uncertainty-avoidance

TeammembersIntroductionVanessa,Sabrina,Banana,Billie,Nail,EverCharacter:ChineseyoungmanAmericansupervisorPlot:theAmericansupervisoraskedtheChineseyoungmantofinishworkin15days,whichneed30tofinshactually.Question:WhytheChineseleftandtheAmericanwassurprised?Answer:TheansweristheUncertaintyAvoidance.BecauseChinaisacountrywhichofHighUncertaintyAvoidance,AmericanisacountrywhichofLowUncertaintyAvoidance.Then,let’scometothepoint,whatisUncertaintyAvoidance.UncertaintyAvoidanceAccordingtoHofstede(1998),uncertaintyavoidancereferstothelackoftoleranceforambiguityanduncertaintyandtheneedforformalrulesandhigh-levelorganizationalstructure.UncertaintyAvoidanceincludestwoforms:•LowuncertaintyAvoidance•HighuncertaintyAvoidanceCulturesoflowuncertaintyavoidancehavelessconcernaboutambiguityanduncertaintyandhavemoretoleranceforavarietyofopinions.PerformanceBeforethemeeting……Somechat,somedoprivatework,somedrink…..SuddenlysomeoneaskAtthemeeting….Afterthemeeting…TOPMODELAccordingtoourknowledge,wecanbeeasytoseethatcountrieslikeSweden,Denmark,Ireland,Norway,theUnitedStates,Finland,andtheNetherlandshavealow-uncertaintyavoidanceneed.Membersoflow-uncertaintyavoidanceculturesarelesstenseandmorerelaxed-traitsreflectedintheIrishproverb“Lifeshouldbeadance,notarace.”BACKReview•Discussion…….•V:Idon'tthinkitwillwork,Iinsistthatweshouldusethetraditionalway.•Ba:Comeon,becreativegirl.•S:BananaIsupportyouifyouusemeasacovergirl.•Bi:Ok,Iagreewithyouexceptforcovergirl(pointtoS)•E:Well,well,well..Sometimesrulescanbebroken.Italldependsonus..•Peoplehavelowlevelofstress•Peoplearemorerisk-taking•SometimesrulescanbebrokenReview•Ba:Howaboutputtingabigsizeposteronouterwall?•E:Doesitwork?•Bi:Maybewecanhaveatry.•E:OK,maybe?DoesanyoneknowhowtomakethiskindofadbecauseIdon’tknow.•Discussion•Conflictisnaturalandtobeexpected..Superordinatesmaysay“Idon'tknow”.CharacteristicsofLowUncertaintyAvoidance:1.Thereisstrongwillingnesstolivedaybyday.2.Thereislessemotionalresistancetochange.3.Peoplearemorerisk-taking.4.Thereisawillingnesstochangetheemployer.5.Onehopesforsuccess.6.Oneshowslittleloyaltytoone’semployer.7.Sometimesrulescanbebroken.8.Conflictisnaturalandtobeexpected.9.Initiativeofsubordinatesisencouraged.10.Differencesaretolerated.11.Peoplehavelowlevelofstress.12.Thereislittleemotionalexpression.13.Superordinatesmaysay“Idon'tknow”.14.Lessformalorganizationalstructuresaredesired.Culturesofhighuncertaintyavoidancehavealowtoleranceforuncertaintyandambiguity.PerformanceAttheinterview….SabrinaisfromUSBananaisfromJapanReviewS:Iamnotsure,butinmycountry,workinginthecompanyisinteresting.Andthereisaharmoniousrelationshipbetweenthesuperiorandsubordinate,Ithinkthatinyourcompanyitwillbeakindofsimilar.B:Iamafraidthat…Actually,workinginJapanyouwillbealittlestressfulbecauseinJapanyouhavetoobeythesuperiorandkeepworkingtoensurethatyourassignmentwillbefinishedbeforethedeadline.Andyouhavetofollowthe“lifetimeemploymentsystem”.•Peoplehavehighlevelofstress.•Rulesshouldnotbebroken.•Conflictisundesirable.S:Sorry?Whatdoyoumeanabout“lifetimeemploymentsystem”?B:LifetimeemploymentsysteminJapanoffersemployeesahighdegreeofjobsecurity.Inotherword,onceyouareadmitted,youarenotallowedtoquitunlessyoudosomethingseriouswrong.•Thereisatendencytostaywiththesameemploy.•Peoplearelessrisktaking.CharacteristicsofLowUncertaintyAvoidance:1.Thereisgreateranxietyaboutthefuture.2.Thereismoreemotionalresistancetochange.3.Peoplearelessrisktaking.4.Thereistendencytostaywiththesaneemployer.5.Failureisfeared.6.Oneshowsconsiderableloyaltytoemployers.7.Rulesshouldnotbebroken.8.Conflictisundesirable.9.Initiativeofsubordinatesisdiscouraged.10.Differencesareconsidereddangerous.11.Peoplehavehighlevelofstress.12.Emotionalexpressionisacceptable.13.Superordinateshavealltheanswers.14.Formalorganizationalstructuresaredesired.Onthebaseofourknowledgewecanseethatnationswithastronguncertainty-avoidancetendencyarePortugal,Greece,Peru,Belgium,JapanandourChina.Ahigherlevelofanxietyandstressalsocharacterizesthem:Peoplethinkoftheuncertaintyinherentinlifeasacontinuoushazardthatmustbeavoided.RankingofUncertaintyAvoidanceCountryorRegionRankingCountryorRegionRankingGreece1Ireland36Portugal2HongKong37Belgium3Sweden38Japan4Denmark39Yugoslavia5Singapore40*Alowscoremeansthecountrycanbeclassifiedasonethatdoesnotlikeuncertainty.Thelowerscore,thehigheruncertaintyavoidance.InfluenceEachcountryhaseachculture,wecannottreatanycountriesatthesameattitude.Inthebusiness,aAmericanclerkwillneverunderstandwhystaffshouldstayinthesamecompanyforallhis/herlife.Sotherewillbeconflictbetweenthembecausethatiscultureinfluencethatnoteveryculturecanbeadapttoanotherculture.Inaword,influenceisinevitable.Chinaisintendingtokeepthesituationofhighuncertaintyavoidance.1.Population---Largethatcannotcontroleasily2.Policy---Partymonopoly3.Family---Strictrulesandhighexpectationforchildren4.Education---Unchangeablerulesandhighdemandforstudents5.Work---HighpressureandnocreativitySuggestion:•Inhighuncertaintyavoidanceenterprises,mancantakethehumanismpolicyofincreasingthestableofemploym