Dimensions Of National Culture Research Articles

EMPERYALİZMİN YENİ AKTÖRÜ: ÇİN VE ÇİN’İN AFRİKA ÜLKELERİYLE OLAN İLİŞKİLERİ

Throughout the last four centuries, some countries with advanced military power and expansionist ambitions have been increasing their influence over other states and regions in order to exploit the resources available in these geographies to strengthen their own nation or empire. The division between imperialist states and exploited ones has become more visible and the gap has been becoming wider. Africa has been suffering from the attacks and invasions of numerous European states. Countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands have been attracted by rich natural reserves in the continent and they were advantageous in terms of relative military strength. China, however, adopted a different strategy, partially linked to its national identity and cultural dimensions. This article will introduce different lenses to the readers by combining the Western and Chinese points of view, and will try to picture the extent of China’s imperialist ambitions within the continent.

Cultural Determinants of Social Media Use in World Markets

Abstract Research background: Ongoing globalization has led companies to operate on foreign markets and in consequence to recognize very different conditions especially in terms of sociocultural factors. The literature review identifies the behavioral patterns in social media (SM) usage determined by national cultures. Purpose: The article presents the relationship between six dimensions of national culture defined by Hofstede and the use of SM in world markets. Research mmethodology: To determine how national culture influences the frequency of use of SM, a study of secondary data was carried out. The percentage of SM users from the Global Digital Yearbook 2019 was used as a dependent variable. The statistical analysis links cultural dimensions with SM use in 44 countries. Results: The study employed polynomial regression, which revealed a significant correlation between long-term orientation, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and the percentage of SM users. However, the research discovered no influence of masculinity, leniency, and power distance. The estimated models also show the income’s strong moderating effect on the analyzed relationship. Novelty: In this study a deeper analysis of the relationship between the dimensions of national cultures and the use of SM was made than in previous studies. It was also shown that it is necessary to introduce moderating factors, which may significantly affect the relationship between the use of SM and some dimensions of culture.

Learning, development and change in a community-based enterprise in Myanmar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the process of large-scale organizational change in a community-based enterprise in Myanmar. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study methodology was selected to understand the phenomenon of change in a community-based enterprise in Myanmar. Data were collected over a four-week period of fieldwork through individual interviews, focus groups, observations and document collection. Data were analyzed via a modified inductive analytic strategy using constant comparative analysis. Findings Findings revealed the processes used in this large-scale organizational change as impacted by the national cultural dimensions of Myanmar and the social learning experienced by the participants. Learning about organization development and change and sharing that learning in the organization by its members who participated in a certificate program in organizational development designed by Payap University (Thailand) and the International Rescue Committee had a major role in the change processes. Myanmar’s high power distance and collectivist culture facilitated social learning by highlighting authority figures as role models and providing high interaction environments conducive to learning. Originality/value This study illuminates the change process in a community-based organization in the emerging economy of Myanmar where no roadmaps for change in these types of organizations exist. The findings of this study are transferrable to community-based organizations in emerging economies with similar national cultural characteristics and call for future case studies to understand the complexities of change in these unique organizations and environments.

A test of Hofstede's model of culture following his own approach

PurposeRecent studies exposed serious issues with Hofstede's popular model of culture, especially his uncertainty avoidance (UA) and masculinity-femininity (MAS–FEM) dimensions. However those studies did not focus on work-related issues as in Hofstede’s research.Design/methodology/approachWe followed Hofstede’s approach to his dimensions more closely than anyone before in a large cross-cultural study. We used data from the nationally representative International Social Survey Program (over 50,000 respondents from 47 countries), measuring work goals and work-related stress in a way similar to Hofstede's.FindingsUA and MAS–FEM, as measured and described by Hofstede, did not replicate. They lack internal consistency and the items that target them are not associated with Hofstede's UA and MAS–FEM indices. Instead, some of those items follow a very different and sound logic, invalidating Hofstede's UA and MAS–FEM theories. Our study provides additional evidence that UA and MAS–FEM are misleading artifacts of Hofstede's IBM database, with no analogues outside IBM. An improved, recently reported version of individualism-collectivism (IDV-COLL) replicated nearly perfectly, solidifying the validity of that dimension of national culture. A revised version of long-term orientation, called flexibility–monumentalism (FLX–MON) also replicated well.Research limitations/implicationsWe discuss lessons for the cross-cultural field, including cross-cultural management, as well as policy-making by national governments, to be drawn from the controversial story of Hofstede's model. We advise a stronger focus on empirical confirmation and replication rather than excessive faith in fascinating, yet unproven theory.Practical implicationsTo avoid further confusion, we advise researchers, consultants and managers to reconsider the use of Hofstede's UA and MAS–FEM and focus on the valid dimensions in the revised Minkov-Hofstede model.Social implicationsA number of national governments recently launched large-scale studies of their national cultures, based on Hofstede's model. The goal of those studies was to involve culture in the design of social and economic development policies. Studies of this kind should be founded on empirically sound models or else they can result in the formulation of flawed policies.Originality/valueThis is the first study of large samples from many nations showing that even when Hofstede's method is followed closely by focusing on work-related issues, UA and MAS–FEM do not emerge from the data, and this is not because of data deficiencies but because the logic of UA and MAS–FEM is demonstrably flawed. Our study also demonstrates new methods for the replication of IDV-COLL and FLX–MON, though without claiming that they are superior to existing ones.

Associations between travel and tourism competitiveness and culture

In recent years, countries have been competing with each other to attract tourists due to of the unprecedented growth in new tourism destinations. Consequently, these countries have been taking several initiatives to improve the competitiveness of their destinations in comparison to those of other countries. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for destinations to become the most popular and preferred choice among tourists. Previous literature has highlighted the need for examining the association between the culture of a particular destination and their competitiveness with respect to tourism. Little is known, however, about these associations at the present time. This study offers a cultural explanation of the travel and tourism competitiveness (TTC) of a country by investigating the relationship between destination competitiveness, as measured by TTC, and national culture. The study investigates these relationships by analysing data from 73 countries. Multiple regression was used to examine the relationships, and cluster analysis to segment the countries. The findings indicate that individualism, long-term orientation, and indulgence dimensions of national culture were significant in influencing the TTC of a country, whereas power distance and masculinity were insignificant. This study emphasises the importance of developing culturally congruent policies to improve destination competitiveness.

Country differences in the relationship between leadership and employee engagement: A meta-analysis

Leadership is frequently related to important organizational outcomes such as follower engagement. However, to date we have little insight into the degree to which this relation is contingent upon (a) types of leadership style and (b) national culture. These two issues are addressed in a meta-analysis of 209 independent (257 effect sizes), mainly cross-sectional studies (79%), involving 82,386 participants from 45 countries. The findings show that whereas abusive supervision was negatively associated with work engagement, several leadership styles (e.g., servant, empowering, ethical, and charismatic leadership) have positive correlations with subordinate engagement; some dimensions of national culture (e.g., gender egalitarianism, human orientation, performance orientation, future orientation, and power distance) moderate the leadership–employee engagement relationship. However, the correlations between servant, ethical, and transactional leadership and subordinate engagement are less likely to vary across national cultural characteristics. Notwithstanding the proliferation of leadership–employee engagement literature with more than 200 published articles, a strong reliance on cross-sectional designs have impeded it to gain any solid conclusions about causality due to endogeneity biases. We conclude by providing a detailed future research agenda and discussing how our results can stimulate future leadership research and inform practices with regards to leader development.

The association between national culture, road safety performance and support for policy measures

There are considerable differences between countries when it comes to road safety performance, as indicated by the number of road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants. These discrepancies are strongly associated with differences in wealth and prosperity, as expected, but are also related to national culture. The overall objective of this exploratory study is to identify relationships between national culture, road safety performance and public support for policy measures. Using the revised version of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, we show the strong correlation between national culture and road safety performance, which exists even after controlling for the national level of wealth as measured by the gross national income. Furthermore, by combining the national cultural dimensions with data on 29 countries from the second stage of ESRA, the E-Survey of Road users' Attitudes, this study demonstrates that culture also affects the level of public support for policy measures related to road safety. Specifically, for many measures, the degree of individualism accounts for a considerable part of the statistical variation in the public support for policy measures across countries—except for those measures for which the support is very high in most countries. Possible explanations are given for the seemingly paradoxical finding that countries which witness high resistance to road safety policy measures have nevertheless managed to achieve better road safety performance.

Cultural distance and cross-border diffusion of innovation: a literature review

PurposeThe objective of this study is to advance the understanding of the connection between cultural distance and the cross-border diffusion of innovations by conducting a systematic review and analysis of previous literature.Design/methodology/approachThis study involved a literature review. A total of 35 articles published in ABS journals were identified from key management, international business and marketing journals. The articles were analyzed by the methodologies and findings presented.FindingsThe literature review shows that the adoption and diffusion of innovation and new products are bound to be deeply influenced by cultural distance. Specifically, national cultures influence the willingness of consumers to buy new products at both the individual and organizational levels; organizational culture plays a key role in the process of launching new products and diffusing innovations to the market. However, existing studies and their findings are fragmented and inconsistent. Controversial views remain regarding the impact of national cultural dimensions on the diffusion of innovation at the individual and organizational levels.Originality/valueThis is the first systematic review of the literature specifically focusing on the impact of cultural distance on the cross-border diffusion of innovation. In identifying the research gaps and limitations of extant studies, the authors point to avenues for future research to develop a more integrated research agenda for marketing, management and international business research.

The Impact of National Culture Dimensions on the Adoption of Cross-Border E-Commerce

This study integrated the cultural dimensions such as power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation into the UTAUT to examine the comparative impact of cultural dimensions on the adoption of cross-border e-commerce between the Chinese and Russian citizens. The data analysis was conducted with SPSS and Smart PLS 3.0. The results indicate that power distance, collectivism, and long-term orientation respectively were significant predictors of performance expectancy and effort expectancy of cross-border e-commerce for both Chinese and Russian citizens. Uncertainty avoidance and masculinity were also found to determine the performance expectancy of cross-border e-commerce. However, while uncertainty avoidance and masculinity were significant determinants of the effort expectancy of cross-border e-commerce in the context of the Russia sample, it was not so for the Chinese sample. In addition, performance expectancy and social influence were positive predictors of the intention to use cross-border e-commerce for both Chinese and Russia samples.

The Interplay between National Cultural Dimensions and Components of a Performance Management System: A Qualitative Study from Pakistan

AbstractThis paper examines the interplay between national cultural dimensions and the design, enactment, and experience of a Western model of a performance management system (PMS) in a non‐Western setting. Data from four organizations in Pakistan indicate that domestic organizations are designing their PMSs in accordance with Western practices. Additionally, it reveals that during enactment and experience, the cultural values of low assertiveness, high in‐group collectivism, and high power distance interact, although to varying degrees, with continuous feedback, appraisal meetings, final ratings, outcomes, and objective setting. Thus, while convergence in design reflects the far‐reaching influence of globalization, divergence is attributable to cultural values which act as a deep‐rooted force during enactment.

Reclaiming the heterogeneity of the Arab states

PurposeThis paper addresses the clustering of several Arab states on Hofstede's national culture dimensions and its implications for international firms targeting the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. It is imperative to distinguish the region's various national cultures, in order to enable enhanced segmenting strategies. The authors argue that reexamining the Arab states' national cultures can provide interested firms with a better understanding of their differences and similarities, so as to appropriately adjust their products and services to better serve their consumers.Design/methodology/approachHofstede's Values Survey Module 2013 (VSM 13) questionnaire is employed. In total, 1400 surveys were disseminated to all the Arab states, 200 for each country.Findingsfind evidence that national cultural differences do exist for Arab states and discuss implications toward international firms expanding in the region.Originality/valueEmpirical contributions include the dissemination and translation of Hofstede's national culture survey, the VSM 13, on seven Arab states: Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Egypt. Second, the VSM 13 survey measured the Arab states on two more dimensions which had not been previously measured before the present study's investigation. Last, the theoretical contribution of the present study offers empirical evidence that the MENA region's national culture profiles differ on all dimensions, and as such its findings are seen as an extension and validation of Hofstede's national culture theory.

Determinants of Innovative Behaviour in the Hotel Industry: A cross-Cultural Study

Abstract The present study develops a conceptual framework that sheds light on whether institutional pressures (i.e., normative, mimetic, and coercive) and corporate support can improve innovative behavior across different societies and the moderating role of national cultural dimensions on this link. Our study validated these arguments empirically using data from the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Data were collected and analyzed from 2,618 respondents. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of full-time non-managerial employees selected, from different departments of various four- and five-star hotels across five economically and culturally different societies (UK, UAE, Germany, China, USA). Our results indicated that both institutional pressures and corporate support have positive influence on employees’ innovative behaviour. Furthermore, Hotels in cultures with high levels of individualism and low levels of uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity will indicate higher levels of innovative behaviour in response to corporate support programs. While, hotels in nations with high levels of power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity will indicate higher levels of innovative behaviour in response to normative, mimetic, and coercive pressure. These findings provide important implications for innovative behaviour by developing and validating a multilevel model empirically in the hospitality context.

The Role of ICT Laws and National Culture in Determining ICT Diffusion and Well-Being: A Cross-Country Examination

ICT-induced legal and regulatory challenges, including security and privacy risks, are on the rise. Despite that, there is a dearth of research emphasizing the role of ICT laws and understanding its effect on the level of ICT diffusion and the well-being of a country. Drawing on Dror’s law and social change framework, and grounding the discussion on the literature on ICT diffusion, the perspective of perceived risk, Hofstede’s typology of national culture, and the technological determinism theory, this study (1) explores the effect of maturity of ICT laws in a country on ICT diffusion among its citizens and businesses; (2) understands how this relationship is contingent on the national cultural dimensions; and (3) explicates the role of ICT diffusion in promoting the well-being. The research model is examined using publicly available data from 83 countries, and the findings suggest that sound ICT laws are necessary for achieving a greater diffusion of ICTs and improving well-being.

Human Resources Practices and Organizational Learning in High and Low In-Group Collectivist Cultures

This study investigated the effect of national culture on the relationships between human resource management practices and continuous improvement and learning within manufacturing organizations. Drawing on the insights from the social processes perspective of organizational learning and the in-group collectivism dimension of national culture (House, Hange, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004), we developed a theoretical model of relationships among human resource management practices, small group problem solving, and continuous improvement and learning. We tested our model using secondary survey data collected from a sample of 238 manufacturing plants operating across three industries and nine countries. Our results reveal that in low in-group collectivism cultures, human resource management practices affect continuous improvement and learning both directly and indirectly, mediated by the use of small group problem solving, while in high collectivism cultures, the effects of human resource management practices are completely mediated by small group problem solving.

WHICH DIMENSION OF THE HOFSTEDE CULTURAL VALUE AS THE MOST DETERMINING PREDICTOR TO THE DIFFERENCES IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

This study aimed to investigate which dimensions of national cultures of the Hofstede’s Cultural Values was the most predictors of differences in organizational behavior between countries. Hofstede’s cultural values are the framework for national cultural values that most researchers and managers refer to in organizational practice. The framework of Hofstede's national cultural values involves six dimensions include power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term-short-term orientation, and indulgent-restraint.
 A systematic literature review was used as a method in this study. The research results selected for review were researches published in widely recognized international scientific journals in English and dissertation research from internationally recognized universities. Data analysis used a matrix to obtain conclusions in response to the research question.
 The findings of this study showed that the individualistic-collectivistic dimension formed the national cultural one that was most widely proven as a determinant of behavioral differences in organizations between countries. However, the individualistic-collectivistic dimension cannot be concluded that dimensions of Hofstede's national culture are the ones that most determine the differences in organizational behavior between countries because the studies conducted did not examine all dimensions of national culture on organizational behavior.

Financial Development and Country-Level Advertising Spending: The Moderating Role of Economic Development and National Culture

Firms invest in brand capital through advertising. Financial constraints hinder firms’ ability to fund their investment projects. Empirical studies in the finance literature suggest that firms’ access to external financial resources, labeled “financial development,” affects their investment behavior. The authors take the view of advertising spending as investment in brands and study the effect of financial development on advertising spending at the country level using a panel of 59 developing and developed countries during 1990–2016. The results suggest that financial development has a positive and significant effect on advertising spending, and this effect is stronger in countries with a low level of economic development. Furthermore, the authors investigate the role of national culture dimensions including uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, collectivism, masculinity, and power distance in the relationship between financial development and advertising. Overall, the results provide evidence that the impact of financial development on advertising spending depends on the national culture dimensions.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Logistics and Adaptation To Them: The Case Of A German Logistics Services Provider Entering The Russian Market

This paper explores obstacles to doing business related to the logistics industry in the emerging Russian market, ways of dealing with these obstacles and the role of culture in problem definitions and solutions. The paper is based on the case of a German logistics services provider entering and operating in the Russian market. Data were obtained from interviews of top managers of its Russian subsidiary and analyzed using qualitative research methods. Findings show that the firm treats difficult logistics problems in Russia as business opportunities and applies its traditional strengths reflecting its national and organizational culture to overcome the obstacles and problems. However, the firm must rethink its business strategy and step out of its traditional cultural comfort zone to deal with specific obstacles explained by “high power distance” and other dimensions of the Russian national culture.

Hofstede’s Culture Values Survey in Albania: How the cultural scores have shifted over time?

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the changes that Albanian cultural dimensions’ scores have undergone over time. Hofstede’s Value Survey Module 2013 (VSM, 2013) has been applied to examine the six dimensions of culture; power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence. The survey data (N = 387) was collected in the two largest private hospitals in Albania. Globalization, technological developments, economical flourishing and crisis, war and peace, influence the shifting of national cultural dimensions’ scores toward negative or positive values (Hofstede et al. 2010). In this study we aim to show the shifting of Albanian culture value scores in time, and compare the results with the ones predicted by the researchers of the field. The results obtained show a negative shift on Albanian culture dimension score of power distance, individualism, long term orientation and indulgence, and a positive shift on masculinity and uncertainty avoidance values. Implications for researchers of the field are discussed in the paper.

Patient enablement after a consultation with a general practitioner-Explaining variation between countries, practices and patients.

BackgroundPatient enablement is a concept developed to measure quality in primary health care. The comparative analysis of patient enablement in an international context is lacking.ObjectiveTo explain variation in patient enablement between patients, general practitioners (GPs) and countries. To find independent variables associated with enablement.DesignWe constructed multi‐level logistic regression models encompassing variables from patient, GP and country levels. The proportions of explained variances at each level and odds ratios for independent variables were calculated.Setting and ParticipantsA total of 7210 GPs and 58 930 patients in 31 countries were recruited through the Quality and Costs of Primary Care in Europe (QUALICOPC) study framework. In addition, data from the Primary Health Care Activity Monitor for Europe (PHAMEU) study and Hofstede's national cultural dimensions were combined with QUALICOPC data.ResultsIn the final model, 50.6% of the country variance and 18.4% of the practice variance could be explained. Cultural dimensions explained a major part of the variation between countries. Several patient‐level and only a few practice‐level variables showed statistically significant associations with patient enablement. Structural elements of the relevant health‐care system showed no associations. From the 20 study hypotheses, eight were supported and four were partly supported.Discussion and ConclusionsThere are large differences in patient enablement between GPs and countries. Patient characteristics and patients’ perceptions of consultation seem to have the strongest associations with patient enablement. When comparing patient‐reported measures as an indicator of health‐care system performance, researchers should be aware of the influence of cultural elements.

The influence of national culture on responsible innovation: A case of CO2 utilisation in Indonesia

Responsible innovation (RI) offers a promising step towards a more responsible adoption of innovations, such as new and emerging technologies. However, how RI would be practised in different cultural contexts and settings is still less studied, especially in the context of developing countries. Taking the utilisation of CO2 in Indonesia as an empirical case, the purpose of this paper is to explore this issue through examining the influence of key characteristics of Indonesia's national culture on core dimensions of RI: anticipation, reflexivity, deliberation, responsiveness and participation. The different RI dimensions are applied in practice in a focus group discussion (FGD) and a round of interviews with different stakeholders that explored CO2 utilisation in the country. Hofstede's classification of national cultural dimensions is used to single out key focus points for attention in these RI processes in the Indonesian context. The results from the experiment illustrate that culture matters in the application of RI dimensions in practice. In the sense that in order for RI to work well, the governance of core RI processes such as participation and deliberation has to be adjusted to social norms of what is considered legitimate, desirable and good behaviour. These norms differ across societies. The findings further suggest ways of applying RI dimensions in practice.