The country I chose to talk about is Sweden, my country of origin. The first humans arrived in this country around 10,000 years ago. They traded goods with the Roman Empire and were hunters and gatherers for the first two thousand years. The name "Sweden" means "The Land of Svea" and comes from a powerful warrior tribe from 500 AD. Sweden, as well as other Scandinavian countries, are well known for their Vikings. These people lived between the 8th and 11th centuries and traveled the world while attacking and invading towns and villages throughout the northern part of Europe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayToday, Sweden has a population of 10 million, or 0.13% of the world's population. The capital of Sweden is Stockholm and is located in the Middle East of the country. It has a total area of ​​528,447 km², making it the third largest country in Western Europe after Spain and France. Sweden is 63% forest and 9% lakes and rivers. The currency is the Swedish krona, 1 USD is equivalent to 8.8 Swedish krona. According to last year's statistics, its per capita income is 50,179 US dollars. The Swedish krona is a floating currency that is not pegged to any currency. Swedes rarely use cash, as we swipe our cards everywhere, leading us more and more to a cashless society. There are many religions in Sweden, but the main religion is Christianity, with Evangelical Lutheran in priority. Children start school at the age of six and attend compulsory school for nine years. However, after that the majority of students continue their studies at a three-year high school, and after that about a third of students continue their higher education at universities in Sweden, but also abroad in other countries ( Top facts about, 2018).Sweden has a very strong natural culture in many areas. An example of this is a tea or coffee break, called “Fika”, which is an integral part of the national culture. This means that several times a day we sit down with our colleagues or family members, depending on the day and where you are, to enjoy a cup of coffee and a pastry. This is so important to Swedes that many Swedish companies even pay for “Fika breaks” several times a day. Fika is considered a social institution and it is very common to go there on a first date, for example. Another important event in Swedish culture is the annual Crayfish Festival. This tradition takes place in the month of August and people drink alcohol, eat crayfish with dill and potatoes and sing songs. This annual event was initially only celebrated by the nobility during the 1500s, but today, due to the massive importation of crayfish which has significantly lowered the price, this event is celebrated at all levels of society. The Swedish attitude is well known. for his open-mindedness. Swedes are generally very welcoming towards people of different sexualities or those from other religions. An example of the Swedish attitude is the "Jante law", which is an unwritten law among the Swedes. This is something that all Swedes live after, and it basically means that we are all equal and no one is better than the other. It is not common to brag about one's possessions or money, hence the Jante law. It doesn't matter if you are a CEO or a waiter, we are all considered to have the same value in society. To make theJante law clearer, Sweden publishes everyone's income tax return each year, intended for the public. So, if you want, you can easily search for your neighbor's or first cousin's income. It's a way of demonstrating that no one is better than the other. A large part of Swedish mores is, for example, that you cannot enter a Swedish house with your shoes on. This would be considered rude and disrespectful to the person's home you are entering. Another important thing to remember when it comes to Swedish manners is that Swedes are known to be very restrained and not very talkative, which makes it clear that Swedes are very fond of their personal space and feel very uncomfortable if someone enters this space. Equality The relationship between men and women is also a strong belief in Swedish society and plays an important role in the country's values. Sweden is one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to gender equality. An example of this is that parents are entitled to 16 months of paid parental leave, and of those 16 months, the man in the relationship must stay home with the newborn for at least 3 of those months. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy. We have our current king on the throne, Carl XVI Gustaf, who has been on the throne for 45 years. This is the longest number of years a king has ever spent on the throne in Sweden. In Stockholm we have the Royal Palace which is considered one of the largest palaces in the world and is still used for its original purpose, although the Palace of Versailles is slightly larger. The construction of the royal palace took place in 1967, just before the construction of Versailles (Sweden: 12 Interesting, 2016). The Swedish welfare system, also called the Swedish model, was developed in the 1930s. This system provides all citizens with access to childcare, education, health care, support for the unemployed and at least five weeks of paid vacation each year. To receive these benefits, all Swedish citizens must pay a tax of approximately 33-35% of their income to the government. This rate varies depending on the region of the country in which you live and also the amount of your income. It is a country with a parliamentary democracy, which means that the public is the main force of power. Sweden holds elections every four years. The last elections took place in 2014 and elected the current Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. A new election will take place this year in the fall (The Swedish System, 2018). In Sweden, political decisions are made at three different levels, namely: ; central government, departmental councils and municipalities. There is also another level of decision-making since Sweden is part of the European Union, which sits above the central government. Sweden has been part of the European Union since 1995 but has not yet decided to adopt the euro as its national currency. Since Sweden is part of the United Nations, we have agreed to the EU Free Trade Area, this means that free trade agreements within European countries save consumers billions of dollars in taxes , tariffs and customs checkpoints. Sweden is a mixed economy. which is considered highly competitive and successful. Sweden is ranked as the seventh most competitive country in the world and, according to the World Bank, is ranked as the tenth easiest country to trade with (Sutherland, 2018). What is very unique for this country is that Sweden has radio and television channels that are not owned or run by the government.Citizens must pay an annual fee to operate these channels, which are considered a form of public service. The purpose of these channels is to work for democracy as an impartial means of providing information to the people. As you will have understood, democracy is very important in Sweden. In order to protect democracy, four basic laws were created. These laws serve as a framework whenever decisions are made in the country. It is also worth mentioning the very low level of corruption in Sweden. In fact, Sweden is one of the least corrupt countries in the world (Sweden's Four Fundamentals, n.d.). In Sweden, everyone has to pay taxes on their income. Depending on where you live in the country, this rate varies between approximately 33 and 35 percent. Although this seems like a fairly high rate, it is important to know that all citizens benefit from free health care, free education, pension, childcare, parental leave paid, etc. for all citizens required to pay taxes. Sweden has always been a very neutral country when it comes to war and politics. Some politicians in this country have obtained international jobs as mediators between conflicting countries because of their well-known quality as excellent peacekeepers. Worldwide, Sweden is the 32nd largest export economy, with exports of around $133 billion and imports of around $131. billion dollars, which translates into a positive trade balance of $2.39 billion. Sweden's GDP is $514 billion and its GDP per capita is $48.9 thousand (O, nd). What Sweden is best known for exporting is cars, with an annual export rate of around $7.22 billion. This country is also known to export refined petroleum ($6.19 billion), packaged medicines ($5.77 billion), vehicle parts ($4.97 billion) and kaolin coated paper ( 2.95 billion dollars). The main destinations for Swedish exports are Germany, Denmark, the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom (O, nd). When it comes to imports, the goods that Sweden imports the most are cars ($8.97 billion), vehicle parts ($5.5 billion). ), crude oil ($5.46 billion), refined oil ($4.78 billion) and computers ($3.52 billion). The countries from which Sweden imports the most are Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium-Luxembourg. Countries with which Sweden may have maritime borders are Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Russia. Finland and Norway are bordered by land (W, nd). Sweden is the 4th most complex country in the world, with an ICE (economic complexity index) of 1.86. The number of exports with a comparative advantage is 320 products. This means that the share of global exports is higher than expected given the size of the exporting economy and the size of the global market for a product (O, nd). Sweden is well known for its sustainable development, and many countries see Sweden as a model in this area. In the early 1990s, Sweden switched from oil heating to district heating. This is perhaps the most important reason for how Sweden has managed to reduce greenhouse gases, both in the service sector and in the housing sector. Today, more than 80% of Swedish residential buildings are heated and supplied with hot water by district heating. Additionally, leftovers from wood factories, such as bark, branches and sawdust from industrieslocal forests, are burned to produce electricity and heat. This was a great success in reducing CO2 emissions. Urban farming is also a very common activity in Sweden. Many Swedes share land to grow fruit and vegetables. These plots of land are distributed throughout the territory and play an important role in sustainable development. Instead of buying fruits and vegetables, many Swedes do their best to plant and harvest them themselves. Additionally, many offices and other buildings use solar energy to heat buildings during the coldest part of the year. In summer, they try to use people's body heat and the sun to keep buildings warm, instead of using any demanding energy. heat option (7 examples, 2016). Concerning Sweden and its tariffs, this country applies European customs laws and regulations. This also applies to common customs tariffs of the United States and other countries outside Europe. Products entering Europe must be declared to customs. When products enter the EU, they must be declared to customs according to their classification. Customs duties can vary from 0 to 20% on industrial products imported into Sweden. When it comes to importing food products, duty rates may be higher since they are based on the weight of the goods. In order to know how much to pay in customs, you must keep the following in mind: the transaction value which includes the price of the product, the transport price and the insurance price. Most imported goods to Sweden also pose a problem with VAT, which is a value added tax. The value added tax rate is generally 25%. It may have a lower rate of 12% for some services such as food, and 6% for books and magazines (G, nd). In Hofstede's research, the first part of the cultural levels I want to discuss is power distance. Sweden has low scores on this dimension. What characterizes Sweden in this part is that Sweden is very independent, uses hierarchy only for convenience, and Sweden strongly believes in equal rights. Teamwork is crucial in Swedish culture and managers really depend on the knowledge of their team members. In Sweden, you call your managers (including teachers) by their first name. Communication is very direct between people (Sweden, nd). When it comes to individualism, Sweden scores 71. This means, for example, that people are expected to take care of themselves and only their direct family members. In an individualistic society, the offense will result in great guilt as well as a loss of self-esteem. The relationship between employee and employer is based on mutual benefits. All decisions that include hiring and promotions are supposed to be based solely on merit. It is for this reason that the corruption rate is very low in Sweden (Sweden, nd). Sweden scores 5 on the masculine dimension compared to the feminine dimension. Sweden is therefore considered a feminine society. For a feminine country, it is important to maintain a balance between personal and professional life. To apply it to a manager, the manager must be supportive and understanding towards the employees, and any decision made must be made by involving everyone in the workplace. As a manager in a women's country, you must fight for equality for your employees and ensure that they enjoy a quality working life. Any conflicts that may arise should be resolved by..