Individualism • Culture Matters

Task versus Relationship Orientation in Cultural Awareness

by: Chris Smit - June 6th, 2012 8 Comments

A story on Cultural Awareness

It was my second trip to Guatemala. This time also work related.

My trip covered a period of 6 days in total. I had to work on Thursday & Friday, and Monday & Tuesday. Leaving the weekend in between to myself. I hadn’t made any plans yet, which turned out to be a good thing.

After Work

When my first two days of work were over on Friday afternoon, one of my Guatemalan collegua’s asked me what I was doing the weekend. “Nothing yet, have a couple of beers here and there, that’s it” was my reply.

“Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll take you to Lake Atitlan” he asked. I hadn’t planned anything, and wouldn’t mind the company, so I agreed to his proposal. “I’ll pick you up at 9 tomorrow morning (Saturday)”. Which was fine by me. Read More

Cultural Communication

by: Chris Smit - May 29th, 2012 4 Comments

In an earlier post I discussed what Individualism is, and the difference with Collectivism.

Apart from explaining the two, it makes sense to add some consequences of this difference in Cultural Communication.

Consequences

Besides describing characteristics of both Individualism and Collectivism there are clear differences between the two when it comes to Communication.

Question

Consider the following question: “How many rooms does your house/apartment have?” Read More

What is Individualism?

by: Chris Smit - May 14th, 2012 16 Comments

Lets start with a Question:

“How do You respect your neighbor?”

Simple question to answer right? Although your answer will vary depending on your culture.

In Individualistic cultures (mainly Western Europe, North America, and Australia & New Zealand), the answer will be something like: “I’ll keep my distance“, or “I’ll leave them to them selves“. Read More

Why Democracy is not World Universal

by: Chris Smit - November 24th, 2011 2 Comments

This writing is an attempt to explain, from a cultural point of view, why Democracy is not a World Universal “thing”.

Democratic elections in Pakistan, Russia, Afghanistan, Burma? The list is far from complete.

In the western world we seem to be obsessed by spreading our Democracy. We deploi peace missions and other diplomatic initiatives to spread our Western contemporary “religion“.
My point here is, that that will not work. Here’s why not.

Why the (possible) resignation of Mr. Berlusconi will not change the Italian situation.

by: Chris Smit - November 8th, 2011 Add Comment

At the time of this writing he has not yet resigned. Mr. Silvio Berlusconi.

And even if he would or does, it will not make any difference to the Italian situation. The situation of (government) corruption, the general chaos in the country and the overall debt Italy is currently in.

Why not?

From a practical standpoint the reason is that there is very little “better” alternative. As a good Roman friend of mine once told me, when I asked him why (on earth) he voted for Berlusconi, his answer was quite frank and direct “it does not make a difference whom you vote for, all the other candidates are as corrupt as he is…”. Read More

Cultural Awareness Training: On Individualism & Collectivism

by: Chris Smit - November 3rd, 2011 Add Comment

How do you respect your neighbor?

Do you leave eachother alone and respect eachother’s privacy, or is the neighbor more of a neighborhood whereby you might even keep in touch with neighbors from a long time ago?

From a western perspective it is one of the most difficult dimensions of Hofstede to comprehend; What is Individualism versus collectivism?

Professor Geert Hofstede even wrote a whole book on it (Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications (Cross Cultural Research and Methodology)). In more simple (and his own) words it is explained in this short video below.

BUSH in BEJING Political Rhetoric and Cultural Muscle-Flexing

by: Chris Smit - April 24th, 2009 Add Comment

Along the way to Beijing to attend the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony this past week, President Bush made a stop in Bangkok.

His purpose was to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the alliance between Thailand (Siam when the alliance was formed) and the United States.

In his Bangkok address, Bush paid allegiance to Thailand as a significant leader in Asia and applauded the Thai government for the restoration of democracy for its citizens as well as being one of the driving forces that has helped to transform post-WWII Asia into a thriving and dynamic region.

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