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Business vs. Cultural Frames of Reference in Group Decision Making: Interactions Among Austrian, Finnish, and Swedish Business Students

Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

Michael Berry

Turku School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland

This study evolved out of an ethnographic approach to teaching, learning, and researching the different ways that business and cultural frames of reference can affect decision making in groups consisting of Austrian, Finnish, and Swedish business students. The data is based on videotaped and audio taped recordings, post-exercise debriefings and discussions, and post-exercise written reflections on two decision-making exercises. The business-related Carter Racing exercise, which imitates the developments leading to the space shuttle Challenger catastrophe, pro duced conclusion-driven groupthink in every multicultural group of students. The students' shared "business-is-taking-risks" frame of reference was salient, with few cultural differences within the groups. In contrast, an exercise requiring the same students to decide the appropriate degree of subordinate participation in decision- making when a nuclear power plant needed repair produced only one example of conclusion-driven discourse. Analyses of three groups illustrates (a) an example of groupthink (Austrians and Swedes) in both exercises, (b) an example of national culture interference (Austrians and Swedes) that paralyzed group decision-making and (c) an example of national culture interference (Austrians and Finns) that demonstrated the importance of a "cultural negotiator" in finding common ground for different national assumptions about social relationships and preferences for communication styles.

Key Words: Cultural Frames of Reference • Intercultural Communication Groups • Groupthink • Multicultural Decision Making

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