The importance of national culture in operations management research

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test the validity of national culture as an explanatory construct for international operations management decision‐making.Design/methodology/approachNational culture is multi‐dimensional thereby allowing for much finer grained comparisons than are possible when examining differences based purely on geography or the level of industrialization. This proposition is examined from the theoretical standpoint then empirically investigated using an existing database.FindingsThis article finds that national culture significantly explains international operations management behaviors among similar manufacturing plants in the same industry located in different cultures.Originality/valueThis study represents a first attempt at using national culture to explain differences of operations decision‐making.