Ratgeber für MicroUnternehmen
Polarity of Individualism vs Collectivism in the Workplace
- Parent Category: Ratgeber MicroUnternehmer
- Category: Interkulturelles Management
- Written by LG admin
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While peer pressure to the current cultural norms is a basic tenet of sociology, how one acts is also defined by the value placed upon individuals. In many cultural conflicts, there is a conflict between individualism versus collectivism.
Collectivist Cultures
Asian cultures value the group over the individual. It is the team, not the individual star performer, who matters most. The Japanese even have a saying that the stake that sticks out will get hammered down. Conformity is seen as a social virtue. Deliberately challenging traditions and social protocols is not pushing the limits, it is interpreted as either insulting or dangerous. This is also a common trait in Middle Eastern cultures, though the group conformity is dictated by ethnicity, religion or clan as compared to work groups.
Individualist Cultures
A legacy of the Magna Carta era of English politics has been a strong emphasis on individualism in the former English colonies. The lone American cowboy is matched by the rugged Aussie outbacker, the fiercely independent South Afrikaner, and to a lesser extent, the proud Canadian Mountie or lumberjack. These stereotypes indicate someone who is an independent, self-reliant and rugged individualist. This indicates the value placed on individualism in these nations.
Where does this create workplace conflict?
Giving praise to one key leader by name instead of praising his team is insulting to Asians. Telling a star performer to stop hogging all the attention and give everyone who works with him equal credit is offensive in America.
- Performance bonuses given to the best performing plant or work groups such as the assembly line with the highest output is standard practice in Asia. Performance bonuses for star achievers are standard in Western nations.
- Cultures with a high value on the collective also place a strong emphasis on hierarchy. In the West, using someone's familiar name is a sign of familiarity, breaking the ice or breaking down social barriers in the workplace. In a collectivist nation, stepping outside someone's workplace role ranges from uncomfortable to unethical.
- In the West, individualism is reflected in clothing and appearance. Dress codes are a long list defining acceptable and unacceptable. Demanding uniforms of Westerners can cause workplace conflict. In collectivist nations, uniforms are common and even preferred, since everyone is showing their group identity and there is less risk of being seen as a troublemaker. From the Asian factory with every girl wearing the same smock to Indonesian factories where all girls where the same headscarf, wearing different clothing risks ridicule or even violence, in the case of refusing to wear a headscarf in a conservative Muslim nation. Demanding that everyone "show their style" or "come as you want" can create conflict for those who only have "at home clothes" or dress occasion clothing without their uniform.
