Open Access

Cultural Distances and Its Association to Time Spent on Conflicts


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Conflict cost clusters, variables and definitions

Buss (2011)
Cost cluster Variables/definition
Costs to an organization Productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, reputation, theft, damage
Costs to employees Attacking behavior, increased stress levels, burnout, illness, lower motivation, avoiding or attacking behavior, interruptions, not listening, finding unnecessary fault
Costs to clients Damages on a company’s reputation or on customer satisfaction
Note: Precise definitions of the term conflict costs or the clusters are not provided.
Freres (2013)
Cost cluster Variables/definition
Medical health Sick leave, accidents, physical disability, health insurance premium
Individual psyche Job motivation, satisfaction or commitment, and diligence
Wasted time Absenteeism, presenteeism, time spent on conflict, pretending to work
Counterproductive work Theft, violence, sabotage, vandalism, incivility
Team behavior Decision-making, individual’s morale, organizational citizenship behavior
Customer Complaint handling or customer service
Human resource and organizational development Turnover, employer reputation, relationship instead of task-driven assignment of people, distrust, and change resistance
Legal and dispute fees Grievance, litigation, discrimination claims, compensation
Note: Precise definitions of the term conflict costs or the clusters are not provided.
Dirrler and Podruzsik (2022)
Cost cluster Variables/definition
Internal direct conflict costs Legal and dispute costs, discrimination claims, grievance, compensation settlements, litigation, theft and damage, fees of lawyers and professionals, accidents, vandalism, sabotage, performance declines, decreased quality, inability to meet deadlines, loss in productivity, increased supervision costs
Definition: Direct effect on companies’ business revenue or desired outcome and correlated to internal stakeholders
Internal indirect conflict costs Wasted time worry about a conflict – dealing with it and resolving it – pretending to work, absenteeism, presenteeism, decreased time at work, avoiding behavior/shun conflict, extra time gathering information, counterproductive work behavior, attacking behavior, psychological and physical disease, sick leave, less diligence, voluntary departure from team and from organization, decreased work effort, change resistance, bad-quality decision-making, no decision-making
Definition: Solely indirect effect on companies’ business revenue or desired outcome and correlated to internal stakeholders
External direct conflict costs Legal suits, compensation claims, customer complaint handling, loss of ongoing relationship
Direct effect on companies’ business revenue or desired outcomes and correlated to external stakeholders
External indirect conflict costs Employer reputation, difficulty to attract talent, damage to brand image
Solely indirect effect on companies’ business revenue or desired outcomes and correlated to external stakeholders

Overview – cultural dimensions

Hofstede (1980; 2001)*
Cultural dimension Variables/definition
Power distance How inequality is handled
Uncertainty avoidance How people deal with uncertainty
Individualism Degree of integration between individuals and groups
Masculinity Degree of masculine attributes within a society
Long-term orientation Degree of valuing persistence and thrift
*Model used in the present study.
House et al (2004) – GLOBE model
Cultural dimension Variables/definition
Uncertainty avoidance Desire for structure and consistency and reliance on norms, rules, and procedures
Power distance How inequality is handled
Institutional collectivism Degree of collective actions encouraged by social institutions
In-group collectivism Importance of pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness
Gender egalitarianism Degree of minimizing gender inequality
Assertiveness Degree of aggressive or confrontational behavior
Future orientation Importance of planning or long-term success compared to immediate benefits
Performance orientation Extent to which performance, innovation, high standards, or excellence is encouraged
Humane orientation Value representation such as fairness, friendliness, or generosity
Schwartz (1994; 1999)
Cultural dimension Variables/definition
Embeddedness Avoidance of disturbances of traditional order
Intellectual autonomy Autonomy or freedom in regard to the pursuit of ideas, thought, and creativity
Affective autonomy Autonomy or freedom in regard to the pursuit of pleasure, stimulation, and excitement
Hierarchy Degree of clear social order
Egalitarianism Everyone is considered as equal
Harmony Protection of environment, desire of harmony, and emphasis on the group
Mastery Success through personal action and efforts to get ahead of others

Linear regression analysis including control variables

Power distance Variable B P-value   Uncertainty avoidance Variable B P-value
Intercept 1.0331 0.0003 Intercept 1.0564 0.0003
Power distance 0.0585 0.1446 Uncertainty avoidance 0.1927 0.1550
Age > 30 - - Age > 30 - -
Age 30–39 -0.1107 0.6390 Age 30–39 -0.0707 0.7702
Age 40–49 -0.1176 0.5931 Age 40–49 -0.1109 0.6252
Age 50–59 -0.5813 0.0201 Age 50–59 -0.5739 0.0294
Age < 60 0.1446 0.7642 Age < 60 0.1415 0.7689
Gender -0.0072 0.9688 Gender -0.0316 0.8652
Employee - - Employee - -
Project manager 0.7004 0.0720 Project manager 0.6325 0.1072
Lower management 0.2215 0.5552 Lower management 0.2339 0.5612
Middle management 0.2372 0.3796 Middle management 0.2226 0.4071
Upper management 0.0315 0.936 Upper management -0.0161 0.9572
Self-employed 0.3079 0.4630 Self-employed 0.2950 0.4915
R2 = 0.07626  p = 0.4227 R2 = 0.07709  p = 0.4119
   
Individualism vs. collectivism Variable B P-value Masculinity vs. feminism Variable B P-value
Intercept 1.1372 0.0001 Intercept 1.0559 0.0002
Individualism -0.0055 0.9289 Individualism 0.1248 0.1261
Age > 30 - - Age > 30 - -
Age 30–39 -0.0784 0.7423 Age 30–39 -0.0593 0.8027
Age 40–49 -0.0980 0.6635 Age 40–49 -0.1063 0.6306
Age 50–59 -0.5778 0.0255 Age 50–59 -0.5986 0.0208
Age < 60 0.1472 0.7636 Age < 60 0.1377 0.7669
Gender 0.0034 0.9856 Gender -0.0084 0.9631
Employee - - Employee - -
Project manager 0.6540 0.1182 Project manager 0.6750 0.1122
Lower management 0.1551 0.6973 Lower management 0.2027 0.5939
Middle management 0.2244 0.4116 Middle management 0.1601 0.5559
Upper management 0.0088 0.9778 Upper management -0.1118 0.7226
Self-employed 0.2504 0.5506 Self-employed 0.2185 0.6314
R2 = 0.06467  p = 0.5845 R2 = 0.0781  p = 0.3989
   
Long-term vs. short-term orientation Variable B P-value  
Intercept 1.0897 0.0002
Long-term orientation 0.0436 0.4271
Age < 30 - -
Age 30–39 -0.1051 0.6546
Age 40–49 -0.1010 0.6473
Age 50–59 -0.5994 0.0171
Age < 60 0.1509 0.7566
Gender -0.0085 0.96632
Employee
Project manager 0.6473 0.0962
Lower management 0.1483 0.6880
Middle management 0.2554 0.3392
Upper management -0.0130 0.9670
Self-employed 0.2659 0.5154
R2 = 0.06969  p = 0.5126