Western Conceptualizations 19
Ralston et al.’s (1992) study there was a minor alteration for the Confucian work
dynamism factor, the value item, patriotism, originally loaded on the Integration and
Human-heartedness factors, was included in the Confucian work dynamism factor. With
these serious alterations of its content, the Confucian work dynamism factor became a
misconception. The arguments, hypotheses, and conclusions built on this misconception
may be seriously flawed and invalid.
Collectivism
Another important conceptualization of Chinese culture by Western scholars
when studying Chinese organizations was the individualism-collectivism construct. The
concepts of individualism and collectivism have a long history. According to Wagner
(1995), distinction between individualism and collectivism could be traced far back to
Aristotle and Plato. In the late 1800s, Tonnies differentiated gesellschaft and
gemeinschaft, two concepts that were very close to individualism and collectivism, and
moreover, later social scientists such as Durkheim (1933) and Weber (1947, 1932)
attempted to distinguish individualism from collectivism. While there might be
considerable variation in the foci of these scholars’ elaborations on these two concepts, a
motif was perceivable that the Western civilization was individualistic or gesellschaft as
opposed to the rest of the world that were collectivistic or gemeinschaft. It could be easily
inferred from the expoundings of these Western scholars on this construct that the West
first became modernized because it was culturally individualistic and thereby
individualism could serve as an important criterion or indicator for modernization. Thus,
corresponding to the division of economically developed and developing countries, there
developed a dichotomy of individualism and collectivism. Furthermore, a premise of
Convention