Cross Cultural Communication
Chapter 5
The Group &
The Individual
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Chapter 5
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Basis of Cultural Differences
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Relationship with people
 Universalism Vs Particularism
 Individualism Vs Collectivism
 Neutral or Emotional
 Specific Vs diffuse
 Achievement Vs Ascriptions
Chapter 5
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Individualism Vs Collectivism
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Individualism: Prime orientation to the self
Collectivism or communitarianism: Prime
orientation to common goals and objectives
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Parsons & Shills
Cultures do typically vary one or other of
these approaches in their thinking processes
Chapter 5
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Individualism Vs. Collectivism
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Individualism is a cultural orientation where relationships
between individuals are not strong, and when individual choice
and freedom is often considered to be superior to collective
choices.
Collectivism prevails when people are integrated into strong,
cohesive groups, and where the interests, opinions and
decisions of the group or the whole are considered to be the
superior to those of the individual.
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Collective orientations
Exercise - I
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Two people were discussing ways in which individuals
could improve the quality of life.
A. One said : “It is obvious that if individuals have as much freedom
as possible and the maximum opportunity to develop themselves the
quality of their life will improve as a result.”
B. The other said : “If individuals are continuously taking care of their
fellow human beings the quality of life will improve for everyone,
even if it obstructs individual freedom and individual development.”
Which of the two ways of reasoning do you think is usually
best, A or B?
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Collective orientations
Exercise - I
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Fig.5.1 shows the findings :
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Highest scoring individualists are the Romanians,
Nigerians and Canadians, closely followed by
Americans, Czechs and Danish.
Some of the lowest scoring Europeans are French at
41%
Egypt, Nepal and Mexico came as highly collectivistic
societies
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Collective orientations
Exercise - II
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Which kind of job found more frequently in your
organization?
A. Everybody works together and you do not get individual
credit.
B. Everybody is allowed to work individually and individual
credit can be received.
Fig.5.2 shows the results of these answers.
Chapter 5
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Which Community?
Exercise - III
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A defect is discovered in one of the installations.
It was caused by negligence of one of the
members of a team. Responsibility for this
mistake can be carried in various ways.
A. This person causing the defect by negligence is the one
responsible.
B. Because he or she happens to work in a team the
responsibility should be carried out by the group.
Which one of these two ways of taking
responsibility do you think is usually the case in
your society, A or B?
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Communitarianism
in International Business
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Representation
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Status
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Communitarian cultures prefer plural representations
In the face of expected demands, they prefer to
confer with those back home
In individualistic cultures, single representative may
represent the organization
Unaccompanied people in communitarian cultures
are assumed to lack status.
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Communitarianism
in International Business
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Translators
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In Anglo-Saxon negotiations the translator is
supposed to be neutral.
In communitarian cultures, translator may assume a
significant role in negotiation. He or she may be the
top negotiator in the group. Their role is more of an
interpreter rather than translator.
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Communitarianism
in International Business
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Decision-making
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Communitarian decision-making typically takes much longer, with
sustained efforts to achieve consensus.
Communitarian society normally refrain from voting and attempts
to build consensus. Final result takes more time, but it is more
stable. The emphasis is on consensus and consultation in
decision-making process and open conflict is avoided.
In individualistic cultures, decision-making process is usually very
short, and voting is preferred to get the majority decision.
Consensus is replaced with open debate and confrontation.
Avoidance is replaced with combative negotiations.
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Communitarianism
in International Business
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Motivation
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The relationship between individual and group also
plays an important role in motivation.
There are two sources of motivation :
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Extrinsic monetary rewards, and,
For the positive regard and support of their colleagues
In highly communitarian cultures, second source of
motivation is stronger. High performers prefer to
share the fruits of their efforts with colleagues.
Chapter 5
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Individualism vs. Communitarianism
in International Business
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Organization Structure
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In individualistic cultures organizations ( from the Greek
Organon) are instruments, deliberately assembled and
contrived to serve owners, employers and customers.
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In communitarian societies, the organization is more of a
social context all members share and which gives them
meaning and purpose.
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Their ties are abstract, legal ones, regulated by contract.
Each member performs a differentiated and specialized
function and receives an extrinsic reward for doing so.
Organizations are similar to large family, community or clan
which develops and nurtures its members.
Growth and prosperity of organizations are valuable ends in
themselves.
Chapter 5
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Reconciling
Individualism and Communitarianism
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Fig. 5.4 represents vicious circle : one value is tied to
the seemingly opposite value in such a way that they
avoid each other’s pathologies.
Issue is circular with two “starting points”
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Individualistic culture sees the individual as “the end”and
improvements to communal arrangements as the means to
achieve it.
Communitarian culture sees the group as its end and
improvements to individual capacities as a means to that
end.
By definition, circle never end. Every “end” is also a means
to another goal.
Chapter 5
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Reconciling
Individualism and Communitarianism
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Individualism finds its fulfillment in service to the
group,while group goals are of demonstrable value to
individuals only if these individuals are consulted and
participate in the process of developing them.
Reconciliation is not easy , but possible. One value
increases the quality of the seemingly opposite one.
Exercise –IV shows this process.
Chapter 5
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Reconciling
Individualism and Communitarianism
Exercise - IV
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Several managers were discussing whether close co-operation or
fierce competition was the most salient mark of the successful
enterprise. Below are four statements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Competition is the supreme value of any successful economy or
company. Attempts by major parties to co-operate usually end in
collusion against one or more of them.
Competition is the supreme value of any successful economy or
company, because this involves serving customers better than
our rivals, so assuring the public interest.
Co-operation among stakeholders is the supreme value because
this shared aim makes companies fiercely competitive towards
outsiders, thereby fulfilling personal interests.
Co-operation among stakeholders is the supreme value. Personal
rivalry and competition for self-advancement are seriously
disruptive for effective operations.
Allocate “1” to the approach you prefer and “2”to the second
choice. Similarly indicate what your belief would be favored by your
closest colleague at work.
Chapter 5
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Reconciling
Individualism and Communitarianism
Discussion on Exercise - IV
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Two answers represent either/ or type of answers while two
alternatives are reconciled answers.
One starts with the individual and includes the group, while the other
starts with the group and then reconciles the individual.
Answer 1 affirms competitive individualism and rejects
communitarian co-operation, while answer 4 is the exact opposite.
Answer 2 starts by affirming competitive individualism, but by
connecting it to communitarian co-operation it reconciles into an
integrity which can be called as “co-opetition”
Answer 3 suggests the same end result but the spiral is now anticlockwise, from the co-operating group to the competing individual.
In Fig. 5.5, the results of earlier competitions are co-operatively
integrated, before a new phase of competition begins.
Chapter 5
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Practical tips for doing business in
Individualistic and Communitarian cultures
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Table 1 /P.67 shows the difference between two
orientations
Table 2 / P.67 shows tips for doing business in both
cultures.
Table 3 / P.68 shows when managing and being
managed in both cultures.
Chapter 5
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