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1 – 10 of over 120000Anne S. Davis, Penny A. Leas and John A. Dobelman
Literature on face‐to‐face intercultural business communication (IBC) suggests that language, culture, business culture, and interpersonal context variables lead to…
Abstract
Literature on face‐to‐face intercultural business communication (IBC) suggests that language, culture, business culture, and interpersonal context variables lead to misunderstandings, but these predictors have not been studied with regard to e‐mail communication. This exploratory study identifies variables that cause e‐mail miscommunication, reduce work accomplishment, and harm business relationships. We conducted a survey to capture the effect of common predictors and asked respondents to share the most commonly employed strategies when communication problems arose. We offer a multi‐dimensional model for further research.
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Literature and textbooks about intercultural communication and management often feature cultural differences rather than similarities. Japanese culture is frequently distinguished…
Abstract
Literature and textbooks about intercultural communication and management often feature cultural differences rather than similarities. Japanese culture is frequently distinguished in business and management contexts from Western culture. This process arguably leads to an overemphasis of the uniqueness of Japanese culture. A review of relevant literature, however, reveals that the tendency to overemphasise the uniqueness of Japanese culture is one shared by both Western and Japanese scholars. This paper discusses how the discourse has emerged in business and intercultural literature by tracing the influence of historical and economic factors. It also explores the implications of describing Japanese business culture in relation to practices in the West for both managers and students internationally. International students of business, who are grappling with intercultural communication literature as it pertains to Japan and the West, need to engage in critical ways with the discourse adopted in the literature. The intention therefore of the paper is to illuminate how a “differences‐focused” approach in texts could promote a stereotypical and potentially facile view of Japanese culture rather than one that encourages a more meaningful and informed understanding that appreciates the context in which the uniqueness of Japanese culture has hitherto been presented.
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In recent years multi‐cultural practices and values have become significantly conspicuous in corporate business. Cultures and managerial values become co‐terminous when…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years multi‐cultural practices and values have become significantly conspicuous in corporate business. Cultures and managerial values become co‐terminous when organisations cross boundaries. The synergy between corporate culture and managerial values institutes cross‐cultural practices garnering effective strategic options, helping to perform a set task successfully. This has a far‐fetching effect on what people in different cultures perceive and how these cultural values affect business affairs in an altogether different environment. In essence, organisational practices are based on culture and most organisations avoid cultural risks to manage their businesses. Skills, capabilities, knowledge, technology and experiences are better facilitated by a cross‐cultural approach, particularly in geo‐centric organisations. This paper aims to discuss the phenomenon as a global norm, with the implication of its effect on business practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted in this paper is based on the critical review and discussion of extant literature emphasising the effect of cross‐culture on business practices in a culture‐specific environment.
Findings
The paper illustrates how business practices and managerial values are functional to cultural synergy.
Research limitations/implications
Irrespective of the significant effect of cross‐culture on business practices, it has been challenged by many contradictions, paradoxes and conflicts that have not been reviewed in this paper.
Originality/value
The paper outlines the interconectedness of cross cultural business practices and managerial values.
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Om P. Kharbanda and Ernest A. Stallworthy
The concept of company culture is now playingan ever‐increasing role in the continuing endeavourto work towards ever better companymanagement, particularly in the industrial…
Abstract
The concept of company culture is now playing an ever‐increasing role in the continuing endeavour to work towards ever better company management, particularly in the industrial field. This monograph reviews the history and development of both national and company cultures, and then goes on to demonstrate the significance of a culture to proper company management. Well‐managed companies will have both a “quality culture” and a “safety culture” as well as a cultural history. However, it has to be recognised that the company culture is subject to change, and effecting this can be very difficult. Of the many national cultures, that of Japan is considered to be the most effective, as is demonstrated by the present dominance of Japan on the industrial scene. Many industrialised nations now seek to emulate the Japanese style of management, but it is not possible to copy or acquire Japan′s cultural heritage. The text is illustrated by a large number of practical examples from real life, illustrating the way in which the company culture works and can be used by management to improve company performance.
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Stavros Sindakis, Fotis Kitsios, Sakshi Aggarwal and Maria Kamariotou
Family businesses are value-based enterprises, contributing significantly to wealth creation. Although extensive research is conducted on family businesses, there is no study…
Abstract
Purpose
Family businesses are value-based enterprises, contributing significantly to wealth creation. Although extensive research is conducted on family businesses, there is no study investigating how the cultural traits in the Arab world affect the organizational culture of family businesses. This paper discusses how the cultural characteristics in the Arab world shape family enterprises and explores how the Arab world's organizational culture enables family firms to establish competitive advantage underpinned by founder centrality, the concept of family, and business principles spanning many generations.
Design/methodology/approach
A thorough search of the extant literature was done in Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO, and ScienceDirect using a combination of keywords such as Arab culture, family businesses, family firm culture, organizational culture, cultural traits, management strategies, and entrepreneurial strategies. Selected articles were classified according to their content, reviewed, and analyzed.
Findings
This study makes a few critical contributions about the nature, and the origins of organizational culture in family firms, entailing the founder's centrality and stewardship theory. Specifically, family firms in the examined region appear to have a stronger firm culture compared to non-family businesses. Also, organizational culture affects family businesses considering the firm-level outcomes, such as hereditary transition success, family inertia, etc.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the existing theoretical knowledge and underlines the cultural traits and family firm culture in the Arab world. A framework is presented, offering practical recommendations to managers of family firms striving to advance their competitiveness.
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Suku Bhaskaran and Nishal Sukumaran
This paper aims to trace the evolution of nationality‐based business organisations in Malaysia and review whether national culture, as determined by the nationality‐based work…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to trace the evolution of nationality‐based business organisations in Malaysia and review whether national culture, as determined by the nationality‐based work values, beliefs and orientations of the owners and managers of organisations, influences the values, orientations and practices of organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
In‐depth literature review and “key‐informant” surveys, based on which a structured questionnaire was developed. After pre‐testing and finalisation, questionnaires were administered by fax on 1,248 Malaysian organisations selected through systematic sampling. The survey generated 376 usable responses. After testing for non‐response bias, usable responses were subjected to common factor, reliability and canonical correlation analysis.
Findings
Even though there are significant differences in how business entities (delineated on the basis of the national culture of owners and managers) organise and conduct their operations, these differences cannot be attributed to the beliefs and orientations of the owners and managers of these organisations. Significant “cultural” differences are evident across organisations owned and managed by individuals of one nationality and significant “cultural” similarities are evident across organisations owned and managed by individuals of different nationalities. Many other factors such as the legal, economic and regulatory context of the organisation influence its values, orientations and practices more profoundly than the national culture of its owners and managers.
Practical implications
Interfacing managers should not stereotype the values, orientations and behaviours of organisations with which they interact based on knowledge about nationality‐based beliefs, behaviours and orientations of the owners and managers of organisations.
Originality/value
Provides a challengingly different perspective from the conclusions in some of the most authoritative studies on nationality‐based organisational beliefs and culture.
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Notes that today, most large‐ and medium‐size businesses conduct operations globally. Communication crossing national boundaries ‐ international communication ‐ is not necessarily…
Abstract
Notes that today, most large‐ and medium‐size businesses conduct operations globally. Communication crossing national boundaries ‐ international communication ‐ is not necessarily different from any other communication activity. However, intercultural communication, that is, communication activities among people of different cultures, is different. Discusses many cultural factors and language differences in global communication, as well as precedence and improvement in global communication.
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Arielle John and Virgil Henry Storr
This paper aims to highlight the possibility that the same cultural and/or institutional environment can differentially affect each of the two moments of entrepreneurship …
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to highlight the possibility that the same cultural and/or institutional environment can differentially affect each of the two moments of entrepreneurship – opportunity identification and opportunity exploitation. It is possible that the cultural and institutional environment in a particular place may encourage opportunity identification, but discourage opportunity exploitation, or vice versa. Specifically, this paper argues that understanding entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago requires that we focus on how Trinidadian culture and institutions differentially affect both moments of entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
To examine how Trinidad and Tobago’s culture and institutions affect entrepreneurial opportunity identification and exploitation in that country, the paper uses a qualitative approach. In total, 25 subjects agreed to interviews, conducted in July and August 2009 in Trinidad. The questions were geared at understanding attitudes toward work and entrepreneurship in Trinidad, and how politics, culture and ethnicity interacted with those attitudes. The paper also examined institutional indicators from the Economic Freedom of the World: 2013 Annual Report and the World Bank’s 2016 Doing Business Report.
Findings
The research identified features of the cultural and institutional environment in Trinidad and Tobago that help to explain why opportunity identification is relatively common among all ethnic groups there, but why opportunity exploitation appears relatively suppressed among African–Trinidadians. In particular, the research finds that the inheritance of British institutions, a post-colonial political culture, a post-colonial business culture and ethnically based social networks all have positive and negative influences on each moment of entrepreneurship.
Research limitations/implications
Further research would involve an analysis of a wider set of both formal and informal entrepreneurial activities in Trinidad and Tobago, across industries and periods.
Practical implications
This paper has implications for understanding the complex nature of entrepreneurship, which many policymakers try to encourage, but which is shaped by deep cultural and historical factors, and also indirectly influenced by state policies and laws.
Social implications
Ethnic patterns in entrepreneurship shape the way groups see themselves and others.
Originality/value
While authors writing about opportunity recognition/identification and opportunity exploitation have captured the important dimensions of entrepreneurship, they underestimate the possibility of a disconnect between entrepreneurial identification and exploitation. Focusing on instances where the disconnect exists allows us to move away from characterizations of cultures as progress-prone or progress-resistant, and instead allows us to focus on these gaps between identifying and exploiting entrepreneurship across cultures.
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Christopher Karl Köhr, Armando Maria Corsi, Roberta Capitello and Gergely Szolnoki
This study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational systems, market orientation, family culture and the long-term business performance of family businesses in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational systems, market orientation, family culture and the long-term business performance of family businesses in the wine sector in three countries.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey by questionnaire was undertaken with 123 wineries in Australia, Germany and Italy. Multiple-item measurement scales and multiple regression models were used to investigate mediation effects.
Findings
The findings indicate a marked influence of organizational systems and family culture on financial performance. Market orientation fully mediates the effect of family culture and partially mediates the effect of organizational systems on financial performance.
Practical implications
From a managerial perspective, this research indicates the central role of family culture when evaluating a firm’s capabilities and potential in the long term. The findings and their implications are of immediate concern for family firms in the wine sector.
Originality/value
For the first time, the antecedents of market orientation are investigated through simultaneous application of two key frameworks from marketing research and family business research in a single joint analysis.
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A. Ben Oumlil and Joseph L. Balloun
This study aims to examine the ethical beliefs and moral philosophical typologies, the relative effect of religiosity on personal ethical beliefs and behavior of the collectivist…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the ethical beliefs and moral philosophical typologies, the relative effect of religiosity on personal ethical beliefs and behavior of the collectivist and individualistic business executives.
Design/methodology/approach
This research assesses the relative impact of significant cultural factors on the business ethical decision-making process in a Western and individualistic cultural context (the USA) in comparison to a non-Western and collective cultural context (Morocco). To understand how cultural variations influence business ethical practices, this study adopts Hofstede’s cultural framework for comparison of business executives’ ethical decisions within a cross-cultural context. Hypotheses are tested on survey data on 172 business executives.
Findings
Results show that most collective business executives are “Situationists”. The findings reveal a strong, positive relationship between business managers’ religiosity and their idealism degrees. This study also reveals mixed findings in examining the correlation of religiosity with various components of ethical intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The link between religiosity and ethical intentions needs to be viewed with caution. This calls for expanding the scope of this study into other cultures and religions.
Practical implications
Differences of the findings in ethical typologies between collective and individualistic business executives may lead to different negotiation styles on ethical business decisions and issues. Managers from a collective culture are not as likely to exhibit much change in their initial ethical orientation(s). There is a strong positive relationship between a business manager’s religiosity and his/her degree of idealism. Thus, the more religious business managers are, the more Absolutist they are when making ethical and moral judgments.
Originality/value
This research works to fill the gap by examining the impact of culture on the business/marketing ethical decision-making processes within the contexts of a Western cultural and developed nation and a non-Western cultural, and developing/Mediterranean/North African nation. The findings clarify the influence of culture on business ethical decisions. Such an understanding can assist corporate managers in developing and successfully implementing business ethical codes that lead to enhanced moral conduct in their organizations.
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