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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 August 2023

Guillaume Andrieu, Francesco Montani, Ilaria Setti and Valentina Sommovigo

This study aims to shed light on the relationship between gender diversity and group performance by considering the moderating role of relative cultural distance. Drawing from the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to shed light on the relationship between gender diversity and group performance by considering the moderating role of relative cultural distance. Drawing from the categorization–elaboration model (CEM), the authors hypothesize that gender-diverse collaborative learning groups perform better when a low level of relative cultural distance in country-level individualism–collectivism or power distance exists among group members.

Design/methodology/approach

To test this hypothesis, the authors conducted a study on 539 undergraduate students organized into 94 groups. The assessment of group performance was based on scores given by external raters.

Findings

The authors found that relative cultural distance significantly moderated the gender diversity–group performance relationship such that gender diversity was positively related to group performance when the collaborative learning group included members who similarly valued individualism–collectivism or power distance (i.e. relative cultural distance was low) and was negatively related to group performance when the collaborative learning group comprised members who differently valued individualism–collectivism or power distance (i.e. relative cultural distance was high).

Originality/value

This study contributes to understanding when gender diversity is positively associated with group performance by expanding the range of previously examined diversity dimensions to include relative cultural distance in country-level individualism–collectivism and power distance.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2010

Fauziah Noordin and Kamaruzaman Jusoff

One of the main issues that many organizations will face in the coming years is the management of increasing diversity in the workforce. The purpose of this paper is to examine…

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Abstract

Purpose

One of the main issues that many organizations will face in the coming years is the management of increasing diversity in the workforce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the levels of individualism and collectivism of managers in two different cultural environments, that is, Malaysia and Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected by questionnaire from middle managers in a total of 18 organisations in Malaysia and ten organisations in Australia. Individualism‐collectivism was measured using Singelis et al.'s 32‐item scale. The items in the scale are designed to measure the horizontal and vertical aspects of individualism‐collectivism. The items were answered on seven‐point scale where 1 indicates strong disagreement and 7 indicates strong agreement. In addition, the seven‐item job satisfaction measure, which is part of the Survey of Organizations questionnaire developed by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, was used.

Findings

The study reveals the existence of differences between Malaysian and Australian managers on the level of vertical individualism, horizontal collectivism, and vertical collectivism. In addition, the Australian managers appear to have a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than their counterpart in Malaysia.

Research limitations/implications

Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that there have been significant shifts in value classifications in Malaysia since Hofstede conducted his original study. This finding underscores the fact that, although a nation's work‐related values and attitudes are deep‐seated preferences for certain end states; they are subject to change over the years as external environmental changes shape a society. Therefore, researchers and practitioners should use caution before attempting to use work‐related values and attitudes to understand human behaviours in organizations.

Practical implications

The results of this study may be of interest and assistance to managers of multinational and international organizations who need to manage in global contexts and, therefore, need to understand cultural‐driven differences in personal and interpersonal work‐related conditions between and across nations.

Originality/value

The results of this study provide empirical corroboration of the theoretical perspectives of Singelis et al. on individualism‐collectivism and horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism respectively. In addition, they may be of interest and assistance to managers of multinational and international organizations who need to manage in global contexts and, therefore, need to understand cultural‐driven differences in work attitudes of employees between and across nations. Finally, the study's findings contribute to a growing body of research that illustrates the need to take a multidimensional approach to the study on individualism‐collectivism.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 February 2008

Meera Komarraju, Stephen J. Dollinger and Jennifer L. Lovell

This study aims to examine the role of horizontal and vertical individualism‐collectivism in explaining conflict management styles. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 640…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the role of horizontal and vertical individualism‐collectivism in explaining conflict management styles. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 640 respondents completed the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory‐II (ROCI‐II, Form C) designed to assess five conflict management styles and the individualism‐collectivism (I‐C) scale designed to assess the vertical and horizontal aspects of individualism‐collectivism. Findings – Correlation and regression analyses provide support for a conceptual fit between cultural dimensions and conflict management styles. Horizontal and vertical aspects of individualism‐collectivism explained 5‐20 percent of the variance in the various conflict management styles. Specifically, individuals displaying an individualist orientation (horizontal and vertical) tended to give greater importance to satisfying personal needs and preferred a dominating style, rather than an obliging or avoiding style. In contrast, collectivists (horizontal and vertical) seemed more likely to sacrifice personal needs for the sake of the group and preferred an integrating style. Further, horizontal collectivists were more likely to prefer an obliging style and vertical collectivists an avoiding style of conflict management. Research limitations/implications – Generalization is limited to college student samples from the USA. Practical implications – Organizations could provide training programs to sensitize employees to their specific cultural orientations and their preferred conflict management styles. In addition, employees could learn to switch between styles depending on the situation, issue, or relationship within which the conflict is taking place. Originality/value – Highlights the importance of sensitizing employees to their cultural orientation and preferred conflict management style; raises the possibility of training them to develop alternate styles.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2019

Taeshik Gong and Chen-Ya Wang

Dysfunctional customer behavior is believed to engender employee stress and, in turn, fuel employee turnover. However, little research has examined the moderating role of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Dysfunctional customer behavior is believed to engender employee stress and, in turn, fuel employee turnover. However, little research has examined the moderating role of individual-level and contextual-level resource variables. The purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps by examining employee embeddedness and individualism–collectivism as putative moderators of the hypothesized mediation chain.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a field study involving 264 service employees working in two hotels operated by the same international hotel chain, one in South Korea (n=138) and the other in the UK (n=126).

Findings

Results show that employee embeddedness weakens the impact of dysfunctional customer behavior on employee turnover via employee stress. In addition, findings suggest that collectivists (individualists) are more (less) likely to be receptive to embeddedness cues.

Originality/value

This is the first known study to show that employee embeddedness can mitigate the impact of dysfunctional customer behavior on turnover via employee stress. This moderated-mediation model is further moderated by employees’ cultural value orientation (individualism–collectivism). Prior literature is not explicit on these complex models.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1999

Uzoamaka P. Anakwe, Eric H. Kessler and Edward W. Christensen

This study examined the impact of cultural differences (individualism‐collectivism) on potential users' receptivity towards distance learning. Using a sample of 424 students…

Abstract

This study examined the impact of cultural differences (individualism‐collectivism) on potential users' receptivity towards distance learning. Using a sample of 424 students enrolled in two northeastern universities, we addressed three research questions: Would an individual's culture affect his or her receptivity towards distance learning? Would an individual's culture affect his or her preference for particular distance learning media? Would an individual's culture affect his or her preference for distance learning in a particular course type? Findings reveal that an individual's culture affects his or her overall attitude towards distance learning. Specifically, we found that individualists' motives and communication patterns are in synch with distance learning as a medium of instruction or communication; whereas collectivists' motives and communication patterns shun any form of mediated instruction or communication as in distance learning. Implications and direction for future studies are discussed.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2020

Mooweon Rhee, Valerie Alexandra and K. Skylar Powell

Performance feedback theory (PFT) has informed analyses in numerous national contexts and has been used to explain various business and management activities of firms. Stemming…

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Abstract

Purpose

Performance feedback theory (PFT) has informed analyses in numerous national contexts and has been used to explain various business and management activities of firms. Stemming from behavioral theory and grounded in a cognitive perspective, which views organizational actions as being the results of decisions produced by groups of individual decision-makers, PFT research has mostly assumed the universal nature of cognition and decision-making processes. However, PFT also presumes that individual decision-makers bring with them different backgrounds and experiences. Hence, this paper offers propositions on how cultural differences in individualism-collectivism influence the major components of PFT, including the formation and revision of performance goals (aspiration levels), and search behaviors and risk preferences in response to gaps between goals and actual performance. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper offers theoretical propositions for the above purpose.

Findings

This is not an empirical analysis.

Originality/value

By integrating the individualism-collectivism differences framework into the PFT model, the authors answer previous calls to integrate concepts and frameworks from other theories into PFT while considering the role of cultural differences in aspiration-consequence relationships. Additionally, much of PFT research has focused on outcomes, while actual internal processes have remained unobserved. By focusing on how cultural differences influence various PFT processes, this conceptual analysis sheds light on the unobserved bounds of decision-makers' cognitions.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1996

Rebecca Abraham

This study is an extension of an etic‐emic analysis of the individualism‐collectivism construct at the sociopsychological level to an organizational context. At the first level of…

Abstract

This study is an extension of an etic‐emic analysis of the individualism‐collectivism construct at the sociopsychological level to an organizational context. At the first level of comparison, strong and weak etics were extracted to permit comparability of values. At the second level, emic elements were produced to provide a basis of intercultural comparisons. Purely individualistic, purely collectivist and multidimensional factors emerged for the ten nations under consideration.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2021

Abraham Stefanidis, Moshe Banai, Ursula Schinzel and Ahmet Erkuş

The purpose of this study is to refine theory of negotiation by empirically investigating the extent to which national-, societal- and individual-level cultures relate to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to refine theory of negotiation by empirically investigating the extent to which national-, societal- and individual-level cultures relate to negotiators' tendency to endorse questionable negotiation tactics.

Design/methodology/approach

To assess the hypothesized relationships between culture and ethically questionable negotiation tactics at three cultural levels of analysis, the authors collected data from Turks who reside in Turkey and in Germany and from Greeks who reside in Greece and in Cyprus. Respondents' national-level cultural values were inferred from their nationality, respondents' societal-level cultural values were inferred from their country of residency, and respondents' individual-level cultural values were inferred from their discrete and unique individuality.

Findings

At the national level, the authors found that Turks in Turkey and Germany scored significantly higher than Greeks in Greece and Cyprus on the endorsement of pretending negotiation tactics. At the societal level, the authors found that Turkish negotiators in Germany displayed higher levels of lying negotiation tactics and lower levels of pretending negotiation tactics than Turkish negotiators in Turkey. Greek negotiators in Greece endorsed deceiving and lying tactics more than Greek negotiators in Cyprus. At the individual level, the authors found that negotiators who score high on vertical individualism and collectivism endorse questionable negotiation tactics significantly more than negotiators who score high on horizontal individualism and collectivism.

Originality/value

The authors empirically demonstrate how national-, societal- and individual-level cultures differentially influence negotiators' tendency to endorse questionable negotiation tactics. The study's trilevel analysis allows for integrating the societal-level theories of negotiators' acculturation and cultural adjustment to a host culture, highlighting the importance of bicultural identity.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Smaranda Boroş, Nicoleta Meslec, Petru L. Curşeu and Wilco Emons

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of group composition in cultural values on conflict management styles in groups.

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of group composition in cultural values on conflict management styles in groups.

Design/methodology/approach

A field study using data from 125 groups was conducted.

Findings

The results show that in groups where members feel they are equal and connected (horizontal collectivism) cooperation is better, and contending and avoiding conflict management styles are used less. When people view themselves as unequal and independent (vertical individualism (VI)) the avoiding style of conflict management is more frequently used. Within‐group similarity (low variety) in VI leads to more cooperation and less avoidant conflict management strategies as well as less third party interventions. High group variety in views of being unequal, but interconnected (vertical collectivism), as well as in the views of being equal but independent (horizontal individualism), leads to more cooperative conflict resolution strategy.

Practical implications

The results show that small and consistent within‐group differences in cultural values are beneficial (with the exception of VI) for cooperative strategies. By showing that group compositional configurations in cultural values (vertical/horizontal individualism and collectivism) impact on conflict management strategies, the study has important implications for team design.

Originality/value

The paper extends current research by conceptualizing cultural values (it considers the horizontal vs vertical orientation in individualism‐collectivism) as configural group properties and by testing the impact of specific team configurations in cultural values on conflict management strategies.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 November 2017

Huadong Yang and Amna Yousaf

In this paper, the authors examine the role of idiocentric and allocentric cultural orientations in employees’ preference for relationship help and for emotional help from third…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the authors examine the role of idiocentric and allocentric cultural orientations in employees’ preference for relationship help and for emotional help from third parties in two cross-cultural samples. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the psychological dynamics of cultural dimensions in relation to cross-cultural conflict intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tested the theoretical assumptions by using questionnaire survey in two cross-cultural samples. Study 1 is a cross-cultural comparison within a country, including 83 Dutch employees and 106 Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands. Study 2 is a comparison between countries, including 123 Germany-based German employees and 101 Pakistan-based Pakistani employees.

Findings

The results show that employees’ allocentric orientation, but not idiocentric orientation, explains the differences in preference for relationship help in both the within-country comparison (Study 1: individualistic Dutch culture vs collectivistic Turkish culture) and the between-country comparison (Study 2: individualistic German culture vs collectivistic Pakistani culture). However, only in the between-country comparison (Study 2), the findings reveal that the difference in preference for emotional help between individualistic German culture and collectivistic Pakistani culture is mediated by idiocentric orientation (not by allocentric orientation).

Research limitations/implications

The study confirms that the extent to which disputants’ preference for third-party help regarding social and personal aspects does differ across national cultures, and supports that the argument that social relationship is one of the paramount concerns in conflict handling in the collectivistic cultures. In addition, the study signals an alternative way of conducting two culture comparisons and expands our view on the cultural dimension of individualism-collectivism.

Practical implications

The findings have practical implications both for third-party intervention and for managing cultural diversity in the workplace.

Social implications

In general, this study contributes to our understanding on how culture influences conflict handling and provides suggestions for third parties to be culturally adaptive.

Originality/value

The research demonstrates that culture plays an important role in determining the extent to which disputants favour relationship help and emotional help from third parties. The research is also valuable in terms of reliability. The authors tested the hypotheses in two cross-cultural samples both within a country and between countries.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

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