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Cultural Values and Communication Online

Chinese and Southeast Asian Students in a Taiwan International MBA Class

National Changhua University of Education, cwarden{at}libra.seed.net.tw

Judy F. Chen

The Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology

D’Arcy Caskey

National Cheng Kung University IMBA

Whereas many researchers have examined differences in values and behavior between Westerners and Asians, fewer have investigated differences within Asian cultural groups. A recent government initiative in Taiwan to encourage international education has led to the development of an international MBA program at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan; both Chinese and Southeast Asian students participate in the program. They exhibit different behaviors in their classes, particularly in their postings in online discussion boards. For reasons that can be partly explained by the students’ responses on a Chinese-Value Survey, Chinese students tend to post fewer messages than Southeast Asians, and both groups post fewer messages than Westerners in the classes under study. Instructors in multicultural classes have to consider such differences when they design assignments and set expectations for students in online discussions.

Key Words: Chinese values • cultural differences in online behavior • differences in Chinese and Southeast Asian MBA students

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