Where Is Culture in Cross Cultural Research?

Abstract

Culture is often seen as a shared meaning system. This definition has important implications for cross cultural management research. This article outlines a multilevel research process model that identifies a number of crucial steps to be aware of, if culture is being treated as a shared construct. The model integrates recent advances on composition models in organizational research and equivalence and multilevel frameworks in cross cultural psychology research. The proposed model is discussed in relation to two principal areas of cross cultural management work: (a) the identification of cultural constructs at the country level and (b) individual-level studies aiming to unpackage cultural differences in attitudes and behaviour. Implications for management research and practice across cultures are discussed.