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1 – 10 of over 14000The purpose of this paper is to clarify critical issues underlying the national culture dimensions of Hofstede and GLOBE, demonstrating their irrelevance to international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify critical issues underlying the national culture dimensions of Hofstede and GLOBE, demonstrating their irrelevance to international marketing decision‐making.
Design/methodology/approach
In‐depth discussion of the theoretical and empirical logic underlying the national culture dimension scales and scores.
Findings
Hofstede and GLOBE national culture scores are averages of items that are unrelated and which do not form a valid and reliable scale for the culture dimensions at the level of individuals or organizations. Hence these scores cannot be used to characterize individuals or sub‐groups within countries. The national culture dimension scores are therefore of doubtful use for marketing management that is concerned with individual‐and segment‐level consumer behavior.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers should be cautious in using the Hofstede and GLOBE national culture dimension scores for analysis at the level of individuals and organizations.
Practical implications
Hofstede and GLOBE dimension scores should not be used to infer individual/managerial and group/organizational level behavior and preferences.
Originality/value
The paper follows a recent paper in IMR which was the first to discuss the common misunderstanding of the Hofstede and GLOBE national culture scales and scores, and their misapplication at the level of individuals and organizations by scholars and practitioners. Here we further expand and clarify the issues.
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Sunil Venaik, Yunxia Zhu and Paul Brewer
The purpose of this paper is to critically examine, theoretically and empirically, the two time orientation dimensions – long‐term orientation (LTO) and future orientation (FO) …
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically examine, theoretically and empirically, the two time orientation dimensions – long‐term orientation (LTO) and future orientation (FO) – in the national culture models of Hofstede and GLOBE, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach
Following Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's past‐present‐future theoretical lens, the Hofstede LTO and GLOBE FO measures are analysed to understand the conceptual domain covered by these two dimensions. Next, the authors empirically examine the relationship of Hofstede LTO and GLOBE FO with secondary data from Hofstede, GLOBE, and the World Values Survey.
Findings
This paper shows that Hofstede LTO and GLOBE FO dimensions capture different aspects of time orientation of societies. In particular, Hofstede LTO focuses on past (tradition) versus future (thrift) aspect of societies, GLOBE FO practices capture the present versus future (planning) practices of societies, and GLOBE FO values reflect societal aspirations and preferences for planning.
Research limitations/implications
A specific implication of these findings is that the three dimensions of time orientation are not interchangeable since they represent different characteristics of societies. A wider implication for researchers is to ensure high level of precision in and congruence among construct labels, definitions and measures to avoid confusion and misapplication of cross‐cultural concepts.
Practical implications
In an increasingly globalized world, a clear understanding of societal time orientation will help managers deal more effectively with their counterparts in other countries.
Originality/value
The key contribution of this paper is in identifying and clarifying, both theoretically and empirically, the anomalies in the labels, definitions and measurement of Hofstede long‐term orientation and GLOBE future orientation national culture dimensions. It also shows a useful way forward for researchers on how to use these national culture dimensions to explain other phenomena of interest to cross‐cultural scholars.
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Wolfgang Messner and Norbert Schäfer
The cultural dimensions of the Hofstede and Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) studies are often used to capture cultural differences and…
Abstract
Purpose
The cultural dimensions of the Hofstede and Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) studies are often used to capture cultural differences and operationalize them in academic research, corporate business, and teaching. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if this context is appropriate for the Indian information technology (IT) offshore services industry; that is, if Indian culture can be measured with group-referenced items, averaged, and explained by discrete dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors devised items based on the GLOBE study, and conducted empirical research with 291 employees of two services sourcing providers in Pune and Bangalore, India. The authors then scrutinized the data set on item and dimension level using statistical methods, such as interrater agreement, t-test, arithmetic mean, and standard deviation.
Findings
An interpretation of the analysis posits that cultural assumptions based on dimensions and means are problematic in the context of the Indian IT offshore services industry. The two digit exact values of the GLOBE study (and similarly the ordinal scale by Hofstede) suggest a level of accuracy and absoluteness which could not be replicated in the empirical research. Therefore, one authors should be very careful referring to Indian national culture when conducting intercultural awareness programs and coaching international teams who are engaging with India.
Originality/value
The GLOBE study omits to report basic statistics of questionnaire development. Through this replication study in India, the authors provide empirical evidence that the construct validity of cultural dimensions and the concept of national/group averages may be flawed.
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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the ongoing misapplication of the Hofstede and GLOBE national culture dimensions at the individual level of analysis in both research and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the ongoing misapplication of the Hofstede and GLOBE national culture dimensions at the individual level of analysis in both research and teaching. It provides suggestions as to how these national level constructs might be used in analysis and the challenges such use presents to researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used by Hofstede and GLOBE in their calculation of national culture dimensions is discussed together with the implications.
Findings
The consequences of the national nature of the Hofstede and GLOBE national culture dimensions are that the dimensions do not exist at the individual level. The paper explains why, in spite of this, the dimensions continue to be misapplied to individuals.
Practical implications
There are important implications for practitioners. The cultural assumptions often made about individuals in different countries based on the Hofstede and GLOBE dimension scores are invalid. Practitioners should not use national culture dimension scores in individual‐level culture related decision making.
Originality/value
The paper is the first that is focused on the invalid projection of national culture dimensions onto individuals and which highlights the origins and the ongoing nature of this problem.
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The purpose of this paper is to find consumption-related similarities and differences between the three major dimensional models of national culture, to help researchers select…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find consumption-related similarities and differences between the three major dimensional models of national culture, to help researchers select specific models or dimensions for their cross-cultural studies.
Design/methodology/approach
First, a review of the theoretical background of cultural values and three models of national culture is provided: those by Hofstede, Schwartz and GLOBE. Then these models are compared through partial correlation analysis, controlling for GNP/capita of a set of 25 relevant consumer behavior-related data with country scores of 21 dimensions of the three dimensional models.
Findings
Of all models several dimensions explain differences in consumer behavior. Some dimensions explain values related to specific consumer behavior domains better than others. Only a few dimensions of different models do not show meaningful interesting relationships with consumer behavior issues. Dimensions with the same label do not explain similar differences.
Practical implications
Cross-cultural researchers can choose from the several cultural models, but selecting a model only based on descriptions of the contents of dimensions is difficult. The relationships of dimensions with concrete consumer behavior data found in this study facilitate choice. This analysis may help researchers who consider conducting cross-cultural analysis of consumer behavior data to select a specific model, or specific dimensions of different models that apply best to their research question.
Originality/value
This is the first study that compares the three major dimensional models with examples of consumer behavior-related items.
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This paper aims to compare the future orientation (FO) society practices dimension of the Globe model with Hofstede's long-term orientation (LTO) by testing their causal effects…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to compare the future orientation (FO) society practices dimension of the Globe model with Hofstede's long-term orientation (LTO) by testing their causal effects on three firm-level variables: cash holdings, long-term investments and acquisitions. In doing so, this research challenges the already taken-for-granted assumption in the empirical research that the two dimensions are equivalent.
Design/methodology/approach
Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to test the hypotheses on 7,065 firms across 49 countries between 2000 and 2017.
Findings
The findings show that the causal impacts of FO society practices and LTO on a given construct are not consistent. Although LTO increases cash holdings, the impact of FO society practices on this variable is insignificant. Additionally, unlike FO society practices, which significantly increases long-term investments and acquisitions, LTO does not influence long-term investments and decreases acquisitions.
Originality/value
This study is valuable since it addresses the confusion surrounding the similarities and differences between FO society practices and LTO. Despite the dissimilarity also emphasized by Globe, Hofstede claims that they are equivalent, and the great majority of the empirical literature has assumed them to be equivalent in their analyses. Addressing this confusion, this research provides further empirical evidence that these two dimensions are dissimilar. The additional important contribution of the study is theorizing and examining the impact of FO society practices and LTO on the firm-level outcomes that reflect their temporal orientation (i.e. long-term investments and acquisitions), which is surprisingly neglected in the literature.
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Hemin Song, Yingying Zhang-Zhang, Mu Tian, Sylvia Rohlfer and Nora Sharkasi
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between culture and regional innovation performance in China where innovation is deemed as a key for sustainable economic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between culture and regional innovation performance in China where innovation is deemed as a key for sustainable economic development. The diversity of China’s regional culture and its rising economic and innovative capability enhancement provides an opportunity for such an exploration.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts the GLOBE’s nine cultural dimensions to empirically examine the relationship between culture and Chinese regional innovation performance through multiple regression analysis.
Findings
The study results find that performance orientation and gender egalitarianism have positive and significant influences on regional innovation performance, while institutional collectivism has a negative and significant influence. The remaining six GLOBE cultural dimensions show no significant effect on regional innovation performance.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research exploring the relationship between culture and regional innovation performance in a Chinese context by using GLOBE’s cultural dimensions that are deemed as a valuable empirical alternative to Hofstede’s cultural measures. The results of this study help further the understanding of the cultural influence in China’s regional innovation performance.
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Alessandra Vecchi and Louis Brennan
The purpose of this paper is to address the extent to which quality management is “culture‐specific”.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the extent to which quality management is “culture‐specific”.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the results of a survey administered across 21 countries that seeks to examine quality priorities and practices by adopting the global leadership and organizational behaviour effectiveness (GLOBE) framework. Data were collected in 2006 as part of the fourth iteration of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. The methodology involved the use of a self‐administered questionnaire to director/head of operations/manufacturing in best practice firms within the sector of firms classified by ISIC codes (rev.3.1) Divisions 28‐35.
Findings
From this study, it emerges that adopting the GLOBE framework provides an invaluable insight into understanding quality management across countries. In particular, the findings show that some national cultures are more conducive to the implementation of quality management than others.
Practical implications
The analysis of the data leads this paper to endorse the idea that through an accumulation of scientific knowledge relevant to the applicability of quality management across national settings, managers can better understand how to transfer best quality management practices from one country to another.
Originality/value
While some previous research portrays quality management as a comprehensive management paradigm with elements and relationships that transcend cultural and national boundaries, the current study provides evidence that the adoption of certain quality practices across different countries can follow distinctive patterns.
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This study is a replication of Tosi and Greckhamer's work examining how uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism and masculinity/femininity are related to total CEO…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is a replication of Tosi and Greckhamer's work examining how uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism and masculinity/femininity are related to total CEO pay, the ratio of variable to total CEO pay and the ratio of CEO pay to the pay of the lowest level employees in 23 countries. Its main purpose is to investigate whether the replication confirms, questions or extends the results of TG2004.
Design/methodology/approach
Tosi and Greckhamer used generalized linear modeling (GLS) to analyze the relationships between Hofstede's four cultural dimensions and CEO compensation. In the replication, the author used GLS to retest the original seven hypotheses with more recent data from Hofstede and test the same hypotheses relying on cultural values and practices scores from the GLOBE study. Further, using firm-level data unavailable for the original study, the author analyzed fixed and random effects in mixed models.
Findings
The replication generally confirms the findings of the original study for the effects of power distance, individualism and masculinity on CEO total pay. Results are mixed or indicate the lack of significant effect for other relationships.
Research limitations/implications
This study reexamines the effects of country-level contextual variables in the area of CEO compensation.
Originality/value
The replication presents firm-level CEO compensation and firm performance data from 21 countries, extending the original study and unveiling possible spurious effects.
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K. Praveen Parboteeah, Helena M. Addae and John B. Cullen
Absenteeism is a costly behavior that occurs around the world. However, in spite of the growth in cross‐cultural research in organizational research and in global businesses, very…
Abstract
Absenteeism is a costly behavior that occurs around the world. However, in spite of the growth in cross‐cultural research in organizational research and in global businesses, very few studies have examined absenteeism from a cross‐cultural perspective. This study examined the effect of national culture on absenteeism using a sample of 17,842 respondents from 24 countries. Based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions, we postulated that uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism, and masculinity will be negatively related to absenteeism. Similarly, based on the GLOBE cultural dimensions, we proposed that there will be positive relationships between societal collectivism and assertiveness, and absenteeism. However, we hypothesized that in‐group collectivism and gender egalitarianism will have negative relationships with absenteeism. To test our cross‐level hypotheses, we used Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Our results indicated that with the exception of uncertainty avoidance and assertiveness, all our hypothesized relationships were supported. Consistent findings were obtained for the common elements of both the Hofstede and GLOBE cultural dimensions, demonstrating convergence of our findings. We offer theoretical and practical implications of our study and suggest future research directions in the culture‐absenteeism link
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