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Decision Making and Cultural Groups
One of the important aspects of time management is decision making. As it turns out, not all cultures make decisions in the same way. And this can have serious implications for team work. This would especially be true for international teams, of which there are more and more these days. Chinese, for examples, are much more likely to take risks with financial ventures than Americans, according to Ohio State's Elke Weber, Ph.D. and the University of Chicago's Christopher Hsee, Ph.D. And apparently the Asians are more confident in their "risky" choices. They aren't just gambling. They truly believe they are making best choices. By and large, men, whatever their cultural group, see everything as less risky than women. However, according to Paul Slovic, Ph.D. at the University of Oregon, it's about 30% of the men who drive these statistics. That 30% see no risk in virtually everything. Slovic says this has something to do with confidence. "People in a more vulnerable position, socially and economically, see the world as more risky." Slovic concludes, "...white males who design hazardous technologies and who tend to benefit more from them and feel more in control of their lives, see the world as less risky." With regard to the Chinese and the Americans, researchers have found that both groups tolerate about the same level of risk, it's just that the Chinese find certain financial situations less risky than do Americans. This account for the stronger entrepreneurial tendencies of many Chinese. What could account for this? Researchers hypothesize that in the case of Chinese, they know that if they fail, their social group will help them through difficult times. Americans not have this same feeling, and therefore don't perceive any cushion from the downside of risky financial ventures. These attitudes don't seem to play across all of Asia. Japanese, for example, seem to perceive the world more as the Americans do, rather than like their neighbors the Chinese. And ego doesn't seem to drive these feelings, either. Americans, for example, are the most overconfident, compared to the Chinese. Japanese are the least overconfident. One researcher, Frank Yates at the University of Michigan, believes that Chinese think about situations differently than do Americans. For one thing, he says, Chinese have a different respect for history. They are more likely to look at the broad view when considering risk. And they don't question their choices. As Yates concludes, "At a very straightforward level, the Chinese literally didn't see why their choices might be wrong." As many global organizations are working
with teams that consist of a variety of cultural groups, questions of this
type become more crucial. At a minimum, it would be helpful for teams
to understand that culture influence decision making at very fundamental
levels.
Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers.
If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question.
By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more
effective.
Janelle Barlow, Ph.D.
Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions
and Answers. If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same
question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user
become more effective.
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