If you ask the Danes what they like about their business culture, they’re sure to mention the flat hierarchy.

What they mean is that a management pyramid that might have ten or more layers in a hierarchical country like Japan has only two or three layers in Denmark.

The flat hierarchy is a virtue born of necessity: salaries are high in Denmark, so middle managers are expensive. And because Danes aren’t supervised or monitored as much as many employees elsewhere, middle management isn’t as necessary.