Influence Of National Context Research Articles

National culture and public service motivation: investigating the relationship using Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions

Much research has focused on finding and explaining the antecedents, correlates, and outcomes of public service motivation (PSM), but little is known about the influence of national context on individuals’ PSM. Previous research suggests that national culture may exert an independent influence on individuals’ PSM. This article examines PSM as an individual-level variable that is related to national culture, which is represented by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme (2005), I investigate the relationship between cultural dimensions and individuals’ PSM. This article demonstrates that masculinity and indulgence are positively related to individuals’ PSM, whereas individualism is negatively associated with individuals’ PSM. However, power distance and uncertainty avoidance have a non-significant relationship with PSM. This article provides partial support for the thesis that national culture is associated with individuals’ PSM, but future research is required to explicate the relationship of cultural characteristics to individuals’ PSM. Points for practitioners Culture influences certain types of behavior both directly and indirectly. The article suggests that cultural tendencies such as masculinity, indulgence, and collectivism have a significant positive influence on individuals’ PSM. Organizational education and socialization enhancing these cultural values are likely to foster employees’ PSM.

Constraining Is Enabling? Exploring the Influence of National Context on Civil Society Strength

This article analyses the influence of national context on civil society strength based on four key dimensions: level of democracy, political stability, rule of law and economic development. Whereas existing studies mainly focus on Western and post-communist countries, we explicitly include developing countries in our analysis. We use associational membership as proxy for civil society strength and include data of 53 countries. Rule of law, economic development and (to a lesser extent) political stability emerge from our multilevel regression models as the main factors affecting civil society membership. Unlike previous studies, we show that these relations are quadratic instead of linear. This means that where existing theories predict a drop in memberships in developing countries, we find a rise. In other words, harsh conditions actually strengthen civil society in terms of membership levels. We argue that this could be the case because reasons for CSO membership are essentially different in the developed and in the developing world. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, democratic rights do not appear critically important for civil society membership.

Contexts and Determinants of the Management of Occupational Safety and Health in European Workplaces

The focus of this special issue of Policy and Practice is on the influence of national contexts on the practice and effectiveness of occupational safety and health management. This paper adds to the discussion, presented in previous papers in this issue, of contextual determinants at the national level by taking a comparative Europe-wide focus. Using a recent study as its basis, the paper considers the development and implementation of process-oriented occupational safety and health regulation against its political, economic and labour relations backdrops in different EU member states. In particular, it draws out the significance of change (and its pace) in all of these areas as a determinant of occupational safety and health management and practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role of the European Union as a key determinant, highlighting the tensions between its regulatory, political and economic policies and approaches in the rapidly changing world of work.

Configurations de capacités stratégiques et performance des PME : une étude exploratoire de l'influence de l'environnement national

Configurations de capacites strategiques et performance des PME : une etude exploratoire de l'influence de l'environnement national Resume L'etude de la performance des PME est un sujet de recherche complexe si l'on admet que ces entreprises ne forment pas un tout homogene, qu'elles constituent souvent le prolongement de leur proprietaire-dirigeant et qu'elles operent dans des environnements culturel et institutionnel particuliers qui sont ceux de leur pays d'origine. Ajoutons a ceci que les contraintes imposees par l'environnement national peuvent aussi etre un facteur determinant de leur performance dans la mesure ou s'y trouvent notamment les ressources, les barrieres, les differentes legislations. Quelles capacites strategiques developpent les PME pour favoriser leur performance dans des environnements nationaux differents ? Quel est le poids de cet environnement sur leurs choix organisationnels? Nous explorerons ces questions par l'etude de trois groupes de PME localisees dans des environnements nationaux differents que sont le Canada, la France et le Mexique. En partant du fait que le Canada offre un environnement relativement liberal pour l'entreprise privee; la France est reconnue pour ses politiques sociales importantes imposant plusieurs contraintes aux entreprises notamment pour se conformer aux exigences de l'Union europeenne; alors que le Mexique est un pays en developpement ou les politiques sont moins developpees pour soutenir la croissance des PME, nous etudierons les modes de fonctionnement de PME operant dans ces trois environnements pour voir si ils se distinguent et, le cas echeant, quel est l'impact sur la performance. Mots-cles : PME, internationalisation, strategie.

Ne'er the twain shall meet?: modernizing the teaching profession in Scotland and England

This paper considers two examples of recent policies affecting teachers' work, Performance Threshold Assessment in England and Chartered Teacher status in Scotland. Through tracing their origins and motivations, a comparative analysis is offered, which seeks to explore the extent of the influence of national contexts on developments in the restructuring process. Both policies purport to meet the professional needs of teachers who are a few years into their careers, yet the Scottish example is strongly oriented towards professional development, while the English example is oriented towards performativity and teacher assessment.