THINKING TIME!

What are the impacts of culture in terms of mixed-motive decision making?

“Culture” is defined as the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and which is transmitted from generation to generation through learning[1]. And as we know a person’s way of responding in front of a certain situation can be influenced by individual factors and the psychological personality, these factors are based on the values, morals and beliefs that the person has which represent the person’s culture. That’s why the culture impacts in the decision making process, because according to the cultural and social backgrounds that an individual or a member of a decision-making’s group has, it is reflected in the way how he/she react to different circumstances and how he/she reach to the decision. Also, the culture is an important determinative issue that influences the motivation variables in the work performance employees; one of these variables is the organizational commitment. There is evidence that the organizational culture and climate are positively correlated with organizational commitment—that is, a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values; a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization; and a strong desire to maintain membership in the organization (Mowday et al., 1979; and Guzley, 1992). And taking into account that the national culture impact in the organizational behavior, this reflects how the culture can be a very important driver in the decision approach and in the organization as overall.

---

[1] Bates DG, Plog F: Cultural Anthropology. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1990, p 7