COMMUNICATING ACROSS CULTURES AT WORK 2ND EDITION COMPANION WEBSITE CHAPTER EIGHT CULTURE, COMMUNICATION AND WORK ACTIVITIES

The basic approach of this chapter is, as in earlier editions, to apply the understandings and principles set out earlier in the book to specific types of work interactions. The overall structure has therefore been preserved but there have been some alterations to the coverage: mentoring, formerly treated as an element of leadership, has been made a section in its own right; a new section on service encounters reflects the importance of this type of interaction in modern economies; working in international alliances, conversely, has been taken out of this chapter and included in Chapter Nine along with other sections on different work contexts for intercultural communication. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ON THE EXERCISES Q.1 My version is on pp.3045. Q.2 Asking fair questions that some candidates are at a disadvantage in answering; placing too much emphasis on similarity in selection; being over-influenced by candidates selfpresentation; being too influenced in assessing person-job fit by candidates self-promotion; being biased against candidates who do not conform to gender stereotypes; being affected by violations of expectations. Q.3 An interviewer with low cultural awareness might interpret these responses to mean: (1) A lack of ability to answer the question (2) An inappropriate intention to ingratiate or flatter (3) Confirmation of an inability to answer the question directly and a lack of preparation through careful reading of the job description or person specification to ensure that he knows what particular knowledge or skills the company seeks that he can provide; resulting in a platitudinous answer that could be given by anyone (4) An inappropriate intention to appear nice or a clumsy attempt to show team spirit (5) A lack of ambition (6) An intention to make a pious, conforming, acceptable answer (7) Indecisiveness (8) More platitudes, no sense of the bottom line. Knowledge of Czech culture could lead the interviewer to interpret the responses differently, as follows: (1) and (3) The interviewee would probably be deeply embarrassed by a question asking him to praise himself and would try to deflect it. In Czech culture, displaying modesty is a traditional virtue and powerful influence on behaviour; (in many cases it may also be internalized to actually being modest, though this should not be confused with their having low self-esteem). (2) For Czechs, it is only polite to show respect for the institution for which the interviewer works; such a reply would be a ready refuge from the embarrassment of the question (4) Czechs exhibit a form of collectivism which includes respect for the abilities of others; on a personal level, they are more oriented to co-operation than competition, though in business they are entrepreneurial and quite able to compete in the market (5) Communism taught Czechs not to express their ambitions it was frowned on, even dangerous. This attitude is changing, though reinforced by the collectivistic preference for not being the nail that stands out. It does not mean that the person is unambitious.

(6) Most Czechs are genuinely proud of their small country and conscious of a duty to help it. (7) Czech culture is high in uncertainty avoidance, though Czechs can be very decisive once they have the facts. Q.8 See p.313 of the text. Q.9 The North American focus on task rather than relationship, on time efficiency, on information rather than trust in the other party as the basis for decision-making, on an impersonal approach and on a legally-binding contract to govern relationships are all typical behaviours for people with individualistic values. Equally, the Japanese approach of building a relationship that will facilitate decision-making, on harmony, on a long-term view of time, on treating the contract as renegotiable later and resolving differences that may arise through a good relationship, all correspond to collectivist values. However, this does not mean that when negotiating with outsiders, they will necessarily display these traits. That too would be consistent with collectivism. Q.17 The text states, The diverse groups reported more difficulty in agreeing on what was important and in working together and more often had members who tried to be too controlling, which hindered member contributions. However, the idea of the question is to take this back a stage. a. Why did they have difficulty in agreeing on what was important? This hints at reflecting different values. For instance, disagreement is likely on a compensation issue if some group members agree with the following collectivist value, A company should take into account the size of the employees family. The company is responsible for the extra compensation per child, and others with the following individualist value, An employee should be paid on the basis of the work he [sic] is doing for the company. Therefore, the company does not have to take into account the employees family. (This example is taken from Chapter 2 Question 15 where other examples may be found.) b. Why did they often have members who tried to be too controlling? The answer here is less obvious. Possibly the ones who were trying to take control were experiencing the negative emotions brought on by intercultural encounters especially anxiety, disconfirmed expectations, ambiguity (cf Chapter 5) and their response was to try to control the situation rather than to control the emotion. People high in uncertainty avoidance might be especially likely to respond in this way. Q.20 At the heart of these processes is effective intercultural communication, leading to greater acceptance and understanding of the different other, greater trust and the joint development of a third way or even a third culture. Q.21 Collectivism readily accounts for the Japanese supervisors preference for teams that rely on their peers and individualism for the American and British preference not emphasising this; however, the difference between American and British supervisors judgements is less easily explained. I suspect that other variables are in play. These might be other values Americans are higher in uncertainty avoidance than the British, so might have a stronger preference for the more control-oriented approach. Q.22 Country Management practice Value UK Focus on the interpersonal, transferability and Low uncertainty avoidance and emphasis on personal experience individualism France Emphasis on management technique, rationality and intellect Germany Emphasis on technical competence, acceptance of formalisation and measurement Russia Technocratic (Compared to US) lower in Emphasis on negotiating with central ministries individualism, higher in power Open to bribery distance, uncertainty avoidance and Machiavellianism; similar in masculinity (competitiveness) and

Hungary

Satisficing, authoritarian

Central Europe

Sweden Greece

dogmatism The satisficing seems to come les from a fundamental value than from recent experience; the authoritarianism probably from high power distance. (Hofstede did not research Hungarian cultural values.) Avoiding responsibility, distrust, low emphasis on As with Hungary, more due to a personal accountability history of being ruled by outsiders (such as the Austrian Empire) than to Hofstede-type cultural values? Pragmatism, open to change, which is Low uncertainty avoidance, high institutionalised femininity Traditionally acceptance of authority High power distance, high (by European standards) collectivism

Q.23 In countries whose cultures are high in power distance and collectivism, managers may be reluctant to trust subordinates with information or allow them to make decisions and subordinates may be reluctant to take on responsibility. Q.24 Mexicos high power distance culture inclines people to expect that people of higher status will be older. Thus where a manager and subordinate are of similar age, the one is likely to find it difficult to assert authority and the other may resent it if he or she tries. Q.25 A collectivist group may place a high value on interdependence, co-operation and sharing. Thus it may not only allow a leader who embodies these values to be more effective, but also respond to such a leader's call for teamwork and focus on collective goals. The paragraph goes on to refer to the link between collectivism and high power distance and points out that, A collectivist group that is also high in power distance may provide opportunities for an individual to take independent action that is perceived as a successful attempt to change the status quo. Q.26 See p.336 of the text. Q.27 See pp.336-7 of the text. EXTRA QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Which, if any, of the following statements about selection interviewers are known from research quoted in this chapter? a. The interviewees non-verbal impression management influences the interviewers perception of the candidates competence; b. The interviewees non-verbal impression management influences the interviewers perception of how similar the candidate is to themselves; c. The interviewees self-promotion influences how much the interviewers like the candidate; d. The interviewees non-verbal impression management influences the interviewers overall evaluation; e. Selection interviewees are biased against candidates from cultures other than their own. 2. Which, if any, of the following statements about negotiator collectivism have been shown by research to be true? a. More collectivist negotiators are more likely to assume that one partys gain is the other partys loss. b. More collectivist negotiators give away more information. c. More collectivist negotiators are less competitive. d. More collectivist negotiators achieve higher joint outcomes.

e. Sellers are more collectivist than buyers. Why is good process important in mediation? Why should mediation not be terminated once a superficial settlement is achieved? How can mediation empower parties to intercultural conflicts? How do environmental predictability and power distance affect managerial decisionmaking? 7. What are the main sources of communication problems and conflict in diverse work groups? 8. How do differences in values, cognitions and demeanour affect the effectiveness of groups engaged in creative tasks? 9. How do differences in values, cognitions and demeanour affect the effectiveness of groups engaged in tasks requiring co-ordination? 10. How does research suggest that informational and value diversity are related to the effectiveness, efficiency and morale of teams? 11. How are emotional and task-based conflict in teams related to diversity? 12. How do differing perspectives on diversity held by workgroup members and their managers affect how well diverse workgroups perform? 13. List five aspects of leadership behaviour that research has shown to be influenced by culture.. 14. List four ways in which cultural considerations should influence intercultural managers in giving feedback to subordinates. 15. Summarise the advice given in the text for mentors of members of minority groups. 16. The text suggests a number of ways that managers can create a work environment that will nurture and profit from diversity. What are they? 3. 4. 5. 6.

EXTRA MATERIAL AND COMMENTS ON THE TEXT 8.1 SELECTION INTERVIEWING p.306 Eastern [German] candidates display a tendency to shift to unspecified, generalized perspectives in a variety of contexts. For example, one East German interviewee, asked if she ever had any argument with her boss, denied it, stating that the reason was: I am respectful. This was interpreted by the interviewer as implying that she would not be able to handle conflict either with a manager or in a team. Yet, later in the interview, she gave an example of handling a conflict with a manager very effectively. Again, when an East German interviewee was asked by a West German interviewer to say what she could bring to the job, she answered in terms of thinking she would find the job very interesting. To describe what her colleagues would say they like about her, she answered impersonally: Thats a good question; one has to be, as I said, like everyone else, be on time everybody has their clients, one is interested, wants to ring them all.
Birkner, K. and Kern, F. (2000) Impression management in East and West German job interviews, in SpencerOatey, H. (ed.) Culturally Speaking: pp. 25671, London: Continuum.

p.306 Examples of culturally influenced interviewee behaviour taken from Box 8.1 of an earlier edition: During a selection interview, an Asian woman collapsed in tears and said her Moslem father would not approve of her getting career advancement and so she could not go through with it. A Japanese client kept using a term a recruitment consultant could not understand. When she asked, the word was role. This led to an impassioned plea for help: Im finding my communication skills are not succeeding, its proving disastrous for my career. The interviewer had an inspiration: she asked for a few demonstration words she chose to be

spoken, and established hed also learned basic French and German. So she explained how much of English is based on French and German, historically. She pointed out how therefore it is rich in very varied synonyms. He could try avoiding words with r and l, which are traditionally difficult for Japanese people to say. Instead he could use their synonyms. She demonstrated this by writing a list of synonyms for role, but with hard consonants for instance, job, post, position, task, etc. This produced an equally impassioned, Thank you, thank you. Youve changed my life.
Source: Contributed by a recruitment consultant, authors research

p.307 Summary of section on selection interviews: I have simplified this summary, which previously read: In international selection interviews, to avoid bias the questioner must observe lexical equivalence (asking the questions so that they mean the same in two or more languages) and conceptual equivalence (the transfer of concepts from one culture to another). This requires a high degree of understanding and knowledge of the local language and culture. 8.3 MENTORING p.310 There are cultural differences in the expectations of different ethnic groups in regard to mentoring Subordinates in low power distance countries may prefer loose supervision and participative decision-making while in high power distance cultures, subordinates may expect close supervision and more directive leadership. p.311 Factors in intercultural mentoring effectiveness This paper provides a conceptual model of the relationship between cultural awareness and intercultural mentoring effectiveness that might be useful in some contexts: Osula, B. and Irvin, S.M. (2009) Cultural awareness in intercultural mentoring: A model for enhancing mentoring relationships, International Journal of Leadership Studies, 5:37-50. 8.4 MEDIATING p.312 Factors in intercultural mediation effectiveness Unlike most treatments of culture in international diplomacy, one article suggested that culture may play a positive role in the mediation of international disputes. Cultural ties between the mediator and one or both of the disputants can facilitate mediation by, among other things, enhancing the mediator's acceptability to the parties, and enhancing the belief that the mediator can deliver concessions and agreements. Moreover, a mediator who is closer to one side than the other can be effective in mediation, especially when the mediator acts in an even-handed manner. Data from laboratory research on mediation, as well as anecdotal evidence, supported this view.
Carnevale, P.J. and Choi, D.-W. (2000) Culture in the mediation of international disputes, International Journal of Psychology, 35(2): 105 110.

8.5 NEGOTIATING p.314 Cultural differences in negotiation a. Having surveyed the literature, Janosik (1991) found four distinct approaches to understanding the impact of culture on negotiation.

1. The first approach views culture as learned behaviour. It focuses on actions, without giving much attention to the reasons behind those actions. The approach tends to yield cross-cultural negotiation etiquette guides, or how-to manuals. Such general yet definite advice is often helpful to practitioners. However, Janosik (1991) noted that this approach has difficulty accounting for individual variations in negotiation styles. 2. The second approach views culture as a matter of shared basic values. For this approach, the assumption, simply put, is that thinking precedes doing, and that one's thinking patterns derive from one's cultural context.[p. 237] Researchers try to discover the basic values and attitudes of a particular culture, and then to deduce patterns of negotiation behaviour from those basic beliefs. Cultures are often classified as belonging to certain basic types: direct or indirect, adaptive or interventionist. Some versions of this approach describe cultures in terms of a consistent set of basic values. Other versions focus on the ideological context of thought and negotiating behaviour. Whereas the learned behavior approach merely describes differing behaviours, this approach attempts to explain those behaviours. However, this approach also has difficulty in accounting for individual variations in negotiation styles. 3. A third approach understands cultures as shaped by the dialectic tension between paired, opposing values. American culture, for instance, can be seen as shaped by the tension between the values of collectivism and individualism, or pragmatism and idealism, or spirituality and materialism. This approach has the advantage of being dynamic where the previous approaches were static. It can explain changes in a culture over time as shifts in the balance between opposing values. And it can explain individual variations in negotiating style as different personal interpretations of the same basic tensions. While this approach is more interesting to the academic, it is less helpful to the negotiation practitioner, since it gives less definite answers to what to expect in a given circumstance. 4. The fourth approach draws on systems theory and offers multi-causal explanations of negotiating behaviour. Basic values are seen as only one cause among many. Human behaviour is shaped by a complex set of factors including individual personality, cultural values, and the social context. Negotiating behaviour will vary depending upon a wide range of factors, such as the participant's age, religion, class, or character, relations of authority, institutional setting, the opponent's behaviour, and even the presence or absence of an audience. Academic analysts currently favour this approach. Its complexity gives more nuanced explanations. However this same complexity makes it even less useful as a predictive tool, and so as a useful guide for negotiation practitioners.
Janosik, R. (1991) Rethinking the culture-negotiation link, in Negotiation Theory And Practice, eds. Breslin, J.W. and Rubin, J.Z. Cambridge, MA: The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, pp. 23546.

p.314 Intercultural negotiations, whether international or not, are affected by cultural differences in negotiators behaviour, goals, communication patterns, perceptions, values and norms. a. According to Weiss and Curhan (1999), international business negotiations are characterized by two levels of differences beyond those found in domestic business negotiations: individual level differences (in negotiator priorities, preferences, perspectives and scripts) and societal level differences (in national endowments, preferences (tastes), legal, etc.) b. Ghauri (1999) noted that in the international negotiations observed in a study, no rules were agreed upon explicitly; looking at the comments made, however, the researcher concluded that there seemed to be an implied reference to the agreement of rules and procedures.
Ghauri, P.N. (1999). The nature of business negotiation. In Ghauri, P. and Usunier, J.C. (eds), International Business Negotiations Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd.

c. Brazilian negotiators are twice as likely to interrupt each other as are U.S. or Japanese negotiators, and Brazilians often continue talking in such a way that more than one person talks at the same time. This is another example of cultural differences in linguistic styles concerning conversational overlaps or periods when people interrupt each other, and more than one person speaks at a time. People from cultures whose linguistic styles dictate that when interruptions occur, one person stops talking, find such conversational overlaps to be rude, and are likely to experience negative emotions when they occur, affecting their behaviour in the bargaining situation. p.314. Salacuse (1998) gave a taxonomy George et al (1998) proposed a set that differs slightly from that of Salacuse (1998): The extent to which cultures perceive negotiations to be strategic or synergistic. The criteria by which they select their negotiators (e.g., by seniority or technical expertise). The significance they attribute to relationship building. Their concern with formality and protocol. Their predisposition for type of persuasive argumentation (e.g., emotional or logical). Their basis for trust (either written laws or mutual respect among the parties involved). Their propensity to take risk. The value they ascribe to time. Their system to make final decisions on the negotiation matter (e.g., authoritative or consensual). Their predisposition towards written contracts or oral agreements as binding.13 As George et al (1998) continued: Interaction between negotiators from different context cultures can result in misconceptions and misunderstandings. Negotiators from high context cultures, such as China and Korea, are likely to perceive negotiators from low context cultures as obvious, redundant, and sometimes threatening and aggressive. Negotiators from low context cultures, such as the United States and Germany, are likely to perceive negotiators from high context cultures as mysterious and non-disclosing. These cross-cultural differences may result in negative affect being experienced by one or both parties. The Corning Glass Company's promising joint venture with the Mexican glass company, Vitro, broke down and was dissolved for precisely this reason. Corning managers became increasingly distressed over what they saw was a slow-paced decision making process, while Vitro managers became increasingly distressed by the U.S. managers' drive to get things done too quickly.
George, J.M., Gonzalez, J.A. and Jones, G.R. (1998) The role of affect in cross-cultural negotiations, Journal of International Business Studies, 29(4): 74972.

p.315 However, culture had no direct effect on competitiveness or information exchange; it did affect the level of fixed-pie errors (the tendency to assume that one sides gain must be the other sides loss). The researchers suggested that these results support the culture in context perspective, described in Chapter 2. This perspective takes into account negotiator qualities, contextual and structural features of the negotiation, and mediating processes in addition to cultural values. p.316 Factors in intercultural negotiation effectiveness a. Larson (1998) proposed that exchange theory and the concept of reciprocity could provide insights into international negotiations. Social exchange is motivated by the prospect of mutual gain. The exercise of power entails exchange of needed resources for compliance with the influencer's wishes. The timing of repayment and explicitness of obligation are important dimensions of exchange

that vary by issue area and relationship. In sequential exchange, the party that moves first risks being exploited and must therefore trust the other. The parties to an exchange may either leave open or specify what the other should do in return. Reciprocity refers to exchanges which are mutual and perceived by the parties as fair. In negotiations, there are several competing principles of justice. Reciprocity requires that concessions be matched; it does not mean that their magnitude must be equal. Larson noted that It is difficult to determine whether exchanges are reciprocal without a common measure of value. In this context norms and customary expectations play an important role. They determine what is considered fair when there is no standardized measure of value. This line of argument seems to suggest that international negotiations would be problematic because the parties would not have shared norms and customary values. However, Larson did not really pursue this point.
Larson, D. A. (1998) Exchange and reciprocity in international negotiations, International Negotiation, 3(2): 12128.

b. Cameron and Tomlin (2000) help balance the emphasis on cultural factors with a wellarticulated example of the power factor in international negotiations: Negotiators for powerful, self-reliant states tend to be less responsive to weak states relative to domestic constituents, while negotiators for states entangled in ties of asymmetric interdependence with more powerful states tend to be more responsive to the demands of powerful states than to the demands of domestic constituents. Asymmetrical power does not necessarily lead to asymmetrical results, however, because negotiators in weaker states may, nevertheless, have more attractive non-agreement alternatives and a longer shadow of the future. Negotiators with attractive non-agreement alternatives will be more willing to put agreement at risk by withholding concessions in the negotiation process. Centralized and vertical institutions are often a bargaining liability precisely because weak states tend to be less responsive to domestic constituents, whereas divided government can be a major asset. These propositions are demonstrated through an analysis and reconstruction of the North American Free Trade negotiation process.
Cameron, M.A. and Tomlin, B.W. (2000) Negotiating North American Free Trade International Negotiation, 5(1) URL: http://interneg.carleton.ca/interneg/reference/journals/in/volumes/5/1

c. Clark et al (2000) also attributed international bargaining success partly to power. In instances of trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States, the authors hypothesised that an appraisal of the US-EU trade relationship requires an understanding of the ways in which domestic political institutions shape the bargaining behaviour of international actors. In particular, this article argued that the frequent EU successes in its negotiations with the US are the result of the bargaining power that its unique institutional arrangements grant its negotiators. In order to explain the distributional outcomes of international trade negotiations, the authors explored the Schelling conjecture [that having multiple constituents to satisfy gives a party bargaining strength] and analysed why it is particularly relevant to the understanding of the unique bargaining power of EU negotiators when they are confronted with their American counterparts.
Clark, W., Duchesne, E. and Meunier, S. (2000) Domestic and international asymmetries In United StatesEuropean Union trade negotiations, International Negotiation 5(1 ) http://interneg.carleton.ca/interneg/reference/journals/in/volumes/5/1/

p.316 Box 8.4 previously contained these points: a. Establishing joint ventures in China is a test of cross-cultural negotiation under conditions of uncertainty within a complex network of constraints. On one side is the huge Chinese company, heavily bureaucratic and focused on taking care of all dimensions of its employees

lives. On the other side is the Western enterprise focused on quality performance and financial effectiveness.
Faure, G.O. (2000) Negotiations to set up joint ventures in China, International Negotiation Journal Abstracts, 5(1). URL: interneg.org/interneg/reference/journals/ in/volumes/5/1

Both Chinese and Western interviewees pointed to the Chinese cultural value of personal relationships and Chinese business practices as major influences on Chinese negotiating behaviour, while communication and social etiquette were minor influences. The Chinese further identified system constraints as a major factor, although the Westerners did not.
Sheer, V.C and Chen, L. (2003) Successful Sino-Western business negotiation: participants' accounts of national and professional cultures The Journal of Business Communication, 40.

8.4 WORKING IN GROUPS AND TEAMS p.317 Cultural differences in groupwork and teams a. Findings among Israeli managers rejected the hypothesis that Israeli women were perceived as less task-oriented and less powerful than men. Although women perceived themselves as having less power than men, peer groups composed of mostly men rated women no differently than they rated men on both task and power dimensions. Both self and peer ratings supported the proposition that women are perceived as more supportive than men in a small group situation. Managers of both genders rated themselves higher than peers rated them.
Jaffe, E.D., Nebenzahl, I.D. and Gotesdyner, H. (1993) Perceptions of Israeli male and female managerial behavior in small group interactions, International Studies of Management & Organization, 23: 97-111.

b. The research reported in Chapter 8 (ref. 8) made other points in another article: In this empirical study we examine the impact of national culture and social presence on interpersonal trust in both culturally homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. Results demonstrate that interpersonal trust is higher in homogeneous, low individualism groups (represented by Chinese participants) than that in homogeneous, high individualism groups (represented by U.S. participants); however, interpersonal trust in heterogeneous groups is lower for low-individualism than high-individualism group members. It is also found that social presence has a positive impact on interpersonal trust; however, a difference in social presence between groups supported by two collaborative technologies is not detected In addition, perceived communication quality is reported highest in face-to-face (FtF) groups without the support of collaborative software (CS), followed by FtF, CS supported groups, and then virtual CS groups. I find it interesting that use of collaborative software seems to reduce the quality of communication in face-to-face groups.
Lowry, B.P., Zhang, D.Z.L. and Fu, X. (2007) The Impact of national culture and social presence on trust and communication quality within collaborative groups, 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii, January 3-6. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=958530

p.317 Groups composed of people from collectivist ethnic backgrounds co-operated more on a choice-based dilemma task than groups composed of people from an individualist ethnic background. In Edition 2, the argument continued as follows:
However, the findings of a 17-week longitudinal study into the interpersonal processes and performance of culturally homogeneous and culturally diverse groups (with at least two nationalities and three ethnic groups) were less clear-cut. Groups were controlled for age, gender, years of work experience and educational achievement. Initially, homogeneous groups scored higher on both process and performance effectiveness. A high degree of cultural diversity did appear to constrain process and performance among group members in newly formed groups (up to nine hours). . .. The diverse groups reported more difficulty in agreeing on what was important and in working together and more often had members who tried to be too controlling, which hindered member contributions. Over time, though, both types of group showed improvement in process and performance and between-group

differences diminished. By week 17, there were no differences in process or overall performance: heterogeneous groups scored higher on identifying problem perspectives and generating solutions; homogeneous groups scored higher on problem identification, choosing the most effective of the solutions generated by the group and justifying their choice.
Watson, W.E., Kumar, K. and Michaelson, L.K. (1993) Cultural diversitys impact on interaction process and performance: Comparing homogeneous and diverse task groups, Academy of Management Journal, 36(3): 590602.

Factors in intercultural groupwork effectiveness p.318 Given such cultural differences in approaches to group decision-making and teamwork, it is not surprising that diversity affects group and teamwork outcomes. In the words of Polzer et al (2002), The effects of diversity on group functioning are notoriously difficult to predict because they depend on so many factors, including, for example, the particular mix of diversity dimensions present in the group, the way the groups tasks and broader context shape the salience of various diversity dimensions, and the extent to which the particular members of the group hold and use stereotypes associated with categorical diversity dimensions.
Polzer, J.T., Milton, L.P. and Swann, W.B. (2002) Capitalizing on diversity: interpersonal congruence in small work groups, Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(2): 296324.

p.318 The category of persons with disabilities was an exception in which perceived performance exhibited an almost linear decline as the percentage increased without the blip that other diversity subgroups manifested at 1130%. It should be noted, however, that there were relatively few respondents reporting on work groups with large percentages of people with disabilities (over 30% of the group). Thus, these small sample sizes could distort the data.
Dansby, M.R. and Knouse, S.B. (1999) Percentage of work-group diversity and work-group effectiveness, Journal of Psychology, 133: 48695.

p.319 Effects of different types of diversity a. Reagans et al (2004) showed that team demographic diversity has opposing effects on two social network variables, each of which has a positive effect on a teams performance. Diversity reduces internal density but increases external range.
Reagans, R., Zuckerman, E. and McEvily, B. (2004) How to make the team: social networks vs. demography as criteria for designing effective teams, Administrative Science Quarterly, 49(1): 10133.

b. Pratt (2001) argued the following. The presence of demographic characteristics that have the potential to split apart a work group is more likely to become salient when: Demographic diversity is moderately high; Member tasks evoke demographic differences e.g. when all senior managers are men, all middle managers women; The work group is new lack of shared experiences in performing work-related tasks so work related similarities not yet salient; One subgroup is relatively large, so dominant, allows latent group conflicts to arise; Workload pressures prevented effective communication, which in turn led to greater workload pressures as the team members are not working together as much as they should.
Pratt, M. (2001) Social identity dynamics in modern organizations: an organizational psychology/organizational behavior perspective In Hogg, M.A. and Terry, D.J. Social Identity Processes in Organizational Contexts, Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press, 1330.

p.319 Other analyses of the performance effects of diversity also distinguish different types.

a. Hambrick (1998), for instance: When a group is engaged in a creative task, diversity of values can benefit group effectiveness. Different values may affect members preferences for certain task solutions, or for certain group processes, and will cause them to interpret stimuli in ways that suit their value structures. The varied perspectives and enriched debate that comes from increased diversity will be helpful in generating and refining alternatives. Different knowledge, assumptions and schema can also enhance the groups effectiveness in creative tasks. The differing perspectives that come from different cultures will serve as resources for solving the unstructured, novel task at hand. For instance, [once] we brought in an international team to discuss the design of a new allergy product. Due to extreme differences in opinion on what constitutes good medical practice, the team designed the product with maximum flexibility to suit the major demands of each country.
Adler, J. (1991) International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, Belmont, CA: Kent

When the group task is computational, increases in value diversity are unlikely to be related to group effectiveness. Diversity of knowledge and assumptions do support group effectiveness in computational tasks, but only up to the point at which all the knowledge explicitly required for the task resides within the group. Cognitive diversity beyond that required amount does not affect group effectiveness either positively or negatively. For example, a task may require certain facts about conditions in three countries. With the addition of knowledgeable representatives from each of these countries, group effectiveness is likely to improve; but adding a representative from a fourth country brings no further benefit. When the task requires co-ordination, diversity of values will tend to be negatively related to group effectiveness. In such a task situation, fluid and reliable coordination is required; debates or tensions over why or how the group is approaching the task, which will tend to occur when values vary, will be counter- productive. In addition, disparate values create interpersonal strains and mistrust, which become damaging when the group is charged with a co-ordination task. Increases in cognitive diversity up to the point explicitly required by the task are beneficial, but beyond that point they become counter-productive, because they require more costly co-ordination without any corresponding benefits. Diversity of demeanours (which are various kinds of surface behaviour involving punctuality, conversational style, body language and so on) provides no important group benefits, but imposes potentially significant costs in terms of interpersonal strain and mistrust. The greater the diversity of demeanours, the lower the groups effectiveness will be. Such a negative relationship will be strongest for groups engaged in co-ordination tasks, since such groups require maximum ease of communication and reliability of interaction in order to perform successfully; the objective nature of computational tasks makes these the least adversely affected by surface diversity, with creative tasks in between. This study also showed that dissimilar people in collectivist cultures had the highest creative output. This finding suggests that creativity emerges from the combination of access to a larger set of novel ideas afforded by more diverse members and trust that novel ideas will be used for the benefit of the collective. Also, while similar people were significantly more productive in individualist than collectivist organizational cultures, dissimilar people were similarly productive across the two cultures. They were also more productive overall than similar co-workers, despite being less likely to interact. Part of the explanation here may be in terms of what the co-workers interacted about task-related or social interaction. Dissimilar members may have focused more consistently on tasks, because they had fewer other topics in common to discuss.
Hambrick, D.C. (1998) When groups consist of multiple nationalities: towards a new understanding of the implications, Organization Studies, 19(2): 181206.

b. This studys findings on creativity are consistent with other research. Research on creativity in groups has generally supported the notion that heterogeneity along a variety of

dimensions leads to original and high quality ideas and problem solutions. There are two mechanisms for this effect: 1. Different experiences lead to cross-fertilization of perspectives and attitudes. This proposition has been supported by studies of gender, personality and attitude (but not ability) and groups whose membership changes over time (but not closed groups). 2. Ideational (creative) ability varies. In addition, the presence of individuals with high ideational ability has been shown to raise the creativity of a group as a whole. It is also possible that creative thinking ability may be related to ethnicity. The argument here is that previous work in USA found that Asian Americans, Hispanics and African Americans are bicultural; many are bilingual or biglossal (able to switch languages freely during the course of one conversation). Based on the flexibility and divergent thinking associated with bilingualism and biculturalism, we might expect to see greater creativity in groups that have members from those backgrounds than in groups from the predominant Anglo culture, which is typically not bilingual or bicultural. A study found that more ideas, more unique ideas and more ideas rated as effective and feasible came from ethnically diverse groups.
McLeod, P.L. and Lobel, S.A. The effects of ethnic diversity on idea generation in small groups, Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings 92: 22736.

p.319 Table 8.2 Effects of type of diversity and type of group task on group effectiveness Here is the fuller explanation of these ideas I gave in Edition 2: When a group is engaged in a creative task, diversity of values can benefit group effectiveness. Different values may affect members preferences for certain task solutions, or for certain group processes, and will cause them to interpret stimuli in ways that suit their value structures. The varied perspectives and enriched debate that comes from increased diversity will be helpful in generating and refining alternatives. Different knowledge, assumptions and schema can also enhance the groups effectiveness in creative tasks. The differing perspectives that come from different cultures will serve as resources for solving the unstructured, novel task at hand. For instance, [once] we brought in an international team to discuss the design of a new allergy product. Due to extreme differences in opinion on what constitutes good medical practice, the team designed the product with maximum flexibility to suit the major demands of each country.33 When the group task is computational, increases in value diversity are unlikely to be related to group effectiveness. Diversity of knowledge and assumptions do support group effectiveness in computational tasks, but only up to the point at which all the knowledge explicitly required for the task resides within the group. Cognitive diversity beyond that required amount does not affect group effectiveness either positively or negatively. For example, a task may require certain facts about conditions in three countries. With the addition of knowledgeable representatives from each of these countries, group effectiveness is likely to improve; but adding a representative from a fourth country brings no further benefit. When the task requires co-ordination, diversity of values will tend to be negatively related to group effectiveness. In such a task situation, fluid and reliable coordination is required; debates or tensions over why or how the group is approaching the task, which will tend to occur when values vary, will be counter- productive. In addition, disparate values create interpersonal strains and mistrust, which become damaging when the group is charged with a co-ordination task. Increases in cognitive diversity up to the point explicitly required by the task are beneficial, but beyond that point they become counter-productive, because they require more costly co-ordination without any corresponding benefits. Diversity of demeanours (which are various kinds of surface behaviour involving punctuality, conversational style, body language and so on) provides no important group benefits, but imposes potentially significant costs in terms of interpersonal strain and mistrust.

The greater the diversity of demeanours, the lower the groups effectiveness will be. Such a negative relationship will be strongest for groups engaged in co-ordination tasks, since such groups require maximum ease of communication and reliability of interaction in order to perform successfully; the objective nature of computational tasks makes these the least adversely affected by surface diversity, with creative tasks in between. Thus, where the task explicitly favours multinational inputs or where there are only as many nationalities or cultures represented as needed for the task, the benefits of diversity outweigh the costs. In other cases, the reverse will apply, as, for example, if a German company with substantial experience in an industry was attempting to replicate its recent success in Spain with an entry into Portugal. The management team could benefit from consisting of one or more Germans, Spaniards and Portuguese. Any additional nationalities would be beyond what is expressly needed for the task and would be a liability.35
Hambrick, D.C. (1998) When groups consist of multiple nationalities: towards a new understanding of the implications, Organization Studies, 19(2): 181206.

Hambrick (1998) argued that groups composed of multiple nationalities do not possess inherent advantages over single-nationality groups. In fact, depending on the nature of the task, some types and amounts of national diversity can be burdensome to the effective functioning of such a team. However, many global corporations still make wide use of MNGs, tolerating the liabilities of diverse group composition, because they are firms that are focused on a bigger, longer-term picture. They are investing in the development of a highly capable, versatile, globally-minded cadre of managers and employees. The widespread use of multinational groups is a necessary accompaniment to an aggressive global human resource system. If the company wishes to select, retain, and develop exceptional employees in multiple parts of the world - particularly in professional and managerial ranks - then it must establish vehicles by which the employees' current talents are fully tapped, as well as ways to enhance the employees' capacity for making future contributions to the company. Few things are as frustrating to a talented, ambitious, mid-level manager than a company policy or norm, whereby he/she is treated as a 'local' who is expected to make contributions or the majority of the most important strategic or innovative endeavours, remain the purview of managers in the headquarters' country or nationality. If the company wishes to surmount this problem and develop an outstanding global workforce, it will establish worldwide appraisal, training, development and staffing processes. In addition, multinational task forces, committees, and teams will abound to tap key talent to contribute to the resolution of major company issues. In the process, of course, the company will achieve an additional benefit. By gaining experience with multinational groups, the company greatly enhances its capacity to successfully deploy such groups in the future. Employees with demonstrated aptitudes for working in MNGs can be identified and developed; members of MNGs become more cross-culturally aware; a cadre of adept MNG leaders can be identified and developed; and so on. It takes experience with MNGs - sometimes frustrating experience to learn about them and about how to improve their chances of success (March 1991). Indeed, it may be that a company's accumulated expertise in successfully using multinational groups will be among the most critical of the capabilities needed for it to prosper during the remainder of the 1990s.
Hambrick, D.C. (1998) When groups consist of multiple nationalities: towards a new understanding of the implications, Organization Studies, 19(2): 181206.

p.320 It is the diversity associated with values, and not social category, that causes the biggest problems in and has the greatest potential for enhancing both workgroup performance and morale. The authors of this study concluded that one problem associated with attempting to make predictions about the effects of social category diversity on workgroup performance is that social category diversity may represent informational diversity, value diversity, both, or neither. Since social category diversity is not necessarily associated with either informational

or value diversity, it poses signaling problems for group members. What does being the only woman in an otherwise all-male group mean about the unique perspectives that an individual brings to the group?
Jehn, K.A., Northcote, G.B. and Neale, M.A. (1999) Why differences make a difference: A Field study of diversity, conflict, and performance in workgroups, Administrative Science Quarterly, 44: 74163.

p.321 We suggest that job-related types of diversity largely drive task conflict. If work group members differ with respect to a highly job-related demographic attribute, then their divergent experiences and knowledge are apt to be pertinent to the task, and incongruent task perceptions are likely to emerge. People are particularly likely to draw on belief structures based on functional background when addressing workplace issues; hence, functional background differences are the key source of task conflict in work groups. This result substantiates managers' use of cross-functional teams to create difference of opinion. Task routineness and group longevity moderated the effects of conflict on performance.
Pelled, L.H., Eisenhardt, K.M. and Xin, K.R. (1999) Exploring the black box: An analysis of work group diversity, conflict and performance, Administrative Science Quarterly, 44: 128.

p.321 The organizational culture is another environmental factor in how effective diverse work groups are. Chatman (1998) showed that quite apart from the influence of organizational culture, people were more likely to use demographic attributes such as age, tenure, education, sex, and race as social categories in diverse than non-diverse organizations although, probably for technical reasons, only when sex was excluded from the demographic attribute scale. The salience of demographic categories was higher in individualistic than in collectivist organizational cultures, in which organizational attributes were more salient.
Chatman, J., Polzer, J., Barsade, S. & Neale, M. (1998) Being different yet feeling similar: the influence of demographic composition and organizational culture on work processes and outcomes Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(3), 668698.

p.324 Although this research on radical collocation does not specifically refer to intercultural teams, it seems likely that its beneficial effects would apply to such teams. Even in radically collocated teams, however, issues can arise from cultural differences. Examples include negative feelings about serving in short-term teams among people from cultures where established relationships are the basis for action; early misattributions based of others abilities or traits by Europeans and Americans, who tend to judge by these criteria, and of others clan memberships by Asians, who evaluate by these; motivational differences between individualists who seek material gain and personal recognition and collectivists who value time for personal relations, family, and so forth. These values and goals drive some of the moment-by-moment activity of the group, influencng how people approach situations, whom they seek in decision making, and what their working style and expectations of others are.
Teasley, S.D., Covi, L., Krishnan, M.S., & Olson, J.S. (2000) How does radical collocation help a team succeed? Proceedings of CSCW 2000 URL: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1031607.1031621

8.7 LEADERSHIP AND MAN AGEMENT Cultural differences in leadership p.326 There is widespread agreement that what is expected of leaders or managers, what they may and may not do, and the influence that they have, varies considerably as a result of culture. a. I worked for three years for a major UK accounting and consulting firm in Budapest. I was their first Hungarian employee and it was very exciting, helping to build up the firm. I had to

do a lot of research into Hungarian law on joint ventures, the tax system and so on. The work I did for clients was interesting like management consultancy with a financial slant. Then, suddenly, they decided to concentrate on audit and it was take it or leave it as far as the employees went. So I left and so did most of us young Hungarians; we did not want careers in audit and we did not like the attitude of the expatriate managers. Later I did some research in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic and everywhere I found the same graduates would work for a Western company for two or three years to get it on their cv, but then they would leave because they found the approach of the Western managers intolerable. This is our model, our way of doing things, we know best, you must adapt. With Japanese companies, the results were the same, but the problem was a little different. Their employees complain of secrecy. They are willing to discuss things, but you dont have enough information to contribute. One man told me, I dont even have the information to do my own job, let alone the wider picture.
Communicating Across Cultures, 1st edn. Authors research, interview with a Hungarian accountant.

b. Compared with samples from 30 countries around the world, scores of Icelandic managers were amongst the lowest on reliance on formal rules and procedures and beliefs that are widespread in my country about what is right, whereas they were close to the top on reliance on colleagues and own experience and training. Of three components of role stress, Icelandic managers ranks were very low on role conflict and in the middle on role ambiguity and role overload. Icelandic managers consult their superiors rather more than those in other low power distance countries, probably because they see them more as colleagues than as bosses. Managers in most other north European nations report frequent contacts with their subordinates and rather less frequent contacts with their bosses and with colleagues at the same level. Throughout its history Iceland has hardly known any class differences; and in no other west European country are incomes as equally distributed. For this reason, there is no constant power struggle in Icelandic society and organizations, such as is found in many other countries. The social order, on the whole, is quite relaxed. Differences between bosses and subordinates are not clearly marked, as a result of the informal and egalitarian attitudes toward those inside or outside an organization. Nobody in Iceland is called by a surname.
Eyjolfsdottir, H.M. and Smith, P.B. (1996) Icelandic business and management culture, International Studies of Management & Organization, 26(3): 6173.

p.329 Box 8.8 (previously Box 8.7) The following were removed to make space: After French organizations are staffed by technical experts and managed by the application of rationality: An elite group of French managers, with at least five years of university education at the Grandes Ecoles and Polytechniques, are collectively known as les cadres. These cadres exercise legitimated authority over subordinates. After managers so-called diagonal relations are very important: However, the second wave of managerial revolution in Russia has started. Instead of technocrats with experience in bargaining with central ministries, younger businessmen more oriented to their relations with shareholders have been appointed as managing directors of industrial enterprises.
Elenkov, D.S. (1997) Differences and similarities in managerial values between US and Russian managers: an empirical study, International Studies of Management & Organization, 27(1): 85106.

After In Hungary, under Communism, ideological values encouraged the status quo, opposed a future orientation, equated entrepreneurship with cheating and criminal activity, and were

against the desire to change and improve performance. Leaders of high-performing organizations were typically not rewarded for their efforts as any profits they made were used to subsidize lower-performing organizations. Therefore, managers tended to restrict their efforts and avoid surpassing average performance. Hungarian managers tend to be authoritarian. After Hungarian managers seem to be less sophisticated in planning routines, but nevertheless think and analyse carefully before making decisions. In Central and Eastern Europe more widely, there may be a cultural tendency to avoid responsibility. For many, the current situation represents the first time in their lives that they can control their future. A generalized belief of nothing depends on me makes the foreigner wonder if the people of the region are not in a pervasive state of learned helplessness. There is also a general distrust in management, a view that what is up is bad . Low levels of trust in organizations compound this situation. Poor performance is often attributed to external factors. Attitudes regarding individual accountability are difficult to teach. p.330 Some differences (in managerial style) are related more closely to factors other than national culture: for instance, to gender or age. a. A Finnish study found that women tend to encourage their subordinates to use their abilities and to cut through bureaucratic red tape. To a greater extent than men, they did this by facilitating informal contacts between leaders and workers, introducing new working methods and training, disseminating information and taking workers views into consideration.a
Hanninen-Salmelin, E. and Petajanieme, T. (1994) Women managers: the case of Finland, in Adler, N. J. and Izraeli, D.N. (eds) Competitive Frontiers, Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

b. Puller (1984) reported the results of a study in Russia which concluded that women are superior to men in four managerial skills: flexibility in using different approaches to completing a task; thoroughness in checking the facts with various sources; intuition in decision-making; and personal stress management. The Chief Editor of a Moscow publishing house is quoted as saying: If I have to choose between a man or a woman for a middle-level position, in nine cases out of ten Ill choose the woman. How much more careful, responsible, punctual, neat, conscientious they are in their work! Although Puller questioned the methodology used for this study, she concurred in the idea that, in general, women are believed to be more responsible, more accurate and more conscientious than men. This is despite the many barriers preventing them reaching access to senior positions.b
Puller, S.M. (1984) Women managers in the former USSR, in Adler, N. J. and Izraeli, D.N. (eds) Competitive Frontiers, Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

c. According to Gardner et al, meta-analyses have found no support for stereotypical gender differences in leadership.
Gardner, W.L., III, Peluchette, J. Van Eck, and Clinebell, S.K. (1994) Valuing women in management: An impression management perspective of gender diversity, Management Communication Quarterly, 8(2): 115164.

d. An unexpected finding showed that gender stereotypes of leaders were least prevalent among Latin respondents rather than among those from more egalitarian cultures. In the Nordic and Anglo groups, male participants' stereotypes disparaged women's performance at the most valued leadership competencies.
Prime, J., Jonsen, K., Carter, N. and Maznevski, M.L. (2008) Managers' perceptions of women and men leaders: a cross-cultural comparison, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 8: 171-210.

p.330 In fact a range of variables other than culture have been found to be relevant for leadership and management. Despite evidence that women make good leaders, there are few at the top. The reason sometimes given for this is that the top executives still have very old-fashioned ideas of

what makes good management. Top executives have an intensive focus on the bottom line and performance targets instead of on developing individual talents and good communication, although these are more likely to produce good organizational performance. Another common explanation is that minorities, including women, find it difficult to attain top leadership positions in organizations because they do not fit culturally prescribed organizational prototypes. p.330 Cultural and subcultural differences in attitudes to leadership lead to differences in how specific managerial functions, such as performance appraisal, are performed. a. Sparrow and Budhwar (1998) gave the following examples: French corporate culture has been characterized as creating a situation in which subordinate managers seek more responsibility but remain passive out of a fear of committing to specific objectives and a desire for protection from above. Protective of their individual autonomy, French employees see the exertion of control as a signal of lack of confidence. Such a climate would not be conducive to any process of psychological contracting. So not only are there cross-national differences in the efficiency of the performance management processes, but national culture has an impact on the nature of the dialogue that takes place in the appraisal process, which, as we have seen, becomes the stake of a different game. Malaysian employees respond more positively when their superiors or co-workers politely praise them on their achievements and successes. In contrast, U.S. employees are often encouraged to document and communicate their own achievements to their boss. This selfevaluation concept will not work well in high power distance or collectivistic cultures where such self-praise would likely be viewed as arrogant and harmful to group harmony. U.S. supervisors should be instructed to express the accomplishments of their subordinates in performance feedback in Malaysia.
Sparrow, P.R. and Budhwar, P. (1998) Reappraising psychological contracting: lessons for the field of humanresource development from cross-cultural and occupational psychology research, International Studies of Management & Organization, 28(4): 2652.

b. According to Goto (1999), Asian American employees said they were unwilling to refuse any request, even if the request were undo-able; they felt that asking a question might be perceived as insubordinate behaviour; that their seniors would recommend them for promotion if they were qualified without their having to express an explicit interest in promotion.
Goto, S. (1999) Asian Americans and developmental relationships in Murrell, A.J., Crosby, F.J. & Ely, R.J. (eds) Mentoring Dilemmas: Developmental Relationships within Multicultural Organizations, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

p.331 Box 8.9 In earlier editions, the following example illustrated cultural differences in management style: Research into the decision-making style and attitudes towards risk of Arab executives found evidence that culture and tradition are crucial in understanding management practices. Arabs display moderate levels of individualism, although individuals seek group recognition of achievements, and peers and superiors approval takes precedence over individual material reward. Thus, incentives, while important, should be given to individuals in the context of a group setting and recognition. Arab managers prefer a pseudo-consultative decision-making style one which goes through the form of consulting with those affected but actually does not delegate or share power. This may be because Arabs are aware that Islam is egalitarian and emphasizes social justice. However, the basic aspects of the reality of Arab politics and organizations are the personalized nature of authority, tribalism and fluidity, and alternating fission and fusion of group coalitions and alliances. This means that an intimate and personal conduct of affairs is required and therefore precludes delegation from flourishing in practice. Most political and business leaders in contemporary Arab society assign relatives and clan members to senior positions in organizations and in

government, even though this nepotism violates Islamic teaching. Arab executives are somewhat risk averse, but do not believe that plans should always be adhered to and are not cautious in making decisions. They believe that rules are man-made and should be treated with flexibility. In addition, enforcement of rules and regulations is usually contingent on the personality and power of the individuals who make them. The tendency not to be cautious in making decisions reflects a strong inner security that stems from religious beliefs. While Arabs are traditionally hopeful and optimistic, they nevertheless display a remarkable attachment to religious proclamations. It is customary for Arabs to utter the phrase Insha Allah (God willing). Contrary to the popular Western perception, the phrase manifests humility rather than weakness or fatalism.a Saudi managers, in both government and business, reported that their organizations were less rule-bound, used more non-merit criteria in personnel decisions, and were characterized by greater nepotism than did US managers from business and government. Saudi managers were therefore found to be more traditional and less bureaucratic than US managers. On the other hand, they reported greater goal clarity, usually a criterion of bureaucratic organization. b
a Ali, A.J. (1993) Decision-making style, individualism and attitudes towards risk of Arab executives, International Studies of Management & Organization, 23(3): 5374 b Al-Aiban, K.M. and Pearce, J.L. (1993) The influence of values on management practices: a test in Saudi Arabia and the United States, International Studies of Management & Organization, 23(3): 3252

p.332 Studies of hotel staff in Canada and the Peoples Republic of China showed that high power distance reduces the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction. Hui et al found that willingness to accept and exercise the discretionary power allowed by management and desire to satisfy customer needs and wants are two employee conditions that are essential for the successful implementation of the empowerment approach and that both these conditions are influenced by culture.
Hui, M.K., Au, K. & Fock, H. (2004) Empowerment effects across cultures, Journal of International Business Studies, 35(1): 46-60.

Factors in intercultural leadership effectiveness p.333 While similar management practices could be effective in societies that seem different, they need to be examined for the interpretation in different countries. According to Bond et al (2004) the effectiveness of global managers depends on their social beliefs and the connection of these beliefs to the perceived effectiveness of influence strategies. Social beliefs are general beliefs at a high level of abstraction; they facilitate the attainment of important goals and help people understand the world. Based on empirical results from more than 40 countries, Leung and Bond identified five dimensions cynicism, reward for application, religiosity, fate control, and social complexity as pan-cultural dimensions of belief that characterise individuals and relate to differences in individual behaviours. Cynicism refers to a negative view of people being motivated by considerations of power, a mistrust of social institutions, or negative stereotyping of certain groups. Managers endorsing cynicism are likely to have influence scripts consisting of aggressive and directive tactics. Reward for application refers to beliefs that effort and the investment of one's resources will lead to positive outcomes. Managers subscribing to such beliefs believe that motivation is sustained by attributing success to effort and by reinforcing effortful displays. Such individuals are less likely to seek help from powerful others in their influence attempts, and are more likely to believe that their own efforts, skills, and careful planning as demonstrated through well-worded logical arguments are likely to be influential.

Religiosity refers to beliefs in the existence of supernatural factors and in the positive impact of religious institutions and practice on people's lives; it promotes benevolence in people's interactions with each other. Managers holding such beliefs may choose influence strategies guided not only by the expectation that a particular strategy is likely to result in compliance by the target, but also by the expectation that the strategy will lead to benevolent and mutually beneficial outcomes and so to use persuasive and relationshiporiented strategies Fate control refers to the belief that events in life are both predictable and predetermined by fate and destiny (i.e., one has little control over events happening to oneself). Managers subscribing to such beliefs may perceive that the only effective influence tactics are those that do not depend solely on their own ability to influence others through logical arguments or consultation, but those that involve seeking help from others who have authority over the target. Social complexity refers to the axiom that the social world is complex, and that the same rules of behaviour do not necessarily apply across situations and across cultures. Managers holding such beliefs are less likely to favour any one type of influence strategy across all situations, and are more likely to perceive different types of influence strategy as effective under different contexts. Leung and Bond (2004) suggested that people across cultures form similar dimensions of social beliefs because they deal with similar problems. People in different cultures, however, may subscribe to these beliefs at differing levels based on the social logic developed over history by that particular cultural group. Individual belief structures will lead people to perceive certain influence strategies as more likely to result in successful outcomes: hence those strategies will be perceived as more effective. The findings of a study into the relationship between these beliefs and the perceived effectiveness of different managerial influence strategies were as follows: cynicism and religiosity predicted ratings of influence strategies in a consistent manner across all cultures; in contrast, the values for fate control and reward for application suggested that the effect of these beliefs on influence strategies varied significantly across the 12 countries.
Bond, M.H., Boonstra, J.J., Cheosakul, A., Fu, P.P., Higashide, H., Howell, J.P., Kennedy, J., Koopman, P., Lacassagne, M.-F., Pasa, S., Peng, T.-K., Prieto, L. Srinivas, E.K., Tata, J. and Yukl, G. (2004) The impact of societal cultural values and individual social beliefs on the perceived effectiveness of managerial influence strategies: A meso approach, Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 284305. Leung, K., & Bond, M. H. (2004). Social Axioms: A model for social beliefs in multi-cultural perspective. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 119-197.

p.333 How leaders function cannot be studied independently of the group-based social context that gives their roles and qualities expression. Diverse cultural values can make developing a productive leadermember relationship challenging. One hundred and eleven Chinese employees each described a specific interaction with their foreign manager and then responded to questions that were later used in the statistical analyses. [Shared] cooperative but not competitive goals facilitated constructive controversy, which in turn promoted innovation and job commitment..
Chen, Y., Tjosvold, D. and Fang Su, S. (2005) Goal interdependence for working across cultural boundaries: Chinese employees with foreign managers, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(4): 429-47.

p.334 Giving feedback a. In developing countries, in performance evaluations, superiors, subordinates and peers avoid giving negative feedback to one another. Negative feedback is viewed as a 'destructive criticism' rather than a constructive remark for further improvement. Because personal and work lives are intertwined, negative feedback is also misconstrued as an attack on the person. How others perceive a person is extremely important. Negative feedback has the potential to tarnish one's reputation and honor in the eyes of others. It also implies losing face to the

employer and the supervisor to whom the person feels indebted and loyal. In a highly personalized work relationship, negative feedback is considered harmful to group integrity and harmony. Usually, negative feedback is given in an indirect and subtle manner with the involvement of a third party. Subordinates do not want to give performance feedback to their superiors.
Aycan, Z. (2002) Leadership and teamwork in developing countries: challenges and opportunities, In Lonner, W. J. , Dinnel, D. L., Hayes, S. A. and Sattler, D. N. (eds.), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 15, Chapter 8), URL: http://www.wwu.edu/~culture

b. Men and women approach evaluative achievement situations differently. Men may be particularly likely to respond to the competitive nature of evaluative achievement and hence to adopt a self-confident approach that leads them to deny the informational value of others' evaluations. Women, because of their low self-esteem, may be particularly likely to approach each situation as opportunities to gain information about their abilities.
Roberts, T.-A. (1991) Gender and the influence of evaluations on self-assessment in achievement settings, Psychological Bulletin, 109(2): 297-308.