A comparison between Australian and Indonesian Cultures

Compare about the differences and the similarities of Australian cultures with Indonesian cultures in
dealing with daily activities in the family, society and business matters.

We found that Australian and Indonesian cultures are different in terms of individualism versus
collectivism and power distance (Based on Hofstede's research). Therefore, we will give you
suggestions on how to interact with Australian and Indonesian cultures to minimise
miscommunication and misunderstanding among individuals.

Based on Hofstedes research (Harris et.al., 2003, pp. 21-23), the country cultures of Indonesia are
high power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and masculinity. Meanwhile, the
country cultures of Australia are low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, high individualism,
and masculinity.

Based on Hofstedes research, the highest Hofstede score for Australia is Individualism at 90
compared to the lowest Hofstede score for Indonesias Individualism at 14. An individualistic culture
indicates that people are more direct verbal in communication and people are logic to point out their
argument in confrontation (Reisinger, 1997). Australian people, for example, do not irritate to say the
word no if they disagree with someone and make negative request using verbal communication
directly when the situation discomforts them.

Meanwhile, a very low individualism score for Indonesia reflects that Indonesian country is a
collectivism society. Collectivism means societies tend to sustain harmony and face-saving through
strong personal relationship and support from third party (Chien, 2006, p234). In addition, people in

collectivist culture are more likely to avoid conflict and these people are less insulting than
people from individualistic culture (Cai & Fink, 2002). The demonstration of the collectivism is also
shown in a strong long term commitment and responsibility for not only immediate family, but also
extended family (International Business Center, 2003). Moreover, Reisinger (1997) explained that
Indonesian people tend to avoid conflict by using indirect non-verbal communication and tend not to
make people ashamed.

The lowest Hofstede score for Australia is power distance at 36 compared to the highest
Hofstede score for Indonesias Power Distance at 78. It is also interesting to note that according to
International Business Center (2003), Indonesias power distance index is 78, greater than the
average Asian countries power distance at 71. In a low power distance culture, Australian people
expect to lessen the imbalanced authorities in decision making within organisations and utilise
consultancy to reduce that authorities (Reisinger, 1997). Australians, for example, tend not to
prioritize the other people based on their age, position and gender. Australians do not usually call
people or their managers by their formal titles.

In contrast, the high power distance culture in Indonesia indicates the high degree in which less

powerful individuals accept the distribution of imbalanced authority in organizations or societies

(Hofstede, 2001 cited by Chan et.al., 2003). Furthermore, Reisinger (1997) stated that a manager is
authoritative in making decision in organisations and their subordinates respect them. Employees are
more likely to call their superiors by their formal title, such as professor, doctor, or special term
bapak, ibu which are translated sir or madam respectively to address people when they are not
sure with their titles or older than themselves.
The other cultures are uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. Uncertainty avoidance is Indonesias
second highest score which is 48, whereas Australias second highest score is masculinity which is 61.
Even though Indonesia has the second highest score in uncertainty avoidance index, it is still a low
score compared to a world average of 64 and Asian countries average of 58 (International Business
Center, 2003). Low uncertainty avoidance for Indonesia reflects that communities are less aware of
threat caused by uncertain condition and thus is less likely to avoid that condition.

In conclusion, in Australian cultures, it is acceptable to disagree with someone using logic argument
and do not have to resist with uncomfortable situation if you do not like it. In Indonesian cultures,
however, it is important to call people by their formal titles or the term bapak for sir and ibu for
madam to interact with Indonesian people.
 Eating Food in the United States and Indonesia
by Mora Siregar

Read other essays by Mora Siregar

Food is very important for human to survive in life. Each country in the world has a
specific food which different from other countries. Even though there are some
similarities between traditional food, they also have a lot of differences. Indonesia and
the U.S. have their own specific food. It is good to know both the similarities and the
differences of food between U.S. and Indonesia refer to keep a good relationship.

First of all, both Indonesia and United States people usually change their menu for each
mealtime. For example, they always change the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
In other words, they didnt eat same menu for lunch and dinner.

In addition, both Indonesians and Americans take just a short time to prepare their
breakfast. It is because the people rush in doing their routine activities every day. On
the other hand, it usually takes a longer time to prepare lunch and dinner than
breakfast.

Second, both Americans and Indonesians consume fresh food every day. For instance,
they eat fruits, vegetables, and fresh meat. Not only the Americans always eat snacks as
additional food, but Indonesians also have this custom. They eat it in their spare time. It
usually happens late in the afternoon. However, probably kind of snack could be
different.

Despite these similarities, eating food in Indonesia and United States has some
differences. For example, Indonesian people eat the same food every day for lunch and
dinner. That is rice. Rice is a main food for Indonesian folk. Even so, they eat it with
other foods, like meat and vegetables. On the other hand, American people eat a variety
of foods each day. In particular, they eat pizza, sandwiches, pasta or noodles, and
sometimes meat for dining.

Another difference is how people prepare the food for lunch and dinner. In the United
States, people take a longer time to prepare dinner than lunch. They cook the food
approximately one and half-hours before eating. On the other hand, in Indonesia, people
take a longer time to prepare a lunch than a dinner. For dinner, they usually warm the
food that was cooked at noon instead of making more.

A final difference in eating food between the United States and Indonesia is the taste of
the food. In general, Americans prefer a sweet taste or a little bit salty in their food. In
contrast, most Indonesian people like a hot and spicy taste in their food. Also,
Indonesian would like to eat food that still warms instead of food that is not warm
anymore. Therefore they always warm their food before eating. On the other hand,
American people admit to eat food that isnt warm, like sandwiches.

Even though Indonesia and the United States had some differences in eating food, they
could eat one to anothers food. They would like to try food each other. Even sometimes
they invited to each other. Indonesians were supposed to decrease the spicy of their
food when they invited their American friends. In the same way, Americans could add a
bit of spicy to the food when they invited their Indonesian friends. Consequently, both
Indonesians and Americans can invite each other for dining with a pleasant food.