there is a high youth unemployment rate due to the financial crisis. So Germany and Spain started a joint campaign to solve these problems. What kind of cultural issues both countries have to face will be explained in the following chapters of this term paper. On the basis of Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the differences between Germany and Spain will be examined. And which possible impacts immigration of workers will have on the German society. 2.
Open Document