Individualism And Collectivism by Harry C Triandis

Author:Harry C Triandis [Triandis, Harry C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Psychology, Philosophy
ISBN: 9780813318509
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 1602832
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1995-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

Social Institutions

Economic Institutions

A major theory that links individualism-collectivism with work behavior was presented by Erez and Earley (1993), and Erez (1994). They called it a model of “cultural self-representation.” It has four groups of variables: (1) cultural values and norms—for example, the criteria used to evaluate managerial techniques; (2) managerial and motivational techniques—especially examining their contribution to individual goal attainment, self-worth, and well-being, as evaluated in line with the cultural criteria; (3) the self as an information processor and interpreter of organizational stimuli, in line with cultural values; and (4) consequent work behavior, as exemplified by attitudes, performance quality and quantity, extra-role behavior, and commitment to or withdrawal from the job.

Erez and Earley (1993) argued that we must consider culture whenever we try to understand whether a managerial behavior will be effective. For example, a supervisor who encourages open criticism will be more acceptable in an individualistic culture, where saving face is not too important, than in a collectivist culture, where saving face is of great importance.

Other factors in the workplace have very different effects, depending on the culture. There is little need for much socialization into the job in the case of individualists and much need in the case of collectivists, who must generate a common culture that will coordinate their activities. Japanese firms typically bring a whole age group of new employees into the firm and provide extensive socialization, lasting months, often in a semimilitaristic training environment. Company songs and speeches from the top brass of the corporation are used to create maximum identification with the corporation. Zahrley and Tosi (1989) found that collective induction into the organization results in less conflict between work and family life than individual induction, which is widely practiced in individualistic cultures.

Communication is another area of difference in the two different types of cultures. It can be in writing, with a small interpersonal component in individualist cultures, but should be face-to-face in the case of collectivist cultures. Problem solving must be individual-based in the former and group-based in the latter cultures. Decision making can be based on majority vote in the former and on group consensus in the latter cultures.

Erez and Earley (1993) discussed the goals of collectives and subcollectives and showed that the commitment of individuals to the goals of these groups is dependent on the individualism and collectivism of the culture. They recognized that collectivism has its negative aspects in organizations. One of them is that collectivists are more likely than individualists to keep important information to themselves (information is power) and not give it to members of their organizations that they see as outgroups (e.g., production people may not give crucial information to marketing people), a phenomenon documented by Triandis (1967). Collectivists compete (Espinoza and Garza, 1985) more vigorously and exploit (Pandey, 1986) outgroups even more so than do individualists. If these outgroups happen to be inside their corporation, that can be a very serious problem.

In contrast, individualists may pursue their self-interest, regardless of its implications for the collective. If

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