The Construction of Kekeluargaan as an Indonesia’s Organizational Culture

Marko S Hermawan (International Business Program, BINUS Business School, Indonesia Jl. Hang Lekir I no.6 Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia | 10270 Office: 62 720 2222 | Fax: [phone] |)
Mark K Loo (Mihalcheon School of Management, Faculty of Management, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada Address: 7128 Ada Blvd NW, Edmonton, AB T5B 4E4, Canada Direct: [phone] Toll-Free: [phone])

Humaniora
Vol 31, No 1 (2019)

Indonesia has the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the seventh largest GDP in the world, yet little is known about Indonesia’s organizational culture. This paper develops a deep understanding of kekeluargaan (kinship), which derives from an anthropological and sociological epistemologies. The paper explores Javanese culture as the foundation of Indonesia’s business context. A qualitative and indigenous approach was designed to determine if the kekeluargaan norm exists in the Indonesian workplace today. Document analysis and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The findings show that the kekeluargaan norm acts as the foundation of Indonesia’s organisational culture; with, hormat (respect) and rukun (harmony). Three proposition are given to consider the importance of understanding kekeluargaan as a salient Indonesian organizational culture. The paper concludes managerial and theoretical implications to Indonesian business context.