Preparing for Jordan

Country: Jordan Region: Middle East

On our new assignment we prepare expatriates for Jordan. Here are some things we like to keep in mind.

About Jordan: Jordan is an Arab nation run by king Abdallah II of Jordan. It's legal system is a combination of French, British, Common and Islamic law.

About the people: Jordan according to, The World Factbook has a population of about 8,185,384 million people with the majority of the people living right outside the capitol city of Amman. Although Arabic is the official language, people do speak english as well. 97.2% of the people are Muslim, 2.2% are Christian and other.

U.S. & Jordan According to The Geert Hofsteed's Model

Power Distance: When comparing the U.S. to Jordan, Jordan's power distance is much higher than the U.S., which means that the less powerful members of organizations or institutions accept that  power is distributed unequally. 

Individualism: The U.S. has a high individualistic culture where they tend to look out more for themselves and families. Jordan's score was much lower, which indicates people belong to a group that take care of them in return for loyalty.  

Masculinity: Jordan scored lower indicating that society is not driven by competition or pointing out who is more successful. For those who stand out, it's not something that is celebrated by the people.

Uncertainty Avoidance: A low score in this dimension for the U.S. points out that Americans are more receptive to new ideas and change. Jordanian's handle ambiguity differently and are not as open    to change as the Americans. 

Long Term Orientation: Both the U.S and Jordan scored fairly low in this dimension. This shows both countries maintain traditions and norms, but keep an eye out for changes in society.  

Indulgence: The extent of people controlling their impulses. The U.S. scores much higher than Jordan meaning Americans are more impulse buyers. They are not restrained as other cultures.

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