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Status and power
are major issues
for some people

All cultures have hierarchies in which some people have more status and power than others. Because of the facts surrounding their birth or because of their achievements, some people are marked as individuals to whom others should defer. These elite people have more privileges than others, and they can expect their directives to be followed by those beneath them in their culture's social hierarchy.

The presence of status and power differences is universal. Like many aspects of culture, distinctions exist in the degree to which power and status differ among societal levels. Imagine an eight-foot stepladder. The bottom rung represents people who do not have titles that give them special status. Different cultures have different terms for these individuals. Serfs, peons, peasants, commoners, and working stiffs are just a few. Higher rungs of the ladder represent higher status groups.

All cultures have such groups, variously called bosses, managers, governors, senators, presidents, and so forth. The distinction among cultures is the relative amount of distance between people. In some cultures, the difference corresponds to one or two rungs. In other cultures, where status and power are taken more seriously, the difference corresponds to four or five rungs.

Cultures corresponding to one or two rungs of the ladder are called low power distant. For example, people in the United States, compared to other parts of the world, have small distances between power levels. Let's explore some workplace examples.

There are certainly bosses and managers, and they have the right to set workplace policies, evaluate workers, and promote those who are making the most contributions to a company. But the distinction between status levels is relatively small. Bosses and workers might address each other using first names. They may socialize outside the workplace on the tennis court or on the golf course. They may do volunteer work together for the same community organizations. Workers do not feel as if they are less worthwhile individuals. The do not view bosses as a special class of individuals to whom deference is automatically granted. In fact, workers often think that the bosses better do a good job or else they will be replaced in a couple of years. And the replacements may be today's workers who one day will supervise today's bosses!

Cultures corresponding to four or five ladder rungs are called high power distant.

As a generalization, high power distance is found in Asian countries. In the workplace, bosses are given a great deal of deference. Workers rarely disagree with their bosses in public because such behavior is considered disrespectful. Often, workers feel that bosses are better people and deserve the deference they receive because of their personal qualities, not just their job titles. Workers do not view themselves as one day supervising the people who happen to be their bosses today.

There are various behaviors that mark low and high distant cultures. In the United States, for example, comedians make handsome livings telling jokes about powerful people such as the president and prominent institutions such as Congress.

In high power distant cultures, workers engage in gestures such as standing when bosses enter a room or accompanying them to the train station prior to a business trip. Students retain a lifelong deference to their professors, referring to themselves as the junior person even if they have more career success than their old professors.

When people accept international assignments, adjustments to the differing importance of status and power can be challenging. People moving from low to high power distant cultures must be much more respectful of their bosses and must defer to their wishes. People moving from high to low power distant cultures must learn to treat bosses as near equals or else they will develop reputations for being toadies and sycophants.

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