Search results

Prior research examining cultural effects on customer service expectations has primarily used more generic Western cultural theory on an aggregate scale or with only a single variable to draw conclusions on a customer’s underlying reasoning for buying a service. This study aims to focus on culturally distinct clusters within non-Western nations, specifically exploring within-cluster differences in service expectations within the Confucian Asia cluster.

This study developed a measurement model of Chinese cultural values and service expectations, consisting of a three and five-factor structure, respectively. Data from a sample of 351 diners were analysed using SmartPLS software. The data was compared with similar studies within the Confucian Asia cluster to understand the culture effect on service expectations and within-cluster variations.

The findings underscore the varying importance of cultural values in shaping customer service expectations, emphasizing their relative, rather than equal, significance. The study provides insights into potential within-group differences in customer service expectations within the same cultural cluster – without losing sight of the fundamental cultural heterogeneity of the Confucian culture.

Managers should leverage the distinct cultural values of their operating country to gain insights into diverse customer groups, predict their behaviours and meet their needs and expectations.

This study offers valuable insights to both service management scholars and practitioners by focusing on culturally distinct clusters of non-Western nations and exploring their effects on variation in service expectations within these clusters.

The purpose of the study is to explore the impact of cultural values on perceptions of service encounter quality by examining the potentially mediating role of service encounter expectations.

A questionnaire was designed to collect data from 30 cosmetic clinic patients in Tehran, Iran. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. Moreover, path modeling and bootstrapping were implemented using Smartpls 2.0 (M3) software to analyze the collected data and to assess the research model (Figure 1).

Cultural values have a significant impact on both expectations and perceptions of service encounter quality. Moreover, findings show that expectations of service encounter quality have an impact on perceptions of service encounter quality. The mediating role of service encounter expectations was confirmed.

There are additional issues that should be addressed about different aspects of service encounters in developing countries. Moreover, subcultures provide attractive context for service quality perception research; subcultures comprise a large consumer market having its own cultural values that future research could examine.

Healthcare service providers should understand the cultural values of patients that may differ by social demographic characteristics. Providing a service that enhances patient cultural values might enhance success in the plastic surgery market, because such surgery may assist one in gaining recognition and improving their relationships with others. Clinic managers should consider Iran as a developing country, with its considerable young population having modern self-oriented demands, should be a desirable market for cosmetics and beauty care products.

Using the concept of Schwartz’s basic human values model to assess consumers’ cultural values and its impact on service encounter quality was the study’s main contribution. Moreover, it is among few studies conducted in the cosmetic surgery industry in a developing country’s context.

The purpose of the research is to shed light on how the mandatory regulation on nonfinancial information has changed European state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) disclosure levels. In addition, the present research aims to demonstrate, under the lens of legitimacy theory, how Hofstede's cultural dimensions shape social expectations that may have suffered changes after the introduction of a mandatory regulation on nonfinancial reporting.

The paper adopts a mixed approach. First, it employees the content analysis to investigate the disclosure level on 22 of the 24 European SOEs. Second, the authors demonstrate how cultural dimensions take a different role when a change in regulation is introduced using the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).

The results reveal a slight increase in disclosure from the year before introducing the directive. Additionally, the results demonstrate how none of Hofstede's cultural dimensions is responsible for high disclosure levels. Although, the sufficiency analysis outlines several combinations of different cultural dimensions that lead to high disclosure levels. In particular, results demonstrate how the core dimensions leading to the outcome changed once the European Union Directive (EUD) has entered into force.

Despite the contributions, the present study is not free of limitations. As the investigated sample is limited to a small number of SOEs, the content analysis adopts a dichotomous approach. The analysis is conducted on integrated reporting, and the fuzzy set QCA results cannot be used for generalization but refer only to the investigated sample. Consequently, further studies should investigate a broader sample of SOEs and organizations that adopt other nonfinancial reporting frameworks. Additionally, a qualitative approach to the reports' analysis is recommended.

It demonstrates how the EUD on nonfinancial information has impacted the disclosure levels of European SOEs. It adopts a fresh methodology rarely used in accounting. It demonstrates how cultural conditions influence social expectations that determine corporations to disclose more information after the introduction of a regulatory framework.

The paper's theoretical contribution refers to its focus on the public sector, and it adopts a methodology rarely used by accounting scholars.

Service customers perceive quality in the moment of interaction with the service provider. In times of globalization, it is important for a growing number of service companies to ask if the perceived service encounter quality differs among customers from different cultures. Particularly needed is information about whether problematic “culture shocks” occur in service encounters due to culture‐bound expectations and perceptions. To answer this question, a model of inter‐cultural service encounter quality is presented. In order to test the assumption of “culture shocks” in inter‐cultural service encounters, an empirical study applying the critical incident technique (CIT) was conducted. The unexpected results of this study lead to a further development of the model presented. This gives insights into why, and under which circumstances, inter‐cultural encounters are perceived as less problematic than intra‐cultural encounters. Finally, managerial implications and open research questions are discussed.

The paper presents an empirical account of self-fulfilling prophecy in a multicultural expatriate context of the Arabian Gulf (Sultanate of Oman). The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between managerial expectations of the effects of cultural diversity and workgroup performance.

This exploratory study uses a qualitative interpretive approach based on the data collected through semi-structured interviews. The participants were Omani managers in charge of multicultural expatriate workgroups.

Managerial expectations of the effects of multiculturalism on workgroup dynamics are linked to three dimensions of performance effectiveness, including the production function, the member support function and the group wellbeing function. The Pygmalion process, as applied to the multicultural expatriate context of this study, emerged as an integral part of positive organizational scholarship.

The data were collected in one country only, which limits the conclusions about the universal applicability of the Pygmalion theory. The boundary conditions were defined by the cultural characteristics of the research setting: collectivism, high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, moderate masculinity/femininity.

For managers in charge of multicultural workgroups, the study provides motivation to project positive and affirmative expectations of multiculturalism, which is likely to lead to enhanced workgroup performance.

In examining the self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon, this study transcends Western educational, military and industrial research contexts to investigate the Pygmalion process in a non-Western multicultural expatriate environment. The study contributes to unraveling the inconsistencies in findings on the relationship between cultural diversity and workgroup performance by highlighting the role of managerial expectations of multiculturalism.

This study aims to explore how and why employees perceive technology-mediated interruptions differently and the role of sociocultural factors in this process using sociomaterial analysis.

Data were gathered from 34 Sri Lankan knowledge workers using a series of workshop-based activities. The concept of sociomateriality is employed to understand how sociocultural elements are entangled with technology in work-life boundary experiences.

The findings of the thematic analyses suggest how culture is intertwined in the way employees perceive technology-mediated interruptions and how they manage information communication technologies (ICTs) to balance their work and nonwork demands. Participants have been unable to avoid technology-mediated boundary interruptions from work, as organisations have created norms to keep employees connected to organisations using information communication technologies. Traditional gender roles are specifically found to be entangled in employees' boundary management practices, disadvantaging women more.

The findings highlight how national culture and gender norms create challenging work-life experiences for female employees than males. This could create a disadvantageous position for female employees in their career progression. It is crucial to consider factors such as boundary preferences and family concerns when deciding on family-friendly work policies. Also, organisations have to consider the development of explicit guidelines on after-hours communication expectations.

Using the lens of sociomateriality, researchers can understand the contextual entanglement of ICTs with national culture and gender norms in creating different work-life boundary experiences. It seems ICTs are creating a disadvantage for female employees when managing work–nonwork boundaries, especially in power distant and collectivist cultures where traditional gender norms are highly valued and largely upheld. This study also contributes to the current discourse on work-life boundaries by providing insights from non-western perspectives.

The design and introduction of new pay programs may be particularly challenging for multinational corporations (MNCs) because, given their diverse employee base, they face varied employee expectations regarding pay. We offer a model of how national cultural norms affect employee expectations for, and judgments about, pay fairness. We also describe how firms can best use two international compensation strategies for MNCs (a global integration strategy and a local responsiveness strategy) to optimize employees' justice judgments regarding new pay programs. More favorable justice judgments should improve the chances of new pay program survival and, subsequently, contribute to firm competitiveness.

This article examines how underlying national culture potentially impacts host country expectations of corporate citizenship for multi‐national firms. We present a conceptual framework for systematically comparing the impact of national culture on social issues affecting multi‐national firms. Research propositions describe the relationships between national culture and corporate citizenship suggesting potential future empirical research opportunities. Using four countries as examples, we conduct a qualitative comparative analysis to demonstrate the applicability of our culture‐based framework. Finally, we offer implications of our framework for corporate global citizenship of multi‐national firms.

Social well-being is the perception and feeling of belongingness and integration within the community and the broader society. For self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) who rely on their own personal resources and network, the achievement of high levels of social well-being can be challenging (compared to corporate-initiated expatriates who typically receive pre-departure training and relocation assistance from their employers). Hence, in this study, we examine personal factors and theoretically ground how they can be helpful and influence the achievement of high levels of social well-being among SIEs.

The authors conducted a survey study (n = 215) involving SIEs to determine how specific personal factors influence the achievement of social well-being.

The authors analyzed the data using PROCESS approach and results show that cultural intelligence positively and significantly relates to social well-being. In addition, cross-cultural adjustment is shown to exert an influence as a mediator and further found to be moderated by a personality trait (i.e. emotional stability). Supplementary analyses further show support for the critical role of each of the dimensions of cultural intelligence in the moderated-mediation process.

This study offers novel insights relevant for SIEs who move in to another country and try to socially integrate without any support from employers. The study highlights how personal resources and capabilities could help in the achievement of social well-being. Specifically, the findings suggest the important role of cultural intelligence which needs to be developed prior and after the relocation. Also, the study suggests how a personality trait such as emotional stability can be tapped to increase the likelihood of achieving social well-being among SIEs.

This study examined whether life satisfaction varied among women who occupy different motherhood statuses, and if these variations were influenced by differences in women’s internalization of cultural motherhood norms. We distinguished among women as biological mothers, stepmothers, and “double mothers,” who were both biological and stepmothers. We also included two groups of women without children: voluntary childfree and involuntary childless women.

Data were drawn from the National Study of Fertility Barriers and analyzed using OLS regression.

Biological mothers reported greater life satisfaction than women in other motherhood statuses. Accounting for the internalization of motherhood norms, double mothers had significantly lower life satisfaction compared to biological mothers, but voluntary childfree women had significantly greater life satisfaction. More detailed analyses indicated that internalization of cultural norms only appears to influence the life satisfaction of women with biological children.

The results suggest that it may not simply be motherhood that affects women’s well-being, but rather that women’s internalization of motherhood ideals, particularly when it corresponds with their motherhood status, significantly impacts well-being. Limitations of this study include small cell sizes for some categories of women where additional distinctions may have been useful, such as lesbian or adoptive mothers. Future work should incorporate diverse family forms and expand on the newly named category “double mothers.”

By providing a more nuanced approach to categorizing motherhood status, including identifying double mothers, stepmothers-only, and two groups of childless women, the study added detail that has been overlooked in previous work on well-being.