There are clear differences between Belgian and British attitudes that emerge in all areas of life. For example, the delicacies of Belgium being created through the fusing of least three communities, its historical vulnerability compared to neighbouring countries and its need to trade internationally have all contributed to forming the attitudes of its people, their structures and institutions. As a result, authors such as Hofstead are able to distinguish and attempt to qualify why countries such as Britain are more individualist and relate it to areas, such as Britain’s imperialist past in order to reveal patterns. This report is divided into three areas, politics and economics; education and employment; and society in order to allow for an overview of the countries’ differing cultures and relations to institutions.
Politics and Economics
The complexity of Belgium’s consensus political system helps to balance the needs of both the Wallons and the Flemish. This would be considered to be a more low power distance political system than Britain’s Westminster model, which is based on one party forming the executive. However, this appears to be contrary to Hofstede’s conclusions, either from an underestimation of the effects of institutions (or political institutions) or it gets accommodated by other aspects of culture. The first reason is more likely, as the political framework is designed to balance the needs of Flemish and Wallon interests and disperse pressures which may attempt to divide the country.
Britain is considered the most individualist of all European countries, partly as a result of left wing socialism being drowned out by Thatcherism in the 1980s and an acceptance by the Blair government of the importance of a certain level of inequality in order to encourage economic growth throughout the economy. This continuation under New Labour, a left wing group too frightened by their long absence outside government to aggressively reduce income inequalities, as it would be contrary to what the general population (or at least the swing voters) have become used to under the right wing economics of the 1980s. The reduction in people’s reliance on the state has also reduced the power distance in Britain, as people were forced to support themselves.
In terms of income distribution Belgium is more collective than Britain. Similarly, there is a lot lower difference in wages between the highest and lowest paid workers compared to in England. For example, the highest rates of personal income tax is 65.6% and corporate income tax is 40.2%, where in England it is 60% and 35%.
Belgium’s military police force, although not as extreme as other forces does highlight a more fearful side of Belgian society compared to the moderate British police force. The larger groups of patrolling police officers compared to Britain are also armed, both as a signal of deterrent to would be offenders and to reassure the general public. Judging by the relatively lower levels of crime in Belgium compared to Britain it could be case of departmental capture, whereby the police have argued for more officers than necessary to increase their influence beyond what is economically optimum. However, it could also be the case that Belgian society has a more feminine stance that the benefits of heavy policing outweigh the economic costs of policing (albeit through using one of the more traditionally masculine institutions possible).
However, the Belgian officers seem reasonably tolerant and are out in smaller numbers in larger occasions compared to in Britain. Although it should be mentioned that the ease of use for football fans to take over Bourse to celebrate their victories during the World Cup and the calm of the police officers at the spectacle is probably more to do with Britain’s higher rate of hooliganism than differences abroad.
Britain is undoubtedly more short-term than Belgium politically and economically. The first past the post system encourages governments to fine-tune the economy and policies before elections, even to the detriment of the country in order to get elected. Although not being able to comment in depth, Belgium’s consensus based system should theoretically make it less urgent for governments to ‘fiddle the books’ as much as in Britain.
Although also closely linked with uncertainty avoidance the UK’s reasons to refuse to join the Euro and participate as much in European affairs highlight a disgust at making sacrifices for potential gain in the future. This is not such a problem for Belgium, as the country’s need for consensus as a result of its own fragility culturally and size compared to neighbouring countries makes it more prepared to negotiate and make sacrifices in order to guarantee future security, which can help to explain why Belgium is one of Europe’s most pro EU countries.
Conclusions
Britain and Belgium’s political and economic institutions show clear differences in approaches between the two countries. The most important piece to examine these differences is Britain’s shedding of once core values during the long Conservative government of the seventies created huge repercussions which affected many areas from civic pride, investment decisions favouring short term growth to longer term restructuring and the fear of engagement in European affairs. Belgium’s more relatively stable political system has not experienced such shocks in recent decades, which when combined with its smaller country status internationally helps to explain why more traditional values, such as favouring more cooperation both domestically and internationally and more short-term sacrifices in order to make greater gains in the future.
Education and Employment
The most substantial differences between the studies offered in Exeter and Vlekho is that one is a university and the other is a business school. Whereas Exeter University is more of the traditional academic structure which focuses students’ attentions on a small amount of topics to encourage speciality Vlekho encourages students to know a shallow amount on a larger range of topics to gain a broader experience. As a consequence it is often difficult to make any broader comments about the two countries, although different attitudes do emerge.
In Britain there are most lectures contain hundreds of students and class participation is low (i.e. low power distance). This is compensated by small tutorial groups ranging from sizes usually between 10 and 20 per class which is focused on discussion.
Vlekho has a structure which offers medium sized lectures, usually averaging between 30 and 70 students and no tutorials. Discussion tends to be highly welcomed, although many Belgian students have admitted finding it difficult adjusting to this new structure of teaching at Vlekho. Personally, I have had problems as a result of one Vlekho professor expecting too much a degree of compliance than expected of me both from at my home university and of his peers in Brussels. This might suggest that perhaps the majority or at least some of the students (and some professors) have higher power distances than the revised smaller class size Vlekho educational structure and probably more in line with the British educational structure.
England’s university structure is focused on private study. Courses are graded according to a combination of essays, presentations and exams. Vlekho includes these as well, of course. However, more recently there has been a growing importance on making the education process closer to the environment of the workplace.
One of the developments resulting was that group projects take a higher significance than more individual assignments. Now students’ grades are dependent on the group’s success in projects and not their own personal contribution. This is collectivist thinking even extends to peer evaluation on certain courses which can be the difference between a student getting a respectable grade or failing (no matter his contribution in certain circumstances). In English education is would be highly unorthodox and would be dismissed as blurring how the teacher would understand each individual students understanding of the course.
In both systems there is a different method of encouragement in higher education. In England the system is developed so that individual effort (or laziness), through working on projects alone is more easily distinguished. In Belgium, on the other hand the teacher’s assessment is focused more on cohesion within the group, rather than on individual strengths.
The results structure of Vlekho is different to Exeter Universities in terms of their grade weighting. In England grades are offered as a percentage, with 40% being the lowest pass grade and 70% being the top grade. Over 60% on average is required in order to get an acceptable strong degree level. Vlekho’s more collective grading system results in the pass level being 10 out of 20 (50%) and it being much harder for students to get very high grades. This is because the emphasis, as in the Netherlands is not in isolating and rewarding the more outstanding students but ensuring that all the students complete the minimum. From personal experience I have not come across any students with aspirations to getting high grades, as most people are more concerned with merely passing.
Vlekho’s higher minimum pass rate than in Britain could highlight the need to weed out the less capable students, such as making it hard to pass accounting exams to ensure that accountants are highly accomplished rather than knowledgeable in their profession.
English universities tend to be more flexible than Vlekho’s approach, which although it has declined in the last few decades permits more free developmental time than Belgian higher education. This is clearly differentiated by the existence of a large Union structure in English universities, which supports the creation of societies. In Vlekho there really only exist Pro Gaudio and Cleopatra, which are effectively drinking societies.
The Belgian system of making students sit more modules and takes multiple styles of evaluation (such as exams, presentations, orals, etc..) should ensure that the students results are less prone to error and bad luck than English exams, which rely on big exams to determine results (and even future careers).
However, it has to be noted that societies and groupings do exist but outside the institutions of education, serving the needs of society rather than the bubble of university. However, it is difficult from experience to qualify the differences in these post education differences.
Belgium invests a considerable amount more per student than in Britain in education, as it is considered that the benefits both in terms of future tax revenue as a result of a more productive workforce and net society gains as a result of a more conscientious population.
From my experience working at Den Bisnis I have noticed differences from various forms of employment (both skilled and unskilled) to English employment. One of the most noticeable was the reward structure. Most bar professions involve tips. When I worked in a coffee shop it was pooled every month, as the automation involved meant that one customer would be served by at least one employee. In Den Bisnis there is only one barnman serving, normally for half the day. Despite this tips are pooled across all employees for the year, so that it meant no difference how hardworking an employee is or popular he is with the customers he will still receive the same return as the rest. Not only this but the money is actually spent on one day out, where all the barmen go drinking for the whole day. This provision, although unlikely to be representative of Belgium in general and all forms of work does highlight subtle cultural differences in the way table service operates between countries.
Belgian employees tend to be more professional than in Britain. Although not directly celebrated a higher minimum is expected, which appears to filter through most areas of society, even down to the kebab shop seller, who makes the effort in most cases to maintain a level of care. This is partly as a result of pride in their output, as a consequence of Belgium’s trading history and a greater sense of responsibility.
Unfortunately in Britain effort is looked down upon, almost as a form of cheating. The professional slacker is becoming more of a major problem in companies, with an increasing number of employees preferring to cheat than contribute to their system, a negative effect of the individualist and masculine business environment.
On the other hand, British customer service is of a lot higher standard, as the Belgian customer-employee relationship is because of its falsity and having been less exposed to ideas of American human resources and marketing.
In the workplace, despite the English habit of people hiding their emotions through degrees of sarcasm and protocol there is a greater degree of criticism of peers and authority figures than in Belgium. Criticism does exist in Belgium but does not tend to get told directly to the people involved but rather as a complaint to confidents, as a result of a lower power distance existing within the workplace.
Conclusion
The main between British and Belgian education and working practices is the level of individualism which affects the assessment of people and consequentially furthers patterns of behaviour through rewards or punishment. For instance, as a business school Vlekho has been keen to adopt many US and UK originated ideas. Despite this there are hidden characteristics which exist to encourage more conscientious practices. In the UK this is felt to be less important, as there are felt to be greater benefits from encouraging people to compete more against each other. One concern for Britain is that the emphasis on success through individual and masculine methods is that its incentives often encourage underperformance and cost cutting, which helps to create negative effects in the workplace and society in general.
Society
In Britain there is a lot less respect for strangers and family ties than in Belgium. These low power distance characteristics can be seen in many forms, such as youths hanging around street corners intimidating passers-by. This is regarded as part of the ‘Decline In British Values’ that has been deteriorating, partly as a result of the rise of individualism under the Thatcher government. Although rough areas are mentioned by Belgians there tends to not be any problems on the streets, although I do hear personal stories from female friends of mine who have experienced problems with Arab youths causing them grief. However, I haven’t been witness firsthand enough to comment sufficiently how large this problem is and it would certainly not be any worse than in England.
Belgium’s (especially Brussel’s) influx of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants are posing newer problems, as they are less willing than previous southern European migrants to assimilate into Belgian culture, as well as increased cultural differences to bridge. As a consequence there is a greater sense of caution towards them because of a fear of the unknown. This has happened in England (especially London) previously and although it is difficult to determine which created a greater degree of uncertainty it has to be mentioned that it does occr in both countries but that England is at a different stage.
A clear distinction can be made by different controversial issues that have been settled and considered the norm in some countries and others which are still shocked by them. Issues on drugs, sexuality and pluralism appear almost on a sliding scale, with the more feminine Netherlands accepting many issues, Belgium tolerating some through non policing and Britain tending to assume that society’s fabric will unwind if certain issues are treated softly.
In Belgium I find it amusing how all Belgian’s seem to return every weekend without fail to see their parents. British students tend to embrace their freedoms a lot more, seeing it as a further step towards independence. It appears that Belgian’s links towards their families are stronger and that British students tend to prefer to cut some of their collective bonds to have more freedom and discover newer sides to themselves at university.
One of the most interesting differences between British cities and Brussels is the relative lack of advertising boards. In Brussels these are then predominantly for cultural events, highlighting a more feminine outlook, as the cultural prospects of the street are favoured over marginal profitability. However, a large billboard recently constructed by Botanique by a British advertising company may be heralding a shift in brand advertising in Belgium. Normally, the majority of company advertising has been through sponsoring cultural events, so as to be included in on street posters.
Belgian architectural rules give preference to designers ideas, preventing other designers being able to replicate features in other buildings. As a result there is only one street in Brussels where the houses are the same and that is only on one side of the street. As a consequence of a lack of uniformity there is greater architectural spontaneity of design on a single street (albeit quite subtly), in terms of size, materials and architectural features, which would highlight an individualist mindset. However, on the other hand this is also coupled with both architects and town planners’ desires to incorporate future buildings in line with existing structures, especially in height and proportion in order to create more of a continuous theme, even in cases where the materials and periods are different. The result is a city where the buildings, although reflecting individual preferences and budgets is still restrained by the collectivist notions of previous styles and the local neighbourhood.
Brussels public works such as metros or government buildings tend to reflect their attitude that it is easier to plan and prepare for future demands and capacity rather than constantly having to deal with expedients. An interesting comparison would be comparing the size of the metro stations in Brussels to London’s Underground. In the Belgian case the stations are built so that capacity will not need to be enlarged in order to deal with future population sizes. In London all stations tend to be overcrowded and usually over capacity, with stations often being closed temporarily, as it would be unsafe to allow more people inside. Although Brussels’ transport is overcrowded it is merely a case of the pricing structures with the companies running them and not providing enough carriages platforms could easily accommodate twice the amount of carriages than currently offered.
Conclusion
Belgian society’s open-mindedness and collectivism reverberates especially in Brussels, reflected in the diverse range of communities, beliefs and architectural ideas that exist. Belgium’s beliefs towards inclusively is being challenged by minorities more prepared to be distinct than previous generations. British society, which had experienced similar immigration has overcome most of these questions over time, partly as an unmentioned debt to these as a result of imperial aggression in the past and a homogenising idea of what it is to be British. This final reason although speeding up the process of integration results in the island paranoia of immigrants intentions never disappearing, even with descendents eventually excluding future immigrants to a small extent.
General Conclusions
In terms of marketing potential the variations in culture as a result of subtle characteristics of values, rituals, heroes and symbols between the UK and Belgium require slightly different approaches to a company or organisation promoting itself. For example, a commercial which emphasises more individualist values, such as the go getting male who gets the girl over his mates at the nightclub because of some accessory would be more successful at tapping into UK instincts more than in Belgium. Similarly, an advert showing the potential for play as a result of an accessory within a group would be more successful to Belgian audiences. However, this observations still need to be taken with a pinch of salt, as Belgium and UK differences are fairly close to each other on a global scale, as European characteristics will be much close compared to characteristics in other countries. International comparisons between Belgium and Japan would reveal Belgian’s to be more independent, for example. On the other hand, there are clear differences between the UK and Belgium, enough to benefit any marketers who want to gain the most exposure for their products.
This report was written by Jonathan McHugh in August 2006
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