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The country’s uncertainty avoidance measures as a predictor of the degree of formalisation applied by organisation in it: propositions for the European Union countries

Carl A. Rodrigues (Professor of International Management, Department of Management, School of Business Administration, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, USA)
Eileen Kaplan (Professor of Management, Department of Management, School of Business Administration, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, USA)

Management Research News

ISSN: 0140-9174

Publication date: 1 November 1998

Abstract

Examines the European Union (EU) countries’ uncertainty avoidance measures (based on Hofstede’s work) and proposes the degree of formalization (high, moderate or low) applied by organizations in the EU countries. Proposes that high formalization organizational structures are more prevalent in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain; that low formalization organizational structures are more prevalent in Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden; and that moderate formalization organizational structures are more prevalent in Finland and The Netherlands. Claims that these propositions can be tested at the organizational level using the Aston study instrument but warns that cultural factors are only an element among a number of other contextual variables such as the subsidiary’s local context (environmental complexity and the amount of local resources available to it), the size and age of the organization, type of organizational function, the way in which organizations confront a crisis, and management preferences for control. Indicates that it should not be assumed that this research can be applied to Confucian‐based Far East cultures. Mentions also that a country’s cultural values can change over time so should be periodically updated using Hofstede’s Value Survey Module.

Keywords

  • European Union
  • Formalization
  • Uncertainty

Citation

Rodrigues, C.A. and Kaplan, E. (1998), "The country’s uncertainty avoidance measures as a predictor of the degree of formalisation applied by organisation in it: propositions for the European Union countries", Management Research News, Vol. 21 No. 10, pp. 34-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409179810781437

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Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited

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