and coordination can be expected to be different in Japan, which is a col lectivistic country, and the U.S., which is an individualistic society. While the uncertainty avoidance dimension might also have some effect on the amount of communication, it is the individualism-collectivism dimension that will have a more direct impact on the nature of the communication and coordination efforts than the uncertainty avoidance dimension, for the reason stated below.
Following Hofstede [1980], in an individualistic society, each individual manager is likely to look out for his/her own self-interest and try to maximize the gains from any opportunity that might present itself. For this reason, the manager's budget plans and goals may not necessarily be in synchronization with those of the organization's overall plans and goals. Under these circum stances, organizations would perceive a high need to resort to extensive communication and coordination mechanisms in order to achieve the organi zation's goals. Organizational members at the divisional level will form committees and make sure that the individual budgets are integrated into the divisional budgets.