https://doi.org/10.4087/ZFMU44273">
 

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

Understanding of the national culture as well as the local culture can give people an advantage in understanding and developing intercultural knowledge and skills. It is also useful for achieving a successful life in this challenging global world. In order to understand a nation’s people it is important to understand their values and culture. Indonesia consists of thousands of islands and people of various ethnicities, which consequently affect Indonesia’s culture as a whole nation. This research was done at one of Indonesia’s stateowned companies. It comprised 2025 respondents from various ethnic backgrounds such as: Balinese, Batak, Javanese, Minangkabau, Sundanese and others. The questionnaire used was developed on the basis of Hofstede’s work on values. The study showed that respondents (the employees of Company XYZ) were high on Uncertainty Avoidance, Power Distance, Future Time Orientation, Individualism, and Masculinity. This findings is different from the stereotype of Indonesian people as well as from Hofstede’s findings (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005), which indicated that Indonesian people score higher on the Collectivist and Feminist dimensions, and lower onUncertainty Avoidance.This raises the question of whether there has been a cultural change or whether the results reflect only the impact of organizational culture. Although this study consists of a large sample, the results cannot be generalized to all Indonesian people. In this regard, future research should be carried out in order to obtain an accurate profile of Indonesia, taking into account that Indonesia is very diverse country.

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Steering the Cultural Dynamics

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