by Regina Kim

Cooperation at work is an essential component for organizational success and performance in a global economy. Not surprisingly, many organizational scholars and practitioners alike are interested in examining personal, environmental and cultural factors that lead to cooperation at the workplace.  With increased globalization in recent years, more attention has been given to the effect of cultural values on cooperation in organizations. 

In an attempt to understand the relationship between culture and cooperation, a recent study examined the effects of individualism-collectivism (I-C) on cooperation at the individual, organizational and societal levels.  Individualism is a value marked by a preference for a social pattern that consists of loosely linked individuals who view themselves as mainly independent of groups. It is typified by self-reliance, the urge to master one’s environment and tendencies to separate and isolate one’s self.  Collectivism, on the other hand, is defined as a social pattern consisting of closely connected individuals who see themselves as parts of one or more collectives (family, co-workers, tribe, and nation).  It refers to norms that emphasize the group over the individual, where people are integrated into strong, cohesive ingroups.

After combining results obtained from 201 studies, Marcus and Le found that at both the individual and organizational levels, higher collectivism was associated with cooperative behaviors and better performance at work.  In other words, both individuals and organizations who were more collectivistic showed more cooperative behaviors and demonstrated better performance. However, interestingly, societal-level I-C had weak a relationship with both cooperative behavior and performance.

These findings have important practical implications.  First, in organizations, leaders and managers can advocate a work climate that encourages embodiment of more collectivistic values. This may help promote cooperation and better organizational performance.  Second, we should be cautious when we make assumptions about individuals or groups based on their national or societal cultural values, whether it’s in reference to negotiations, mediations or conflict management consulting.  While there may be a number of potential explanations for not finding a robust relationship between societal-level I-C and cooperation, one explanation may be that societies are becoming more heterogeneous and it is becoming more challenging to infer individuals’ cultural values based on the society they live in.