From the course: Developing Cross-Cultural Intelligence

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Self versus team

Self versus team

- Imagine you're attending meetings for a new product launch. In one consulting firm, each expert gets a turn presenting. And then the leader decides based on individual input. In the other, everyone contributes and participates in an open discussion. Both cultures lead to brilliant ideas. But they differ in approach. The first encompasses individualism and the other collectivism. And each have been extensively studied across many cultures and contexts. The leading researcher for this cross-cultural theory is the late Dutch social psychologist, Geert Hofstede. In collectivist cultures in countries, such as Indonesia, Japan, China, and Ghana, people place high value on collaborative work environments. Decisions are made by the group, and credit for the work is given to the team, in general. In a collectivist culture, in-groups are formed based on commonly shared values. Harmony is a priority. And most decisions emerge from group consensus. They often identify with their family and…

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