Lesson 6: Cultural Dispositions

Attitudes and Orientation Towards Time

This dimension has two aspects.

1. The first is the orientation of the culture to past, present or future (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2005, Ferraro, 2006).
   
   Past. Some cultures respect and revere what has happened in the past. They believe the past has influence on what is currently happening and will happen. It values history, traditions and established ways of doing things and sees these as a way to respect society members from the past.
   Present. Cultures oriented to the present believe that the past is over and done with. It cannot be changed so it is no great importance. The future has yet to be decided and little can be done about it so it is best to focus on the present. It adopts a short term thinking style that looks for changes and influences that can occur now.
   Future. Cultures orientated to the future have a long-term view. Judgments are made in terms of what is good or appropriate for the future goals. The difference between these positions is reflected in the logging of old-growth forests. The present orientation seeks timber ready to be harvested and used. The Past honors the spirits that reside in the forest and seek to respect the traditions regarding its use for today. The future looks to preserve the forest and save it for future generations to have and enjoy.
   
   Whether the GV team is working on a short term or long term project, these orientations will influence how team members work on the team. These orientations will determine how the team members view proposed designs. For example, a past oriented culture will look to what has been done and seek to keep the project to the tried, tested and true designs. The present situated culture will be looking for a product or project outcome that has an immediate outcome and influence, even if that outcome is not long lasting. The future oriented culture will choose an outcome by how the outcome solves the current issue and the secondary and tertiary effects that solution may have. They will not seek a design that will solve one problem while creating two or three other problems.


2. The second aspect of time orientation refers to the view on deadlines, schedules and the pace of work in relation to achievement and progress (Ting-Toomey, & Chung, 2005, Ferraro, 2006). Some cultures view deadlines as guidelines and not a hard commitment to complete something by a specific time. Others hold fast to deadlines and commitments as a way of advancing knowledge, productivity and profits.
   
   Knowing how GV team members function as part of their culture's view on time will help you prepare for time sensitive activities such as virtual meetings and deadlines. It is important to clearly outline specific time and have members stick to those times. However, the nature of GV teams is that there must be some flexibility due to technical glitches and cultural attitudes that are difficult to overcome. The level of control on a GV team will also help to influence participation. For example, if the GV team leader has the authority to hire and fire team members, it becomes somewhat easier to compel someone to attend meetings and meet deadlines than a situation where the team leader must persuade and convince team members to do so. Personal efforts of being punctual and on time for one culture and patient for the other culture needs to be developed.