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From a cultural perspective, students from both Western and non-Western cultures are found to exhibit academic procrastination, but for different reasons. Students from Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid doing worse than they have done before or from failing to learn as much as they should have. Whereas students from non-Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid looking incompetent, or to avoid demonstrating a lack of ability in front of their peers.It is important to note that differences in different cultures view of time affects time management and procrastination. For example in cultures that tend to have what is considered a  multi-active view of time people tend to place higher values on making sure a job is done fully before finishing. While in cultures with a linear view of time people tend to allot a certain amount of time on a task and stop once they are finished.

Cultural Perspectives
According to Holly McGregor & Andrew Elliot (2002); Christopher Wolters (2003), academic procrastination among undergraduate students has been correlated to performance-avoidance orientation which is one factor of the four factor model of achievement orientation. Andrew Elliot and Judith Harackiewicz (1996) showed that students with a performance-avoidance orientation tend to be concerned with comparisons to their peers. These students procrastinate as a result of not wanting to look incompetent, or to avoid demonstrating a lack of ability and adopt a facade of competence for a task in front of their peers.

Gregory Arief Liem and Youyan Nie (2008) found that cultural characteristics are shown to have a direct influence on achievement orientation because it is closely aligned with cultural values and beliefs. Sonja Dekker and Ronald Fischer’s (2008) meta-analysis across thirteen different societies revealed that students from Western cultures tend to be motivated more by mastery-approach orientation because the degree of incentive value for individual achievement is strongly reflective of the values of Western culture. By contrast, students from Eastern cultures have been found to be performance-avoidance orientated. They often make efforts to maintain a positive image of their abilities, which they display while in front of their peers. In addition, Hazel Rose Markus and Shinobu Kitayama (1991) showed that in non-Western cultures, rather than standing out through their achievements, people are generally motivated to become part of various interpersonal relationships and to fit in with those that are relevant to them.

Research by Sushila Niles (1998) with Australian (Western) students and Sri Lankan (Eastern) students confirm these differences, revealing that Australian students often pursued more individual goals, whereas Sri Lankan students usually desired more collaborative and social goals. Multiple studies by Kuo-Shu Yang and An-Bang Yu (1987, 1988, 1990) have indicated that individual achievement among most Chinese and Japanese

students is measured by a fulfillment of their obligation and responsibility to their family network, not to an individual accomplishment. Yang and Yu (1987) have also shown that Collectivism and Confucianism are very strong motivators for achievement in many non-Western cultures because of their emphasis on cooperation in the family unit and community. Guided by these cultural values, it is believed that the individual intuitively senses the degree of pressure that differentiates his or her factor of achievement orientation.

INTRO PARAGRAPH OF TIME MANAGEMENT

It is important to note that both technical and structural differences in time management exist between different cultures from different cultural views of time.

(I am inserting this after… as it determines the project completion time and scope. …… on time management)

Cultural Views of Time Management
Differences in the way cultures view time affect the way their time is managed. For example, a linear time view is a way of conceiving time as flowing from one moment to the next in a linear fashion. This linear perception of time is predominant in America along with most Northern European countries such as, Germany, Switzerland, and England. These cultures tend to place a large value on productive time management, and tend to avoid decisions or actions that would result in wasted time. This linear view of time correlates to these cultures being more “monochronic”, or preferring to do only one thing at a time. This cultural view leads to a better focus on accomplishing a singular task and hence, more productive time management.

Another cultural time view is multi-active time view. In multi-active cultures, the more things being done at once the happier a person is. Multi-active cultures are “polychronic” or prefer to do multiple tasks at once. This multi-active time view is prominent in Southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In these cultures, the people often tend to spend time on things they deem to be more important such as placing a high importance on finishing social conversations. In business environments, they pay little attention to how long meetings last, rather, the focus is on having high quality meetings. In general, the cultural focus tends to be on synergy and creativity over efficiency.

A final cultural time view is a cyclical time view. In cyclical cultures, time is neither linear nor event related. Because days, months, years, seasons, and events happen in regular repetitive occurrences, time is viewed as cyclical. In this view, time cannot be wasted because it will always come back later, hence, there is an unlimited amount of it. This cyclical time view is prevalent throughout Asia including Japan, China, and Tibet. It is more important in cyclical views of time to complete tasks correctly, therefore, more time is spent thinking about decisions and the impact they will have before acting on their plans. Cyclical cultures tend to understand that other cultures have different views of time and are cognizant of this when acting on a global stage. This broad understanding is something that all cultures can model and apply to help improve business relations on an international level.