The Concept and Dynamics of Face: Implications for Organizational Behavior in Asia

Abstract

Research on cross-cultural psychology, sociology, and anthropology suggests that the influence of face on social interactions is both pervasive and powerful in Asia. Face, however, has not gained general acceptance as an important theoretical concept in the literature on Asian organizational behavior and management. In this paper, we propose face as a key variable that can explain much of the complexity of social interactions in Asian organizations. We attempted to elaborate on the concept and dynamics of face in Asia in such a way as to capture its pervasive, significant but often subtle influences on organizational behavior. We also examined conditions, functions, and consequences of face dynamics to generate testable propositions for future research. We argue that scholars have to go beyond the individualistic assumptions about human behavior implicit in theories of organizational behavior in the West to better understand the richness of organizational behavior in Asia. In Asia, organizational behavior is better predicted by an individual's external attributes such as face than internal attributes such as desires, emotions, and cognition.