Individualism-collectivism and business context as predictors of behaviors in cross-national work settings : incidence and outcomes
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
International Journal of Intercultural Relations
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Volume
35
Issue
4
First Page
440
Last Page
451
Keywords
Cross-cultural skills, Individualism-collectivism, Work interactions
Abstract
Brief descriptions of cross-national problem events by 1349 organizational employees from many nations were content analyzed. Contrasts between individualistic and collectivistic behaviors were much more strongly predicted by variations in business context (e.g., language spoken and hierarchical relations between the parties involved) than by a measure of nation-level in-group collectivism practices. Respondents from individualist nations emphasized performance goals and task focus, whereas those from collectivist nations emphasized personal aspects of work relations more strongly. Task-focused behavioral responses to problems were uniformly associated with positive outcome, whereas the outcome of emotional responses interacted significantly with individualism-collectivism practices. The results are interpreted in terms of collectivists' greater attention to context.
DOI
10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.02.001
Print ISSN
01471767
E-ISSN
18737552
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Smith, P. B., Torres, C. V., Hecker, J., Chua, C. H., Chudzikova, A., Degirmencioglu, S., ... Yanchuk, V. (2011). Individualism-collectivism and business context as predictors of behaviors in cross-national work settings: Incidence and outcomes. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(4), 440-451. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.02.001