GÜNDEM
tant connections to compliant behavior:
Whereas the U.S. has a relatively low
Power Distance, extremely high Indivi-
dualism, and has a low Uncertainty Avo-
idance, Turkish culture is characterized
by high Power Distance, Collectivism
(low Individualism), and an extremely
high Uncertainty Avoidance. In this res-
pect, Turkey is clearly “different” from
the Western countries.
What that means is, that interventions
directly copied from the U.S. (or most
WEIRD cultures) to influence peoples’
behavior in order to achieve complian-
ce will most likely not work effectively
or take effect only slowly in Turkey, be-
cause they will run contrary to peoples’
culture, to their innermost values and
way of feeling and understanding how
the world works; what Geert Hofstede
calls “collective programming of the
mind” 5.
36
When taken together with power distance, which also includes respect and deference to elders,
collectivism also avoids conflicts, so people will accommodate the needs and wishes of their
elders for contact and support. Also the moral base of relationships is very important, because
it can outweigh the obedience to the external authority.
ging the behavior of people in this
country - in their own best interest for
their wellbeing and protection - is so
difficult even in light of such a tremen-
dous threat to health and even life as
COVID-19 and with the daily news from
the ever increasing number of people
infected and dying through COVID-19?
Culture and Compliance
I think one answer to the renitent beha-
vior of Turks to adapt the new behavi-
ors required at this time can be found in
Turkish culture. I can draw clear paral-
lels to my professional life as an Ethics
& Compliance Officer in a Turkish com-
pany. There is my daily job to make sure
our employees make decisions and take
actions in a way that is ethical, in line
with the company’s values & behaviors,
consistent with the company’s culture,
that they follow company policies and
procedures, rules and regulations - in
spirit and to the letter - in order to mi-
tigate risks to the company achieving
its objectives. I am German, and when I
moved to Turkey four years ago, I have
noticed distinct challenges that this job
is facing in Turkey. And I came to un-
derstand that they have two cultural
root causes:
1. The usual approach taken to achieve
people to behave ethically and comply
with rules is “WEIRD”; and
2. “Turkey is different.”
The paradigm of what constitutes effe-
ctive Ethics & Compliance is dominated
3 Jonathan Schulz et al.: The Origins of WEIRD Psychology. (Jun 2018) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326132957
4 https://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/
by the U.S. American view, latest upda-
ted on April 30, 2019 in the guidance
issued by the U.S. Department of Jus-
tice on evaluating the effectiveness of
corporate compliance programs. And
this paradigm is “W.E.I.R.D.” 3 , meaning
white, educated, industrialized, rich
and democratic. It expresses a view of
the world from an U.S. American cultu-
ral angle of how the world and the eco-
nomy work (and should work).
But the cultural profile of Turkey is qu-
ite different from the U.S. In the 6D mo-
del of National Culture 4 by Dutch pro-
fessor Geert Hofstede, U.S. culture is an
almost diametrical opposite of Turkish
culture in the three dimensions Power
Distance, Individualism and Uncerta-
inty Avoidance that have very impor-
How to Achieve Effective
Compliance with COVID-19
prevention measures
37
So how can we understand the attitude
of Turkish people better from applying
the Hofstede culture model and how
can we make compliance with preven-
tion measures against COVID-19 more
effective?
With a high power distance score, Tur-
kish style is described by Hofstede as
follows:
“Dependent, hierarchical, superiors of-
ten inaccessible and the ideal boss is a
father figure. Power is centralized and
managers rely on their bosses and on
rules. Employees expect to be told what
to do. Control is expected and attitude
towards managers is formal. Commu-
nication is indirect and the information
flow is selective. The same structure can
be observed in the family unit, where the
father is a kind of patriarch to whom ot-
hers submit.” 6
The clearly means that instructions
must come from the very top and peop-
An example was the behavior or elder people after the an-
nouncement that people over age 65 were not allowed to lea-
ve their houses. This was (and still is) mostly ignored until the
police started informing people individually and warning them
to go to their homes and finally on the second day started
levying monetary fines for noncompliance. In one newspaper I
even saw a photograph of three old men hiding behind a small
truck at the side of the road from a police car.
le must be told what to do by authority even the President are regularly seen
ted by society. The Health Minister and do. So far, as I said before, the main mes-
figures. This is being done because it is
the typical Turkish style and it is expec-
5 Geert Hofstede et al.: Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. 3rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill USA, 2010.
6 https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/turkey/
on TV, the radio and quoted in the news
media and tell people what they should