Supercase
Alex Perry, Cole Boyer, Lindsay
Jimeson, Karen Eberle, Michael
Grasso
Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions
• Gathered statistical data from 100,000
employees of IBM around world to determine
values on which cultures vary
• Each Dimension described as a continuum,
with distinct cultures classified somewhere
along continuum
Individualism-Collectivism
• addresses how people define themselves and their
relationships with others
• Individualistic cultures:
– Consider individual most important in any social setting
– Stress independence rather than dependence
– Reward individual achievement
– Value each individuals uniqueness
• Collectivist cultures
– Think goals of group are more important than individual
needs
– Obligation to the group is the norm
– Self is defined in relation to others
– Focus on cooperation rather than competition
Uncertainty Avoidance
• Extent to which people in a culture are made nervous by
situations they perceive as unstructured, unclear, or
unpredictable
• High Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures:
– Seek to avoid ambiguity
– Maintain strict codes of behavior and support absolute truths
– Workplace typified by rules, precisions, punctuality
• Low Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures:
– Accept ambiguity and lack of structure
– More inclined to take risks, innovate, and value outside the
box thinking
– Tend to work hard only when needed
– United States low uncertainty avoidance
Power Distance
• Extent to which people with little power in society consider inequity
normal and acceptable
• High Power Distance Cultures:
– Accept power differences as natural and inevitable
– Greater centralization of power and more importance place on
status
– Tend to have large number of supervisors, hierarchy, and
decision making at top end of hierarchy only
– Tend to have wide salary gap between high and low hierarchy
• Low Power Distance Cultures
– People higher in hierarchy not assumed to be superior
– People lower in hierarchy can achieve power through hard work
– Us is low power distance
• Becoming increasingly higher though
Masculinity-Femininity
• Focus on Biological sex and what is considered sex
appropriate behavior
• Masculine Cultures:
– Use reality of biological sex in creation of distinct roles for men and
women
– Men expected to be assertive, ambitious, competitive
– Women expected to be supportive, nurturing, deferent
– Women have hard time achieving workplace equality
– US is masculine country
• Feminine Cultures
– Men and women equally permitted to be assertive, deferent,
competitive, nurturing
– Focus on interpersonal relationships and concern for weak
– Manifest consensus seeking
Long-Term Short-Term Orientation
• Are you focused on the present or the future
• Long Term Orientation:
– Associated with thrift, savings, perseverance, willingness
to subordinate oneself to achieve a goal
– Employees have strong work ethic and view distant goals
• Short Term Orientation
– Spend money to keep up with the Joneses and prefer quick results to
long term gain
– Employees seek immediate pay and are less willing to sacrifice in the
short run to achieve in the long run
Predicted Outcome Value Theory
• General Focus: Predicting communication and
future relational development from
judgments made during initial encounters
• Primary goal in first encounters: Maximize
relational outcomes
– In first encounters, individuals asses predicted
outcome value of relationship
Predicted Outcome Value
• Will this relationship produce positive or
negative outcomes for me
• Reward/cost analysis
– Positive outcomes: Develop relationship
– Negative outcomes: Avoid relationship
Bases for POV
• Proximity/Access
– Will you see them again
– People don’t form relationships with people they don’t meet
• Physical Attractiveness
– Is the person attractive
• Similarity
– How similar are we
• Type of Potential relationship
– What is the relationship potential
• Uncertainty
– More uncertain the lower the POV
Predictions of POV
• As POV Increases
– Quantity of verbal communication increases
– Intimacy of communication content increases
– Nonverbal expressions of affiliation increase
• If Low POV
– Restrict and end initial conversation
– Maintain first impression
• If High POV
– Communicate to maximize outcomes
– Potential for relationship development
– First impression more likely to change through
continued interaction
Face Negotiation Theory
• General Focus: Explain and predict cultural
differences associated with conflict management
as a function of differences in face concerns
• Individuals try to balance own positive and
negative face needs while attending to partners
face needs
– Face: Desired self image
– Positive face: Need to be liked, appreciated, and
admired
– Negative Face: desire to act freely without imposition
from others
Face Negotiation Theory
• Cultural influences on face concerns:
– Individualism: stronger concern for self-face
• Self face concern
– Individuals must consider their own positive and negative face
needs
– Collectivism: stronger concern for other-face,
mutual face
• Other face concern
– Partner’s positive and negative face needs
Conflict Styles
• Avoidance
– Withdraw from or seek to evade conflict
• Accommodation
– Cooperate with others/ typically concede
• Competition
– Highly assertive and lacking in cooperation
• Compromise
– Moderate concern for self and others, somewhat assertive and
cooperative, have to sacrifice
• Collaboration
– High regard for self and others, seek new solutions without making
sacrifices
• Passive Aggressive
• Emotional expression
• Third Party Help
Groupthink
• dysfunctional way of deliberating that group
members use when their desire for unanimity
overrides their motivation to assess all available
plans of action
• Groupthink represents failure of group to
demonstrate critical thinking
Three Antecedent conditions
• Cohesion
– Degree of connection or solidarity between group
members
• Structural flaws
– Group insulation-group isolated from larger world
– Biased leadership-leader states preference and group
members follow suit
– Lack of procedural norms-don’t have or don’t follow
procedural norms
– Homogeneity-similarity
• Situational characteristics
– Groupthink more likely to occur in times of high stress
• Operating constraints, threats, legal requirements, time pressures
– Moral Dilemmas
• Groupthink likely if alternatives are unethical
Symptoms of Groupthink
• Overestimation of group-group members have inflated
view of group’s abilities
– Invulnerability-group wont or can’t fail
– Inherent morality-group is good, group decisions will be
good
• Close mindedness-polarized thinking, or viewing the
world in extremes
– Stereotyping-demonizing other groups and their leaders
– Collective rationalization-group members justify decisions
by talking themselves into them
• Pressures toward uniformity-Individual group members
suppress critical thinking
– Self-Censorship-group members keep mouth shut when
experiencing doubt
– Illusion of unanimity-group members perceive a
consensus, even when one isn’t present
To avoid groupthink
• should avoid having the leader state a preference,
• set up several independent subgroups to study the
problem and propose solutions
• discuss what is happening in the group with people
outside of the group
• invite outsiders into the group
• assign someone to be a devils advocate
• monitor the group for symptoms
• take time between initial decision and confirmation
of the decision to analyze the decision critically