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1 – 10 of over 2000Siew Imm Ng, Julie Anne Lee and Geoffrey N. Soutar
The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative basis for calculating cultural distance scores using Schwartz's cultural values.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative basis for calculating cultural distance scores using Schwartz's cultural values.
Design/methodology/approach
Cultural distance scores were calculated for 23 countries, based on the two most common measures of cultural difference (four cultural dimensions and Schwartz's 1994 culture level values), following Kogut and Singh's formula. Correlation analysis was used to assess the congruency between these two bases of cultural distance. In addition, their relationship with international trade figures was assessed, to understand how well each framework predicts the amount of trade between countries.
Findings
Inter‐country distances between 23 countries suggest that the two bases of cultural distance were not congruent. While the correlation between both cultural distance measures and international trade suggested a negative relationship, as expected, only cultural distance based on Schwartz's values was significantly related to international trade (p<0.05). It would appear that, at least in a trade context, Schwartz's values may play a more significant role than do Hofstede's dimensions.
Originality/value
To date, most cultural distance scores have been based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions. This paper provides the first analysis of cultural distance based on Schwartz's country level values. The paper shows that the two measures are not congruent and that, at least in the context of trade, cultural distance measures based on Schwartz's may be superior. Thus, researchers should carefully consider which cultural base is most appropriate for use in their study.
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Mahsa Amirzadeh, Neal M. Ashkanasy, Hamidreza Harati, Justin P. Brienza and Roy F. Baumeister
Purpose: Social rejection is a negative interpersonal experience that leads to emotional, cognitive, and physiological outcomes. We develop a theoretical model arguing that social…
Abstract
Purpose: Social rejection is a negative interpersonal experience that leads to emotional, cognitive, and physiological outcomes. We develop a theoretical model arguing that social rejection in workplace settings can alter employees' personal values in either the short- or the long term. Methodology: This is a theoretical essay based on three theories: (1) human values; (2) affective events; and (3) shattered assumptions. Findings: In the proposed model, an employee's emotional reactions to social rejection in the workplace (emotional distress or emotional numbness) partially mediate the relationship between the experience of social rejection and short- or long-term development of self-protective (rather than self-expansive) personal values. Originality: The processes whereby social rejection at work leads to personal value change remain largely unexplored to date. The proposed model represents an initial attempt to understand this process, including the effects of emotional distress (long term) and emotional numbness (short term). Research Implications: The model introduces the mechanisms whereby social rejection in the workplace leads to short-term and long-term changes in individual values and has potential to serve as a launchpad for future research interest in this phenomenon. Practical Implications: The framework proposed in this chapter should help scholars to understand better the dynamics of social rejection in the workplace and how this phenomenon affects employees' values in work settings, both in the short- and long term.
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Mehmet Yusuf Yahyagil and Ayşe Begüm Ötken
The purpose of this study is to portray societal/cultural values of Turkish people as perceived by managers and academicians. The study also aims to provide an understanding of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to portray societal/cultural values of Turkish people as perceived by managers and academicians. The study also aims to provide an understanding of the cultural context of the Turkish society in terms of socio‐cultural dimensions such as high and low context, monochronic vs polychronic, self‐determined, and temporal orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Instead of using Schwartz's 56‐item questionnaire, the authors used seven cultural and ten individual dimensions as individual items. Cultural values were captured from managers' and academicians' perspectives by changing the frame of reference from self to others. The questionnaire was designed for two different age groups to find the magnitude of change in connection with cultural values.
Findings
Results indicate that Turkey can be defined as a conservative country. Hierarchy is ranked as the second most important polar dimension, and the order of cultural values indicates a reverse direction compared to the findings of similar studies with reference to European countries. It also deserves to emphasize the fact that the younger group of respondents is much more conservative and seeks more power over people and resources than the older group of respondents.
Originality/value
This paper, to some extent, may serve as a guide in reflecting today's cultural values in Turkey. It also makes a modest contribution to the relevant literature due to both the portraying cultural values of Turkish people, and the usage of methodological considerations for data collection purposes.
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There has been a growing trend recently to examine individual‐level values in order to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of employees in the workplace. This paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been a growing trend recently to examine individual‐level values in order to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of employees in the workplace. This paper aims to continue this trend by examining the relationship between individual values, using Schwartz's basic human values theory, and psychological well‐being (PWB) and affective organizational commitment. It also seeks to examine whether demographic variables control the relationship between individual values and the two dependent variables.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample is comprised of 271 police officers enrolled in an undergraduate program in an Israeli university.
Findings
As expected, the regression analysis showed a positive relationship between PWB and the values of benevolence, self‐direction, and achievement, and a negative relationship between PWB and the values of power and tradition. Surprisingly, organizational commitment was negatively related to achievement and positively related to power – the reverse of their relationship with PWB. The results also revealed a negative correlation between PWB and commitment.
Originality/value
The findings encourage future research on the relationship between individual values, PWB, and organizational commitment among police officers.
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Susana Miquel Segarra, Gisela Gonçalves and Isabel Ruiz-Mora
Codes of ethics are a moral reflection centred on the duties and rights of a given profession that establishes the minimum moral standards required. These codes imply…
Abstract
Codes of ethics are a moral reflection centred on the duties and rights of a given profession that establishes the minimum moral standards required. These codes imply self-regulation and therefore an individual application on the conduct of professionals. In this chapter we reflect on the main values that guide PR practice based on Schwartz's theory of basic human values, which measures universal values that are recognised throughout all major cultures. A qualitative and quantitative content analysis was carried out of the codes of ethics of six national PR and communication associations and of the Global Alliance's code. The ethics codes were analysed to study the priorities of values stressed by PR professional associations and to highlight the motivational values that may be present in them. Findings show that values contained in the codes of ethics are based on a system of 32 human values; three of the values – the common good, integrity and truthfulness – are identified in all the codes; motivational values relating to universalism, benevolence and conformity are also covered to varying degrees in all the texts. It has been confirmed that the Global Alliance code is the only text that deals with the values of all the motivations described by Schwartz. The PR codes of ethics are based on a list of common ethical values of a collective nature, which are mostly contemplated by the Global Alliance; the main difference at the national level is that Latin countries include in their texts more principles of ethical universalism.
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This article aims at offering and validating a theory‐driven conceptualization of the cultural distance index.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims at offering and validating a theory‐driven conceptualization of the cultural distance index.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the cultural distance index is conceptualized, its conceptual properties are discussed, and a generic formula is proposed. Subsequently, the generic formula is applied to Schwartz's and Hofstede's frameworks. Finally, using the new formula the cultural distance is calculated, its robustness is examined, and its advantages over the Kogut and Singh's measure are inspected.
Findings
Through this paper it is found that by considering issues such as cultural dimensions' alignment and their relative weight, it is possible to build a more accurate index of cultural distance. Moreover, based on the generic formula it is understood that collectivism/individualism and power distance in Hofstede's framework and conservatism, egalitarianism in Schwartz's model are important cultural dimensions and account for a considerable weight in the cultural distance index.
Research limitations/implications
The index is based on cultural dimensions and naturally it carries all shortcomings attributed to dimensionalization such as symmetry, linearity, stability and causality. In addition, it can be recognized that while alignment is a legitimate method, it should be interpreted cautiously because cultural dimensions are essentially nebulous concepts.
Practical implications
Researchers may use the proposed index to test the implications of cultural differences for a wide range of cross‐national issues such as joint ventures, entry mode choices, mergers, negotiations, organizational behavior, and technology transfer.
Originality/value
This article offers a novel and theory‐driven approach to building the cultural distance index. Considering the popularity of the Kogut and Singh's index in international business, the paper is of major significance.
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Arch G. Woodside, Carol M. Megehee, Lars Isaksson and Graham Ferguson
This paper aims to apply complexity theory tenets to deepen understanding, explanation and prediction of how configurations of national cultures and need motivations influence…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to apply complexity theory tenets to deepen understanding, explanation and prediction of how configurations of national cultures and need motivations influence national entrepreneurial and innovation behavior and nations’ quality-of-life (QOL). Also, the study examines whether or not high national ethical behavior is sufficient for indicating nations high in quality-of-life.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying core tenets of complexity theory, the study constructs asymmetric, case-based (nations), explanations and predictive models of cultures’ consequences (via Schwartz’s seven value dimensions) and implicit need motivations (via McClelland’s three need motivations) indicating national entrepreneur and innovation activities and subsequent national quality-of-life and ethical behavior. The study includes testing configurational models empirically for predictive accuracy. The empirical examination is for a set of data for 24 nations in Asia, Europe, North and South America and the South Pacific.
Findings
The findings confirm the usefulness of applying complexity theory to learn how culture and motivation configurations support versus have negative consequences on nations’ entrepreneurship, innovation and human well-being. Nurturing of entrepreneur activities supports the nurturing of enterprise innovation activity and their joint occurrence indicates nations achieving high quality-of-life. The findings advance the perspective that different sets of cultural value configurations indicate nations high versus low in entrepreneur and innovation activities.
Practical implications
High entrepreneur activities without high innovation activity are insufficient for achieving high national quality-of-life. Achieving high ethical behavior supports high quality-of-life.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to apply complexity theory tenets in the field of entrepreneurship research. The study here advances the perspective that case-based asymmetric modeling of recipes is necessary to explain and predict entrepreneur activities and outcomes rather than examining whether variable relationships are statistically significant from zero.
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Stéphane Brutus and Elizabeth F. Cabrera
This study investigates the relationship between personal values and feedback‐seeking behaviors. Feedbackseeking behaviors, or the way by which individuals in organizations…
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between personal values and feedback‐seeking behaviors. Feedbackseeking behaviors, or the way by which individuals in organizations actively seek information about their performance, has recently become an important research topic in the management literature. However, the large majority of this research has been conducted in the United States. This study aims to test the relationships between the personal values of a multinational sample and feedback‐seeking behaviors. An integrated set of hypotheses regarding the influence of values on feedback seeking are outlined and tested empirically using samples from Canada, China, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. As predicted, results indicate that significant aspects of feedback seeking were related to personal values. The perceived cost of feedback seeking, the clarity of the feedback from others, and the use of feedback‐seeking behaviors were all linked to personal values. The study also uncovered substantial variations in feedback‐seeking behaviors across nations. The implications of these findings for research on feedback‐seeking behaviors and for feedback practices are discussed.
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The question of how to strike a balance between work and life is attracting increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners. This paper aims to examine the relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
The question of how to strike a balance between work and life is attracting increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners. This paper aims to examine the relationship between individual level values, using Schwartz's basic human values theory, and the work‐family conflict (WFC), the family‐work conflict (FWC), and coping strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 122 employees from two Israeli high tech companies participated in this survey. The portrait values questionnaire (PVQ) was used to measure ten basic values. The PVQ includes short verbal portraits of 40 different people, gender matched with the respondent. Work‐family conflict and family‐work conflict were measured by the scales developed by Netemeyer et al. Personal coping was measured using the 16 items of Kirchmeyer's scale of coping strategies. Regression and correlation analysis were used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The findings showed a strong relationship between power and the three independent variables. Schwartz's ten values explained a relatively large percentage of the variation in the work‐family conflict and the use of coping strategies.
Originality/value
While there has been a growing trend to examine individual level values in order to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of employees in the workplace, very few studies have examined whether and how individual values are related to the interface between work and family. This paper responded to the call for such research. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the continuation of research on individual values in their relationship to the work‐family interface.
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The focus of global training has primarily been on preparing employees to work effectively in other cultures, such as in expatriate training, acculturation training, and training…
Abstract
The focus of global training has primarily been on preparing employees to work effectively in other cultures, such as in expatriate training, acculturation training, and training for technology transfer. One issue that has been ignored is the implication of using training systems that are developed in a specific cultural context and then deployed globally. This chapter proposes a framework to show the influence of culture on one aspect of training effectiveness, the transfer of newly learned skills to the job. Specific relationships are proposed, using Baldwin and Ford’s (1988) transfer of training framework as a guide, and also by synthesizing findings from areas such as cross-cultural psychology, human resource management, education, and technology management.