Cross Cultural Concepts of Teams (08-11-10)

Gibson and McDaniel have studied organizational behavior using a cross-cultural perspective.  They conclude “that even well-establish organizational behavior theories vary in the extent to which they may be applied unilaterally across cultures.”  In their literature review Gibson ad McDaniel discuss research published by Gibson and Zellmer-Bruhn in 2001 that linked four different national cultures to different metaphors for teams.  These metaphors can usefully inform place design:  “countries high in individualism (such as the United States and France, in which there is greater emphasis on individual goals vs. group goals) tended to use the sports or associates metaphors, whereas countries high in power distance (such as Philippines and Puerto Rico, in which there is a high expectation that there will be differences in power between those in authority and those who are not) tended to use the military or family metaphors.”

Cristina Gibson and Dana McDaniel.  2010.  “Moving Beyond Conventional Wisdom:  Advancements in Cross-Cultural Theories of Leadership, Conflict an Teams.”  Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 5, pp. 450-462.