It seems to be evident that businesses in the Philippines or in any other country follow US system when It comes to research and doing business, wherein there are certain frameworks and rules; however, it is also evident in the Philippines that businesses also consider their relationships with each there especially the small-scale businesses. This has something to do with culture.
Most European countries and the US could be categorized under having a universalism approach, which is rule-based, and on the other hand, most Asian countries could be categorized under having a particularistic approach, which focuses on the relationships and considers the nature of the circumstances (this is based on the surveys Trampers and Turner presented in the chapter).
In the Filipino culture, there Is a saying that you must separate your work from your family because t will be hard to manage business and this shows how Philippine businesses can be considered particularistic; but then our culture is also a very westernizes culture, which Is the reason to why we can say that Philippine businesses are also rule-based. How, then, Is culture Important to business? It Is Important to talk about culture because they provide answers and guide behavior when it comes to business dilemmas (Trampers & Turner, 1997).
Due to globalization, more businesses are expanding throughout the world and culture must be taken into consideration, most specially when you communicate and do business with people of different nationalities. The first dimension, which is universalism versus particularity, talks about how we Judge other people’s behavior such as deciding upon a certain situation based on what is universally agreed upon by our own culture or focusing on making decisions based upon our obligations to the people we know (Trampers & Turner, 1997).
Pure universality will say that they will stick to the rules because if they do not and when they allow other people to disobey the rules, the system will be corrupted; on the other hand, pure particularistic will say that since he Is my friend, I am obliged to do whatever is In favor of him despite disobeying the rules. We must consider both approached when it comes to doing business but due to cultural differences (personality, religion, importance of relationships) we tend to lean towards one of the two approaches. As mentioned earlier, there are certain areas wherein the countries are more universalism and others more particulates.
Most of the time, the case would remain the same; however, there are certain situations hen particularistic would jump to being universalism. An example given was when it comes to talking about health, one has to go with the universalism approach because lives are at stake. The case that universalism Is a feature of modernization and that particularity Is a feature of smaller communities is not acceptable because It Is believed that with both of these approaches, there is a higher chance to create wealth and to develop the industry (Trampers & Turner, 1997).
When we talk thinking mainly because it is an effective way of getting more people to avail of the impasses’ services or products. Four things must be considered when it comes to business and culture in the first dimension: the contract, timing a business trip, the role of head office, and Job evaluations and rewards (Trampers & Turner, 1997). Contracts are present in order to avoid any issues that might come in between the two businesses to the fact that lawyers are even involved. Particularistic will see contracts that have strict requirements and penalty causes as an indicator that there are some trust issues.
As to my knowledge, what can happen is that a particularistic approach can be included in a universalism approach when it comes to contracts because anything that the particularistic mind thinks of can be included and agreed upon in the contract. This way there are universally applicable laws and there are also laws that are applicable to the culture of the partner business. It appears that when it comes to timing a business trip, both approaches have the same take wherein there is a need of a longer time in making deadlines because not does it only produce quality service and partnership, it also produces quality personal relationships.
When it comes to the role of the head office, I believe that there must be a balance of both approaches. There is a need for rules to maintain the order of the company and there is a need to make sure that the relationships in the company are protected as well because this will reflect on the output of the business. With Job evaluation rewards, there is this so-called Hay Job evaluation system, which is more universalism) where businesses are able to evaluate what salaries are equivalent to the performance of various functions.
For the particularistic, it starts with choosing the errors first then they are evaluated. With my experience in organizations, to make thing more efficient and effective, short lists are made then they evaluate, which is more particularistic. All the opinions I have stated may appear more biased towards the particularistic approach due to the Filipino culture; however, I believe that my opinions are a mix of both approaches given that I think there must be a balance of both. I might not have noticed whether I am biased or not; however, I hope I was able to achieve what Turner and Trampers are trying to say.
