26th International Congress of Applied Psychology
July 16-21, 2006, Athens, Greece
Does Cultural Synergy Exist? Chinese, German and Indonesian Management Behaviors in Complex Dynamic Situations
Hora TJITRA, Quan HE
(Oral Presentation) International
mobility and co-operation in multicultural and
multidisciplinary teams are an ever more frequent
necessity in the realm of globalization. The word
„Synergy“ has a magic appeal. Culturally determined
differences may either act as obstacles to
productive co-operation in multicultural teams or
become a source of creativity and higher achievement
(Adler, 1986). This study focused to investigate
systematically the influence of culture and the
effect of performance in the management behaviors of
Chinese, German and Indonesian workgroup in dealing
with complex dynamic situations (Doerner, 1996).
Seventeen Chinese, fifteen German and seventeen
Indonesian workgroups @ three persons were studied
in laboratory settings using business simulation
SYNTEX. SYNTEX is a computer simulated dynamic
system where participants have to manage a textile
company in a fictive country. An enhanced
cross-cultural analysis techniques proposed by
Tjitra (2001) was used to elaborate if the
differences of the management behaviors in Chinese,
German and Indonesian workgroups are influenced by
their culture or are the effects of their
performance. The results showed the existence of
different ways to achieve similar goal in Chinese,
German and Indonesian management behavior
(Equifinality) as well as that the one best way for
one culture is not necessarily the same for others
(Cultural Contingency).
Intercultural Sensitivity of Chinese Professionals in International Tourism Industry
Hora TJITRA, Wenjun DENG
(Poster Presentation) International tourism is one of the world’s largest industries where people from different cultural backgrounds meet together. Intercultural Sensitivity (IS) is the ability to discriminate and experience relevant cultural differences (Hammer et al, 2003). To reveal comprehensive and culturally sensitive models of IS, research from non-western perspectives is indispensable. Using an indigenous approach, Panggabean (2004) showed that there are cultural specific characteristics in dealing with cultural differences in German-Indonesian workgroups. In compare with Indonesia, China represents an Asian culture which culture diversity relatively homogeny and its international exposures increase rapidly. Our research aims at discovering the indigenous intercultural sensitivity of the Chinese people working in the international tourism industry. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted, 32 Chinese professionals (general manager, tour guide etc.) from the industry took a part. Interview data was fully transcribed and then analyzed using grounded theory approach and atlas.ti software. The results demonstrated that Chinese IS exhibits particular characteristics, which reflects the uniqueness of the Chinese culture. Harmonized differences, host-friendliness, learning, flexibility and relationship orientation as well as the push (value) and pull (goals) factors are the central characteristics of the Chinese IS. Based on these findings, a generic model of Chinese Intercultural Sensitivity will be introduced and discussed.
