Individualism-collectivism and business context as predictors of behaviors in cross-national work settings : incidence and outcomes

Peter B. SMITH, Claudio V. TORRES, Julia HECKER, Chei Hwee CHUA, Alena CHUDZIKOVA, Serdar DEGIRMENCIOGLU, Francisco DONOSO-MALUF, Yifeng, Nancy CHEN, Charles HARB, Brad JACKSON, Sigmar MALVEZZI, Andrew MOGAJI, Juan CARLOS PASTOR, Lorena PEREZ-FLORIANO, B.N. SRIVASTAVA, Gunter STAHL, Stephanie THOMASON, Vladimir YANCHUK

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)440-451
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Intercultural Relations
Volume35
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2011

Keywords

  • Cross-cultural skills
  • Individualism-collectivism
  • Work interactions

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