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Compassion in the international business studies – prospects for future research

Michael Jakobsen (Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Verner Worm (Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Sven Horak (The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, New York, New York, USA)

Critical Perspectives on International Business

ISSN: 1742-2043

Article publication date: 11 January 2023

Issue publication date: 27 November 2023

259

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the concept of compassion to the field of international business studies. As international business activities continuously intensify and hence generate a work environment characterized by cultural heterogeneity and pluralism, the notion of compassion in a cross-cultural context can be regarded a key skill for employees in internationally operating firms to enable coping with potential cross-cultural conflicts.

Design/methodology/approach

In this narrative-oriented type of review, the authors discuss compassion in a cross-cultural context by drawing on the literature in the management and international business studies. By connecting prior research on compassion with the typical research interests in the IB domain, the authors identify and define potential future research foci for a research agenda centering on the role that cross-cultural compassion plays.

Findings

The authors argue that the conventional approach to learning about other national cultures, their value and norm systems, needs to be complemented by the acquisition of compassion skills. In todays culturally diverse business environment where employees increasingly work in virtual teams, cultural complexity is hardly manageable alone by developing expert knowledge about respective cultural contexts to prevent cross-cultural conflicts.

Originality/value

By drawing on extant research on compassion conducted in neighboring disciplines of the social sciences, the authors conceptualize compassion in the context of international business research. Because compassion in a cross-cultural context is new to international business research, this study suggests directions for future research consisting of four research streams to guide future research on compassion in a cross-cultural context in international business studies.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jane Dutton (University of Michigan) and Jakob Lauring (Aarhus University) for comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Authors are grateful for the editorial guidance by Professor Christoph Dörrenbächer (Berlin School of Economics and Law) and helpful comments from the anonymous reviewers.

Citation

Jakobsen, M., Worm, V. and Horak, S. (2023), "Compassion in the international business studies – prospects for future research", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 594-613. https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-01-2021-0012

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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