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The purpose of this study is to explore a phenomenon in knowledge management that has been given scant attention: the influence of cultural distance on inter-organizational knowledge transfer in the context of multinational companies involving headquarters in the USA and a subsidiary in Sri Lanka.

Designed as a qualitative exploratory study, data was collected through in-depth interviews of 15 participants and documents review.

The findings of this study implied that the theoretically introduced cultural dimensions shall be relevant to analyze the phenomenon of this study. Consequently, through the findings of this study, it is argued that inter-organizational knowledge transfer in multinational companies is influenced by cultural distance.

This study theoretically and empirically contributes to the debates on knowledge transfer in knowledge management research in general and, inter-organizational knowledge transfer in multinational companies between headquarters and subsidiaries with respect to the influence of cultural distance in particular, through the light of Trompenaars’ (1993) cultural dimensions theory.

The findings of this study could motivate the practitioners to take into account: the influence of cultural distance on inter-organizational knowledge transfer, if inter-organizational knowledge transfer happens in similar contexts: multinational companies with a headquarters in the USA (a western context) and a subsidiary in Sri Lanka (a non-western context) in the practical business world.

This study provides theoretical and empirical insights into the influence of cultural distance on inter-organizational knowledge transfer in multinational companies between headquarters and subsidiaries in the selected context while suggesting various avenues for further research toward the influence of cultural distance on such phenomenon in similar/dissimilar contexts.

To provide an overview of emerging concepts in the field of cross‐cultural management, which could augment/supplant the contributions made by Hofstede and Trompenaars.

The contributions made by well‐known researchers in the field of cross‐cultural management, such as Hofstede and Trompenaars is critiqued so that the reader can have an idea of what the existing lacuna in this field are. This critique is followed by a discussion of recent research endeavours, which are taking into account these lacuna. A polemic is built around the theme of how the grand typologies of Hofstede and Trompenaars may now have outlived their utility.

Provides an analysis of the shortcomings of Hofstede's and Trompenaars's contributions. Examines how emerging concepts like crossvergence and multiculturalism serve to make research in the area more meaningful and relevant. Focuses on how management practices found effective in one culture, can be transplanted to other cultures and embedded there.

Only a few selected emerging concepts have been considered.

The direction in which future research should be carried out so as to have practical validity is delineated.

The paper has suggested that it is time to move forward and even away from the contributions made by Hofstede and Trompenaars. It has also pointed out the direction in which current researchers in the field are attempting to do this.

The objective of this study is to explore general cross‐cultural differences in corporate visual identity between the USA and Korea, and to apply Trompenaars' specific versus diffuse dimension to brand‐logos and taglines in the two countries.

A sample of the brand‐logos and taglines from the top 100 companies in each country were content analysed for research objectives.

The results indicate that Korean brands are generally more diffusive than those in the USA. Specifically, Korean brand‐logos tend to use more abstract and symbolic creative designs than those of the US, and the contents of Korean brand taglines contain more additional values than those in the USA.

The findings suggest the explanation power of new cultural dimensions for academic researchers and the importance of localised corporate identity strategies for international marketers.

Because little is known about the differences between company brand designs across cultures, this study fills a gap in the literature by examining company brand designs and taglines. In addition, this study proved the usability of the newly developed Trompenaars' specific versus diffuse dimension.

With India becoming a strategic trading partner for France, the purpose of this paper is to identify and describe cultural differences between India and France in order to achieve three main objectives: What traits or values are salient for Indians when negotiating with French people? The second to assess the utility and appropriateness of cultural dimensions as described by Hofstede (1991, 2001) and Trompenaars (1993, 2004) to gain insight into this process, and finally to prepare a French businessman to negotiate with an Indian partner.

A qualitative approach is best to achieve the research objectives. Expert profiles were defined according to the guidelines set out by Bogner et al. (2009). Snowball sampling method was used, whereby the first French businessmen interviewed provided contacts of other negotiators. Six semi-directive interviews were conducted lasting 1 h and 30 min each. Data collection and analysis were carried out according to Gioia’s proposed methodology (Gioia et al., 2013).

This qualitative inquiry enabled a deep inductive analysis, resulting in the emergence of seven key characteristics of the negotiation process in India. Cultural dimensions as defined by Hofstede (1991, 2001) and Trompenaars (1993, 2004) are useful in explaining four of these. However, three other characteristics cannot be directly related to these cultural dimensions, and among them, the seventh characteristic, the importance of having an Indian mediator in the negotiation, emerges as an original and decisive advantage for the foreign partner.

Interviewing a larger sample of experts would strengthen the precision, validity and reliability of the findings. Furthermore, investigating buyer–seller relationships and negotiation theories would help to gain an alternative and complementary insight into this complex topic.

Cultural differences between France and India are a poorly documented and under-researched topic.

Begins by analysing the nature of work relations in France. These work relations can be categorized as relatively impersonal, formal, hierarchical, partitioned, subtly politicized and flexible; and holistic. Leads into an examination of the character and role of the cadre (the manager), and of the relative professional status enjoyed by French managers. The discussion should be viewed from the viewpoint of Hampden‐Turner and Trompenaars' description of France as a “fascinating country for English‐speaking cultures to study” but which may require the outsider to be prepared “to question, even to confound, their own basic assumptions” about the culture, role and practice of management.

The patterns of adoption of quality management practices and techniques vary across national boundaries. This article presents the findings of a questionnaire survey into the quality management procedures and tools adopted in three European countries, the UK, Portugal and Finland. A total of 450 responses are analysed. The main differences between the three countries are outlined with regard to factors motivating the implementation of quality systems, quality tools and techniques used, outcomes from quality management and problems encountered in providing quality training. The results are then analysed under the perspective of the probable impact of national culture. The models of national culture developed by Hofstede, Trompenaars and Earley and Erez were used for this purpose. The main conclusion is that these models can help to explain, to a great extent, much of the variation observed and constitute a basis for understanding why particular quality management approaches are adopted.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the validity of different operationalizations of cultural and institutional distance.

First, a review of the theoretical background for Hofstede's, Schwartz's, Trompenaars's, and Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness' (GLOBE) cultural frameworks is provided, as well as the institutional environment. Then, the validity of each framework is assessed by evaluating how well each framework groups countries into appropriate clusters, and finally comparisons between the different frameworks are drawn.

It was found that the cultural distance (CD) constructs based on Hofstede and Trompenaars have strong convergent validity. CD constructs based on Schwartz and GLOBE are found to have the weakest validity. The institutional distance (ID) constructs are conceptualized to be broader than the traditional CD constructs. However, high correlations indicate a strong overlap between ID and CD. Additionally, the ID constructs are highly correlated with factors related to economic development, potentially limiting their usefulness.

Both researchers and practitioners can choose from a variety of CD/ID frameworks to fill their needs; however, variance in the performance between frameworks may lead to faulty conclusions. In response to this need to accurately capture cross‐cultural differences, the validity of nine different operationalizations of CD/ID have been examined. Contrary to popular belief, the traditional CD construct based on Hofstede is shown to compare favorably with other frameworks and calls for the abandonment of this index may be premature.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a study on the articles published in the four top international business (IB) journals to examine how four cultural models and concepts – Hofstede’s (1980), Hall’s (1976), Trompenaars’s (1993) and Project GLOBE’s (House et al., 2004) – have been used in the extant published IB research. National cultures and cultural differences provide a crucial component of the context of IB research.

This is a bibliometric study on the articles published in four IB journals over the period from 1976 to 2010, examining a sample of 517 articles using citations and co-citation matrices.

Examining this sample revealed interesting patterns of the connections across the studies. Hofstede’s (1980) and House et al.’s (2004) research on the cultural dimensions are the most cited and hold ties to a large variety of IB research. These findings point to a number of research avenues to deepen the understanding on how firms may handle different national cultures in the geographies they operate.

Two main limitations are faced, one associated to the bibliometric method, citations and co-citations analyses and other to the delimitation of our sample to only four IB journals, albeit top-ranked.

The paper focuses on the main cultural models used in IB research permitting to better understand how culture has been used in IB research, over an extended period.

The purpose of this study is to propose a typology of culture and to present a hybrid model to be used as the base in organizational behavior and cross-cultural management research.

This study provides a conceptual analysis and general review of the literature to clarify and to classify the usage of culture models and cultural orientations to reduce confusion concerning cultural studies.

The first part of the proposed typology covers only the concept of organizational culture which has been examined around qualitative and cognitive approaches. While the second part is related to the use of socio-cultural dimensions, the third part of the proposed typology covers universal cultural orientations (patterns) framework only. The outcome of this study is the presentation of a hybrid model which provides a comprehensive methodological framework for conducting culture research.

The typology of culture developed in this study would be of help for researchers designing their studies on the subject of culture, socio-cultural dimensions and cultural patternings from more appropriate theoretical perspectives and methods.

The theoretical framework in this study provides insight in selecting more suitable culture models to examine the subject in managerial organizational studies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buyers and sellers in cross-cultural business relationships manage cultural differences to ensure functional, successful business relationships. Failure to consider specific cultural issues may lead to the failure of business ventures crossing national borders. To succeed in today’s global business market, it is critically important to understand and manage cultural differences. Adapting to each other’s cultures is one way of managing cultural differences between business actors.

A qualitative, explorative approach examining both sides of the exchange dyad was adopted to obtain insight into adaptation as perceived by both buyer and seller.

The results of this study indicate that mainly Norwegian sellers adapt to the Russian culture and way of conducting business. This is explained by power asymmetry between partners, as well as cultural barriers and lack of cultural sensitivity from the Norwegian partners. Still, the business relationships function well.

Knowledge of and applying strategies for managing cultural differences should be helpful for business managers engaged or planning to engage in business ventures with Russia and Norway – especially those doing so for the first time.

The study provides new and important information about West-East business relationships and how to manage cultural differences in cross-cultural business relationships. The study shows that business relationships can function well in spite of the absence of some factors previously found to have detrimental effects on these relationships. In addition, the study investigates both sides of the buyer-seller dyad, which is a limitation in previous studies of adaptation.