MBA 614
Cross-Cultural
Management THE GROUP AND THE INDIVIDUAL
INDIVIDUALISM VS. COLLECTIVISM
FEELINGS AND RELATIONSHIPS
AFFECTIVE VS. NEUTRAL CULTURES
OUTLINE
MODULE 2
Individualism vs.
Communitarianism
Do we function as a group or as individuals?
The degree to which people see themselves function
more as a community or more as individuals.
Individualism vs.
Collectivism
? This is our relation with the group
? Individualism: – autonomy and creativity
? Collectivism: taking care of the group
International
Management
? Individualist or communitarian preferences affect
practices such as:
? Negotiations,
? Decision-making,
? Motivation,
? Pay-for-performance
The letter I
? The capital letter I is one of the most used
capitals in the English language.
Think about this . . .
? Does modernization imply individualism?
? Are we really self-made of did our parents,
teachers, families and friends have a hand in it?
? Is individualism a corporate requirement?
What is the goal?
? The I. culture sees the individual as the end and
improvements to communal arrangements as the
means to achieve it.
? The C. culture sees the group as its end and
improvement to individual capacities as a means
to that end. Yet if the relationship is truly circular.
? By definition circles never end. Every end is also the means to another goal.
I. vs. C. in International
Business
? It affects:
? Representation
? Status
? Translator
? Decision Making
Representation
? This is a very important issue for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution . . .
? From the reading, it should be evident that:
? C. cultures prefer plural representation.
? In the face of unexpected demands C. will wish to
confer with those back home
? Rarely does a single Japanese go to an important
negotiation
Status Translators
? Status
? Unaccompanied people in C. cultures are assumed
to lack status
? Translators
? In Anglo-Saxon negotiations the translator is
supposed to be neutral
? The translator in C. Cultures
Decision-making
? The I. society with its respect for individual opinion,
will frequently ask for a vote
? The C. society will intuitively refrain from voting.
I. C. & Motivation
? How to motivate people?
? Mr. Johnson believed that he and MCC knew what motivates people:
? extra salary reward paid to high-performing
individuals.
Practical tips for doing business in individualist and communitarian cultures
Recognizing the differences
Tips for doing business with:
When managing and being managed
MBA 614
Cross-Cultural
Management FEELINGS AND RELATIONSHIPS
AFFECTIVE VS. NEUTRAL CULTURES
In general . . .
? In general: overly neutral or affective (expressive)
cultures have problems doing business with each
other.
? The neutral person is easily accused o being ice-
cold ;
? The affective person is seen as out of control and
inconsistent.
Recognize the differences
? Refrain from making any judgments based on
emotions or the lack of them
? Neutral cultures are not necessarily cold or
unfeeling nor are they emotionally constipated or
repressed.
Degrees of
Affectivity/Emotional Display
? There are norms about acceptable levels of
emotional display and they can be much higher
in some countries than in others. The important
issue here is this : should emotion be exhibited or
separated in business relations?
This is what is happening
? Americans tend to exhibit emotion, yet separate it
from objective and rational decisions.
? Italians and south European: tend to exhibit and
not separate.
? Dutch and Swedes : tend not to exhibit and to
separate.
There is nothing good of bad about these
differences
Humor / Irony
? Humor is language dependent.
Interpretation . . .
? For the Anglo-Saxons
? For Latinos
? For Orientals
Tone of Voice (Cont.)
? For some neutral societies, ups and downs in
speech suggest that the speaker is not serious.
? However for most Latin societies this
exaggerated way of communicating shows
that you have your heart in the matter.
? For oriental societies tend to have a much more monotonous style, self-controlled. This way of
communicate for them shows respect.
The Spoken Words
? Language is often used quite differently in
different contexts. This has some serious differences in the meanings of individual words.
Non-verbal communication
Eye contact / Touching /
Space
? Nonverbal Communication
Congruency
? It is the relationship between current and past
patterns of behavior, as well as the harmony
between verbal and nonverbal communication.
References
? Trompenaars, F. & Hampden-Turner, Ch. (2013),
Riding The Waves of Culture
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