Cross-cultural Management Research Research Articles

China's leading Internet guru Charles Zhang, chairman of SOHU.com Inc., on how the Internet has changed the world's most populous nation

The article presents an introduction, foreword, and speech from Charles Zhang, chairman of SOHU.com Inc. to the Academy of Management Executives on August 8, 2004. Zhang discusses the need for cross cultural understanding and mutual respect for cultural difference, SOHU.com's role in the development of the Internet in China, and the emergence of China as a global economic power. Dr. Charles Chao Yang Zhang is the founder of SOHU.com Inc. He has served in the positions of chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of the NASDAQ-listed company since its founding in 1996. His Chinese name, “Chao Yang,” means “sunrise.” SOHU.com Inc. is the first Chinese-language search engine in the world and a leading internet portal in China. At the end of 2002, China had overtaken Japan to become the second most wired nation in the world, after the United States. At present, there are over 100 million Internet users in China. This represents approximately ten per cent of that country's population. SOHU ...

September 11, 2001

This article investigates whether the September 11 attack had an impact on cultural values and the level of cosmopolitanism of US university students. Extending a model proposed by Esses, Dovidio and Hodson, we hypothesize a positive effect on the cultural dimensions of collectivism and hierarchy/power distance and a negative effect on cosmopolitanism. Our results - drawn from two separate quasi-experimental studies - support the two latter hypotheses. In addition, supplementary analyses showed that, after the September 11 attack, students exhibited a tendency to trade-in variety, adventure and challenge for security and stability in their ideal job after graduation. Implications for management and for cross cultural management research are discussed.

National Cultures, Information Search Behaviors and the Attribution Process of Cross-National Managers: A Conceptual Framework

Cross-cultural management researchers have observed that when presented with similar ethical dilemmas and problems, managers raised in different cultural environments exhibit divergence in their perceptions, interpretations, and eventual solutions. Why does this happen? Our framework attempts to integrate theoretical concepts from the international management and organizational behavior literature to explain variances in managerial information search patterns and attribution processing arising due to national cultural differences. Based on the work of Trompenaars, Hampden-Turner, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, we propose that managers belong to one of two types of national cultures. The first emphasizes Universalism, Specificity, and Dominance over nature (USD) while the second assigns importance to Particularism, Diffuseness, and Subjugation (PDS). When faced with a situation/dilemma, which may have an ethical component, USD and PDS managers differ when it comes to: ○ The weighting, importance and amount of emphasis placed on the three types of information (Consistency, Consensus, and Distinctiveness) used to make attributions. ○ A tendency to focus heavily on those information types, or alternately, to search for external environmental factors. ○ Thus, the above process guides the manager's attribution process to assign causality of an event to either the primary actor(s) involved OR to factors in the external environment. Managers in different cultures may examine a situation, and through the attribution process, arrive at completely different conclusions regarding whether an action is unethical, or whether ethics even have a role. Our framework will enable managers to understand the impact of cultural differences in dealing with ethical situations involving multiple cultures.

Cultural Dimensions at the Individual Level of Analysis

This article describes a theoretically-grounded framework of cultural dimensions conceptualized and operationalized at the individual level of analysis, based on the work of anthropologists Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck. We present empirical data gathered from five countries - Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United States - to assess the validity of the framework. We then use the results to explore how the cultural orientations framework can add insight and new perspectives to critical questions in cross cultural management research.

Strategic HRM through the Cultural Looking Glass: Mapping the Cognition of British and Indian Managers

This study examines the issues of `integration' of human resource management (HRM) into the corporate strategy, `devolvement' of HRM to line managers and the perceived influence of national culture on HRM in a cross-national comparative context. In order to achieve this, the cognition of personnel specialists from a matched sample of 48 Indian and British firms in the manufacturing sector using the `Visual Cards Sorting' and `CMAP2' methodologies are analyzed. The findings show that even where there is an apparent convergence of strategy — e.g., the desire of both Indian and British personnel managers to increase integration between HRM and business strategy, and to increase the level of devolvement to line managers, the two sets of specialists clearly follow a different logic of action, which is subject to a different set of cross-cultural influences. The implications of pursuing apparently similar HRM solutions in different cross-national contexts are considered. The analysis shows that HRM strategies, when considered in a cross-national context, vary a lot. Different logic leads to the adoption of similar HR strategies, and similar strategies in turn are perceived as producing different outcomes. This variance centres around the existence and perceived influence of several contextual variables such as industrial relations systems, operation of labour markets, and changes in business systems. Specific cross-cultural influences, along with different aspects of competitive business environment associated with the generic HR strategies of integration and devolvement in the two countries are highlighted. This research contributes to the fields of cross-cultural management research, international HRM and managerial and organizational cognition. It also has important messages for policy makers.

The Cultural Shadows of Cross Cultural Research: Images of Culture

This paper argues that cross-cultural management research is dominated by a restricted structural-functionalist orthodoxy, which is a consequence of Western culture. Such research is trapped by favoured ways of thinking, metaphorically shackled within 'Plato's cave' to the wall of a realist rationalism by the webs of its own imagination. Plato's cave and other metaphors are employed to explore the limits of cross-cultural research with particular reference to understanding Chinese culture and management and to examine possible routes to a less restrictive and more pluralistic direction for future study. In particular, the dialectical change conception is identified as promising in furthering understanding of Chinese culture and management because of its consonance with Taoist philosophy. This enables exposing contradiction and paradox as legitimate in examining culture and promotes a metaphorical 'binocular' vision aimed at transcending the current monocled myopia pervasive and dominant in objectivist studies of culture and management.

Do We See Eye-to-Eye? Implications of Cultural Differences for Cross-Cultural Management Research and Practice

Although observation is a common research technique, little attention has been given to the effects of culture on observer judgment making. These researchers argue that consideration of cultural differences is critical when applying observation techniques in cross-cultural research as well as in the applied contexts of performance appraisal and international management. A laboratory study was conducted to examine the potential for discrepancies in observer judgment making among Asian American and Caucasian American subjects. The results of this study affirm the importance of cultural influences in research and management.

Why Globalizing with a Conservative Corporate Culture Inhibits Localization of Management

This contribution focuses on the challenges facing the Matsushita corporation of Japan, one of the world's largest companies and one with a 70-year commitment to serving society, as it attempts to reconcile its very conservative business philosophy and accompanying discourse with one particular demand of globalization highlighted in this contribution: the entrusting of power to local managers. Attention is paid to the evolution of the Matsushita corporation and the legacy of its influential founder, Konosuke Matsushita (1894-1989), whose business philosophy, developed in the early 1930s, is still the foundation of the company's decision-making processes. Based on a worldwide empirical study it is shown that the ethnocentricity and the very discourse of globalization of the Matsushita Corporation works against localization. Despite the unusual features associated with the Matsushita Corporation, its Japanocentric outlook and practices suggest productive new directions for cross cultural management research.

Cross-cultural value sets of Asian managers: The comparative cases of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore

An important debate in the field of cross-cultural management research has been the universality of managerial values. One view is that exposure to a capitalistic system, technology and industrialization will shape a common set of managerial values, while another is that underlying values and beliefs, which are moulded by cultural-social factors, will ensure the development of diverse expectations and work attitudes. In this paper are reported values indigenous to Chinese culture of 444 managers who were employed in Hong Kong, Malaysian and Singaporean organizations. The findings demonstrate that within a business ideology, which was influenced by political intervention, unique sets of managerial values were espoused. Implications for human resources management practices in the aftermath of the Asian financial meltdown are discussed.

Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural Management Research: Problems, Solutions, and Proposals

The research field of cross-cultural management suffers from an absence of theory capable of explaining the role of culture in organizational behavior. Methodological issues that are at least partly responsible for the above shortcoming are explored in this paper. The central argument is that, despite efforts to resolve these issues, many methodological problems continue to resist the remedies prescribed by researchers. This paper seeks to evaluate the reasons for this, and based on these evaluations, proposes some suggestions for future research.

International and Cross-cultural Management Research

Introduction The Role of Language and Intellectual Styles in Cross-Cultural Comparisons Design and Implementation of Cross-Cultural Research in Management Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural Management Research Strategies for Improving the Relevance of Cross-Cultural Research in Management

Cross-Cultural Collaborative Research: Toward Reflexivity

We examine the methodological and philosophical implications of cross-cultural management research, comparing a field study conducted collaboratively in the United Kingdom and China with Teagarden and colleagues' survey-based international study. Our findings confirm those authors' calls for flexibility in cross-cultural research and for careful management of research team relationships but also highlight the significant effects that power differences and contrasting views about research can have on the conduct of cross-cultural research. Further, we identified reflexivity as a valuable component of cross-cultural management research, especially when there is a need to combine insider and outsider perspectives.

Book review: Global disasters: Inquiries into management ethics, by Allinson, Robert E., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994, $34.95 (cloth).

Managerial and Decision EconomicsVolume 17, Issue 6 p. 599-600 Book Review Book review: Global disasters: Inquiries into management ethics, by Allinson, Robert E., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994, $34.95 (cloth). Terence Jackson, Terence Jackson Centre for Cross Cultural Management Research EAP European School of Management 12 Merton Street Oxford OX1 4JHSearch for more papers by this author Terence Jackson, Terence Jackson Centre for Cross Cultural Management Research EAP European School of Management 12 Merton Street Oxford OX1 4JHSearch for more papers by this author First published: November 1996 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1468(199611)17:6<599::AID-MDE781>3.0.CO;2-TAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume17, Issue6November 1996Pages 599-600 RelatedInformation

A methodological note on cross-cultural accounting ethics research

Predicting international differences in ethical behavior is important for multinational accounting firms. This note reports an empirical test of the usefulness of Hofstede's five dimensions of culture to predict cross-cultural differences in ethical sensitivity. A small-sample survey of academic experts in cross-cultural management research in accounting and other business disciplines demonstrated that Power Distance and Confucian Dynamism were expected to be consistently related to ethical judgment in a series of eight accounting-related ethical vignettes, while Individualism showed strong effects, its direction depended on the nature of the ethical dilemma described in the vignette. Over all of the experts, there was statistically significant consensus. Implications of the findings for the research design of cross-cultural accounting ethics studies is also discussed.

Language effects in cross-cultural management research: An empirical investigation

This study investigates the extent to which language has effects on the responses of bilingual Arabian Gulf students and Arabian Gulf middle managers to questionnaire items in Arabic (their native language) and English (their second language). Findings relating to subjects showed a significant difference in responding to the Arabic and also English versions of the treatment instrument which supports a cultural contingency approach. That is, different levels of English language acquisition resulted in different findings.

Language Effects in Cross-Cultural Management Research: An Empirical Study and a Word of Caution.

This paper reports an empirical examination of the influence of language on the responses of bilingual Hong Kong Chinese to questionnaire items posed in Chinese (their first language) and English (...

Cross-Cultural Management Research: Trend and Future Directions

U The historical perspectives on cross-cultural studies outlined in the following HISTORICAL pages are based on Negandhi [1975] and England, Negandhi, and Wilpert [1979]. PERSPECTIVE The emerging field of cross-cultural studies on organizational functioning is largely a result of partial integration between the cross-cultural comparative management field and organization theory areas. Although some cross-cultural organization studies were conducted prior to the 1950s, the large-scale projects on industrialization of developing countries at 4 major universities (MIT, Chicago, California, and Princeton) during the 1950s provided a major impetus to the comparative management area. Scholars from various social disciplines-psychology, sociology, social and cultural anthropology, economics, and political sciences-contributed toward these efforts. The differing backgrounds of these scholars are reflected in their conceptualizations and methodologies as well as in their specific findings [Harbison and Myers 1959]. The conceptual and methodological approaches used by the comparative management theorists can be divided roughly into the following groups: the economic development orientation; the environmental approach; and the behavioral approach.

Cross-Cultural Management Research: The Ostrich and the Trend

Cross-Cultural Management Research: The Ostrich and the Trend

Cross-Cultural Management Research: The Ostrich and the Trend.

The trends in cross-cultural management papers published in 24 journals during the last decade, 1971 to 1980, are examined. Less than 5 percent of organizational behavior articles published in top American management journals focused on cross-cultural issues. The majority of the cross-cultural articles were single culture studies; less than 1 percent investigated the interaction between employees of different cultures. No increase was seen in the number of international organizational behavior articles over the decade.

COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT AND AN OPEN SYSTEM THEORY.

The article reports on the field of cross-cultural management. The author focuses on the development of a strategy that can be employed to direct cross-cultural management research. Strategies that have been used to perform research in the past are evaluated. It is suggested that the motivation behind cross-cultural management research is to track developments in industrial management related to the industrialization of developing nations. The environmental approach to cross-cultural management is linked to economic development, socio-economic factors, and political factors. The behavioral approach to cross-cultural management studies individual and organizational behavior in various cultures. The impact of technological innovations and legal developments on management is also discussed.