Differences between national culture and regional cultures in working life: example of tourism employees in Southeastern Anatolia and Black Sea regions

Abstract

Purpose- Culture has an important place in working life in societies and every society has its own culture. However, in addition to the upper culture that every society has, there are subcultures that exist as a result of differences such as different religious beliefs, languages, ethnic origins, and the region of residence, and this situation leads to differences. It is necessary to examine the regional cultures in the country in order to determine this difference and to obtain more efficient results. Method- Questionnaire technique was used within the scope of the study. In the study, the values questionnaire (VSM 2013) developed by Hofstede was used as the questionnaire form. A 5-point Likert scale was used for questions determining cultural dimensions. As a result of the studies, 413 surveys in the Black Sea Region and 391 in the Southeastern Anatolia Region were included in the analysis. Findings- As a result of the investigations, it was determined that there are differences between national (upper) culture and regional (sub) cultures. Cross-cultural characteristics were identified between the two regions, especially between uncertainty avoidance and long-short term orientation. In the dimensions of power distance, femininity-masculinity, tolerance-limitation, long-short term orientation, national culture levels and different cultural characteristics were determined. Conclusion- As a result of the research, it was determined that the power of upper culture to represent subcultures is insufficient. It would be wrong to accept the culture of a country or society as correct and complete. In this study, results were obtained to support studies that defend and determine that general culture will be insufficient to represent subcultures.