Title: Micro-level cultural profiles on teamwork orientation and contribution

Authors: Edward O. Akoto; Vas Taras

Addresses: School of Business, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, USA ' Bryan School of Business and Economics, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Abstract: This study utilised the collectivism and power distance dimensions to examine the prevalence of micro-level cultural profiles in the predefined categorisation of national cultural settings and their effect on team orientation and contribution. Based on a multi-year sample of 11,058 individuals from 157 countries, our analysis confirmed four culture-based clusters: collectivist-high power distance, collectivist-low power distance, individualist-high power distance and the individualist-low power distance profiles. As expected, the collectivist-based profiles were prevalent among the non-Western respondents, but the individualist-based profiles were not prevalent among the Western respondents. Similarly, the collectivist-low power distance and individualist-low power distance profiles reported higher contributions to the team. These findings contradict the prevalent assumptions about the East-West cultural differences. The study shows that the micro-level analysis of individual values is necessary for understanding individual behaviours in workgroups.

Keywords: profile analysis; culture; micro-level values; collectivism/individualism; power distance; team orientation; team contribution.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2026.153352

European Journal of International Management, 2026 Vol.29 No.2, pp.265 - 293

Received: 25 Sep 2020
Accepted: 19 Jan 2021
Published online: 06 May 2026 *

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