Who's helping whom? Layers of culture and workplace behavior

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes an in‐depth, qualitative exploration of helping behavior among software engineers doing the same type of work in the U.S. and India. Consistent with research describing American culture as more individualist and Indian culture as more collectivist, we find that engineers at the American site provide help only to those from whom they expect to need help in the future, whereas engineers at the Indian site are more willing to help whoever needs help. However, we further find that the differences are not due to the influence of individualistic or collectivist norms per se but rather to the ways in which helping is framed in the two contexts. At the American site, the act of helping is framed as an unwanted interruption. In contrast, helping at the Indian site is framed as a desirable opportunity for skill development. These different framings reflect the combined influence of national, occupational, and organizational layers of culture in the two settings. In each case, we find that engineers help others when doing so is framed in such a way as to be perceived as helpful in achieving their career goals. Our findings have important implications for better understanding helping behavior itself and also the mechanisms through which culture influences work behavior. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.