Individualism and Collectivism
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Individualism-collectivism and job satisfaction between Malaysia and Australia
Fauziah Noordin
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia, and
Individualismcollectivism and job satisfaction 159
Kamaruzaman Jusoff
Tropical Resources Institute, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Abstract
Purpose – One of the main issues that many organizations will face in the coming years is the management of increasing diversity in the workforce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the levels of individualism and collectivism of managers in two different cultural environments, that is, Malaysia and Australia. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by questionnaire from middle managers in a total of 18 organisations in Malaysia and ten organisations in Australia. Individualism-collectivism was measured using Singelis et al.’s 32-item scale. The items in the scale are designed to measure the horizontal and vertical aspects of individualism-collectivism. The items were answered on seven-point scale where 1 indicates strong disagreement and 7 indicates strong agreement. In addition, the seven-item job satisfaction measure, which is part of the Survey of Organizations questionnaire developed by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, was used. Findings – The study reveals the existence of differences between Malaysian and Australian managers on the level of vertical individualism, horizontal collectivism, and vertical collectivism. In addition, the Australian managers appear to have a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than their counterpart in Malaysia. Research limitations/implications – Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that there have been significant shifts in value classifications in Malaysia since Hofstede conducted his original study. This finding underscores the fact
Individualism-collectivism and job satisfaction between Malaysia and Australia
Fauziah Noordin
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia, and
Individualismcollectivism and job satisfaction 159
Kamaruzaman Jusoff
Tropical Resources Institute, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Abstract
Purpose – One of the main issues that many organizations will face in the coming years is the management of increasing diversity in the workforce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the levels of individualism and collectivism of managers in two different cultural environments, that is, Malaysia and Australia. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by questionnaire from middle managers in a total of 18 organisations in Malaysia and ten organisations in Australia. Individualism-collectivism was measured using Singelis et al.’s 32-item scale. The items in the scale are designed to measure the horizontal and vertical aspects of individualism-collectivism. The items were answered on seven-point scale where 1 indicates strong disagreement and 7 indicates strong agreement. In addition, the seven-item job satisfaction measure, which is part of the Survey of Organizations questionnaire developed by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, was used. Findings – The study reveals the existence of differences between Malaysian and Australian managers on the level of vertical individualism, horizontal collectivism, and vertical collectivism. In addition, the Australian managers appear to have a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than their counterpart in Malaysia. Research limitations/implications – Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that there have been significant shifts in value classifications in Malaysia since Hofstede conducted his original study. This finding underscores the fact