As defined by Merriam webster dictionary, culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material

traits of a racial, religious, or social group. Culture is everywhere—each country has their own different
culture. Laid down below are the characteristics of culture:

1. It is a learned behavior. It is transmitted from one member of a society to another. Some

elements of culture are transmitted intergenerationally, example is when parents teach
their children the culture of their country such as saying po and opo here in the Philippines.
2. The elements of culture are interrelated. This is known as holism, or the various parts of a
culture being interconnected. Example, Japan’s group-oriented, hierarchical society stresses
harmony and loyalty, which historically translated into lifetime employment and minimal job
switching.
3. Culture is adaptive. Since culture is learned behavior, it may vary and change throughout the
time. Meaning to say, cultures interact and change. Best example is what happened after
World War II, when Germany was divided into free-market-oriented West Germany and
communist-controlled East Germany. Despite their having a common heritage developed
over centuries, this division created large cultural differences between Ossis (East Germans)
and Wessis (West Germans).
4. Culture is shared by members of the society and indeed defines the membership in the
society. Example, the customary beliefs of pagmamano here in the Philippines is done by
the Filipinos.

Social orientation, as identified by Hofstede, is a person’s beliefs about the relative importance of the
individual and the groups to which that person belongs. There are two extremes of social orientation:
individualism and collectivism. Individualism refers to a cultural belief that the person comes first. Key
values of individualistic people include a high degree of self-respect and independence. They often put
their own career interests before the good of their organization. Collectivism on the other hand, refers
to a cultural belief that the group comes first. Collectivistic societies are usually characterized by well-
defined social networks, including extended families, tribes and coworkers. People are expected to put
the good of the group ahead of their own personal interests.

The second dimension that was proposed by Hofstede is Power orientation—this refers to the beliefs
that people in a culture hold about the appropriateness of power and authority differences in
hierarchies such as business organizations. It’s two extremes are: Power Respect and Power tolerance.
Power respect means that people in a culture tend to accept the power and authority of their superiors
simply on the basis of the superiors’ positions in the hierarchy. Power tolerance means people attach
much less significance to a person’s position in the hierarchy and are more willing to question a decision
or mandate from someone at a higher level or perhaps even refuse to accept it