Is there an Indonesian management style?

29th March 1997

Admittedly a small sample, but possibly worth sharing this information as a discussion starter.

As part of the seminar on Team Building held in Jakarta recently, and discussion at other meetings and Master of International Management sessions, participants were asked if they thought there was a unique Indonesian management style and if so, what it was.

The results were intriguing, and instructive, as there is a great debate going on at present on whether management skills and techniques are transportable and whether indeed, the critical competencies are global and universal or unique to the culture in which they are applied.

Of course the answer is that it is somewhere in the middle. Many skills and techniques are universal, spread even faster now by the advent of IT and fast electronic communication. However, it seems that no matter how pervasive the borrowing, indigenous cultural factors will always be key. For culture has a firm basis of centuries of development, while management techniques (both fads and more substantive approaches) have a history of 6 months to a few decades at best.

According to this group of middle to senior Indonesian managers, many of whom have had international experience, Indonesian management culture values Relationships, Family Security, Reputation, Co-operation, Group Harmony, and Spirituality. A lower value is placed on Risk Taking, Self-Reliance, Openness, and Group Achievement.

A comparison of four management cultures follow:

Indonesia	Japan	Taiwan	US
Relationships Family Security Reputation Co-operation Group Harmony Spirituality	Relationships Group Harmony Freedom Co-operation	Competition Reputation Family Security Seniority Authority Material Possessions	Equality Freedom Openness Self-Reliance Co-operation

Interesting also to note was the comment that many equatorial countries put less emphasis on planning as there are few seasons unlike other geographical areas. Unlike many Western countries where traditionally food was stored in summer for consumption in winter, here the abundance of natural food resources means planning, for many years ,was not as important as the "here and now". An observation echoed in Bangkok by Kriengsak's Thailand Tales and also the special efforts that countries like Malaysia and Thailand put in place to encourage savings. The recent history of natural disasters, coups, wars, and disease in these countries also mean that the best laid plans were often waylaid by factors not under individual control.

Things have changed enormously in just a few decades in many ASEAN countries. No longer is security and safety the ONLY motivator, and calamitous political and social events are much rarer. ....But culture dies hard!

Thanks to Mardono, Nurtopo, Sri Hartono, Tulus Budi, and Tandjung for the tabulated data summary