ABSTRACT
In the distributed decision-making process, evidently, cultural values play a crucial role in varied forms and manners for global virtual team (GVT) participants. For example, two extremes exist in how different cultures make decisions: (1) a belief that people can make decisions based on one best way or (2) a belief that the best way varies and is based on situation. In the latter case, the best way depends on the “values, beliefs, and behavioral patterns of the people involved” (Adler 1997, p. 168). Hall (1976) supports this perspective in his argument concerning context and content. People who place greater emphasis on context make decisions based on affective goals and situation (e.g., where, when, why, and with whom they are dealing) called relationship orientation, whereas people who place priority on content depend on instrumental purposes or pragmatic goals called task orientation (Zakaria et al. 2003). For this second type of people, decisions are less dependent on situation; rather, they rely more on facts and figures. Therefore, this chapter discusses two aspects of cultural values that are inherent in explaining the decision-making behaviors of GVTs given their cultures: (1) individualistic
versus collectivistic and (2) task oriented versus relationship oriented.
