Value Orientation of Indian and U.S. Respondents: A Study of Gender, Education, and National Culture

Today, many managers supervise employees from other cultures and, therefore, must understand their values. Value theory states that a person's principal values drive their behavior The authors surveyed 121 Indians and 703 Americans to understand attitudes toward two workplace values--relationships and task completion. Responses were analyzed by education, gender; and culture (high-context, collective Indian culture versus low-context, individualistic American culture). Somewhat surprisingly, workers in both cultures valued relationships over tasks, but relative results produced differences. The focus on relationships suggests that value theory and value-driven management are fundamental to organizational success.