Work culture and language capabilities

Danish businesses are characterised by an easy-going corporate culture that allows for open and honest communication with short communication lines from upper management to the individual employee. The foreign language capabilities of the Danish population are generally considered to be excellent.

Work culture

Danes are generally innovative and open to new ideas; they take responsibility and are quick to implement new technologies and to adapt to changes. The business environment is informal and top management’s willingness to delegate authority is high as illustrated in the figure below.

Figure: Willingness to delegate authority in selected European countries: rankings (left side) and index scores (right side)

Source: World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2004-2005

Note: 1 = low (top management controls all important decisions); 7 = high (authority is mostly delegated to business unit heads and other lower-level managers).

Furthermore, according to a survey of 14,000 employees, the Danish workforce stands out as the most satisfied, motivated and loyal in the Nordic countries. These findings are further supported by IMD rankings where Denmark is placed second when it comes to worker motivation.

Figure: Worker motivation rankings (left side) and index scores (right side) (2005)

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005

Note: Executive Opinion Survey based on an index from 0 to 10

Foreign language capabilities

The foreign language capabilities of the Danish population are generally considered to be excellent. According to a survey made by the EU Commission in 2005, 88 per cent of the Danes are able to engage in conversation in a foreign language - well above the EU average of 50 per cent. As shown in the figure below, Denmark is highly ranked on IMD’s 2005 ranking on language skills

Figure: Language skills rankings (left side) and index scores (right side) (2005)

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005

Note: Executive Opinion Survey based on an index from 0 to 10

Furthermore, according to a European Commission survey made in 2002, 96 per cent of all Danes are positive towards learning foreign languages. This is the highest rate in Europe where the average is 72 per cent indicating that smaller countries show an openness that enable them to compete and cope in an international environment. The table below illustrates the differences in foreign language capabilities between a number of EU countries.

Source:  European Commission, Eurobarometer, Europeans and Languages, 2005

*From a European Commission 2001-survey

For more information, download the factsheet "Labour Market

Last updated on: 28-05-2006	<< Back   Top