Culture shapes up institutions
See beyond the obvious
Culture and institutions are among the primary levers that maintain sustainability and effectiveness within a country. Institutions frame a formal logic of the country’s goals and orient people around them. Culture expresses collective goals through values and beliefs, and guides activity through shared assumptions and group norms.
How do culture and institutions interact?
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There are four country groupings with distinct institutional characteristics
Institutional Quality country groupings
Greece's cultural characteristics
Greece's Institutional characteristics
The case of Greece
The country's proposed cultural re-mapping includes:
Acceptance of equal distribution of power (power distance) by promoting flatter organisations, limit the distance from the decision making organisms, constrain the hierarchy in the society and decentralise state authorities. This will improve the efficiency of the judicial system, reduce its current legal complexity, secure a non-arbitrary form of government, and reduce the likelihood of crime or violence.
Focus on the future (long term orientation) by stimulating adaptation, promoting social mobility, enhancing evolution strategies to steadfast and support investment. A long-term oriented government will focus on the effectiveness and sustainability of the country’s policies, encourage knowledge dispersion through a digital transformation plan for state-run organisations and decrease existing bureaucracy and red tape. Also, a long-term planning perspective will reduce conflict at the stage of policy implementation, focusing on regulations that enhance private sector development, and limit overregulation.
Enhance individual accountability and strengthen personal independence (Individualism), by stimulating private initiative, promote and reward entrepreneurship, research and innovation. Personal independence will enhance freedom of expression, freedom of association, increase social inclusion and promote private development. The shift of the Greek society from a collectivistic culture of family driven/in-group behaviours to an individualistic structure which prizes personal control, autonomy and individual accomplishments, will limit corruptive behavior.
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