West vs. East:

1
West vs. East So different and even diagonally
opposing Here Over There -------------------
--------------------------------------------------
------------ Mr/Ms - First Name/Syllable Mr/Ms
Noname Jane Doe Any City 123 Main
Street Main Street 123 Any City Doe John My
company Our wife Good Samaritans
(Universalistic) Familial Love (Particularistic) G
irls older brother, oppah, olkae Girls
older brothers wife Harsher punish for
patricide
2
Here Over There ------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
- Appetizer-Soup-Entree-Dessert Communal
dishes Individual beds Family sleeping
floor Show-and-Tell Spanking and
caning Egalitarianism Discrimination - High
divorce rate? Unequal roles and standards
Guns - High crime? Closer families, safer
streets? Class of 04 Class of 00 Eat your
dinner. Endless gradation in honorifics
3
Here Over There ------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
- E Pluribus Unum Different
Wrong? Waving/Fingering (hand) Bowing
(head) Singular-Plural One person or ten
person(s)? Pronouns (Relative/Compound) Onomatopo
eic, Motion- descriptive I love you. (low
context) I you love. Love. (high
context)
4
Proposition People's thoughts, ideas,
philosophies, perspectives, actions,
behaviorism, and value systems are dictated by
social, institutional norms and guidelines
which collectively constitute their culture.
Different cultures breed different socio-politico
-economic systems and paradigms. Therefore,
understanding different cultures is critical in
understanding different systems. More
formally and seriously, at the risk of
over-generalization or over-simplification, we
may dichotomize the cultural differences
traditionally observed between East and West as
follows
5
West East ------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
----------- Individualism ("Me") Communitarianis
m ("Us") Independent Accountability Collective
Responsibility Individual Autonomy Group
(Familial) Loyalty Diversity and
Pluralism Uniformity and Solidarity Heterogeneit
y and Idiosyncrasy Homogeneity and
Conformity Survival of the Fittest Paternalistic
Protectionism Equal Opportunity and No Free
Ride GroupExclusivity/Mutual Forbearance Human
Rights and Self-Control Communal Order and
Social Discipline Individual Discretion Consensu
s Decision "Don't be another statistic" "Stick
out and you will get hammered" Mobility,
Flexibility, and Volatility Stability, Security,
and Consistence Adaptability and
Dynamism Inertia and Rigidity Problem-Seeking P
roblem-Solving Relativism - Positive
Approach Absolutism - Normative
Approach Contents (Functions) Forms (Slogans) In
dividual Creativity Group Productivity Revolutio
nary Innovation Gradual Improvement (Hostile)
Competition (Friendly) Cooperation
6
West East ------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
----------- Risk-taking Entrepreneurship Risk-sha
ring Commensalism Good and Evil
(Conflicting) Yang and Yin (Complementary) Guilt
(Conscientiousness) Shame (Pride
face) Specificity - Experts Fungibility -
Generalists Merit System Seniority
System Reasoning/Scientific/Rational Persuasive/P
sychological/Emotional Direct/Articulate/Tangible
Subtle/Indirect/Implicit/Circumstantial Utilitari
anism - Pragmatism Moralism - Metaphysics Transpa
rency/Openness/Fairness Secrecy/Favoritism/Collus
ion Leveled System Tiered System Individual
Ownership Communal Ownership Free/Independent
Ventures Conglomeration (Keiretsu and
Chaebol) Shareholders - Consumerism Stakeholders
- Corporate Welfare