Satisfaction, tension and interpersonal relations: a cross‐cultural comparison of managers in Singapore and Australia

Reports the results of a study into differences in the levels of job satisfaction, job tension and stress, and interpersonal relations with superiors and peers, between managers in Singapore and Australia. The study draws on Hofstede′s concept and classification of national culture to predict that job satisfaction will be lower, job tension higher, and interpersonal relations poorer for managers in the high power distance, collectivist cultures of East Asian nations than for managers in the low power distance, individualist cultures of Anglo‐American nations. A study of 115 middle‐level managers in Singapore and 96 in Australia corroborates these differences. Discusses how different approaches to managing budgetary planning and control processes may improve these personal and interpersonal work‐related conditions.