Table Of ContentInternational and Cross-Cultural
Management Research
SAGE SERIES IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
SERIES EDITORS
RICHARD THORPE
Department of Management
Manchester Metropolitan University
MARK EASTERBY-SMITH
Centre for the Study of Management Learning
The Management School, Lancaster University
The Sage Series in Management Research contains concise and
accessible texts, written by internationally respected authors,
on the theory and practice of management and organizational
research. Each volume addresses a particular methodological
approach or set of issues, providing the reader with more
detailed discussion and analysis than can be found in most
general management research texts. These books will be
indispensable for academics, research students and managers
undertaking research.
International and Cross-Cultural
Management Research
Jean-Claude Usunier
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles · London · New Delhi · Singapore
© Jean-Claude Usunier 1998
First published 1998
Reprinted 2006,2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without permission in writing from the
Publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-7619-5280-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-7619-5281-7 (pbk)
Library of Congress catalog control number 98-60953
Typeset by Μ Rules
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Athenaeum Press Ltd., Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
Contents
List of figures and tables vii
Preface ix
1 Introduction 1
2 The Role of Language and Intellectual Styles
in Cross-Cultural Comparisons 31
3 Design and Implementation of Cross-Cultural
Research in Management 67
4 Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural
Management Research 102
5 Strategies for Improving the Relevance of
Cross-Cultural Research in Management 135
References 169
Author index 187
Subject index 192
List of figures and tables
Figures
1.1 Staging culture in international management research 24
2.1 Influences on the research perspective 41
3.1 Dimensions of the research design 81
3.2 Research instruments as they pertain to key aspects
of the research design 89
Tables
1.1 Research issues addressed by JIBS articles over
a 25-year period 4
1.2 Areas studied and origin of authors for the 25-year
period of the JIBS 5
1.3 Main aspects of international management
research designs 7
1.4 Hofstede's four cultural indexes for selected countries 30
2.1 Consumer behaviour in a cross-cultural perspective 34
2.2 Comparative research strategies 37
2.3 Cultural influences on the research design 42
2.4 Advantages and drawbacks of translation techniques 52
3.1 Academic journals publishing cross-cultural
business studies 101
4.1 Categories of cross-cultural equivalence 106
4.2 Possible problems of cross-cultural equivalence for
Singh's (1988) CCB scale 133
Preface
This book covers the topics that are relevant to cross-cultural man-
agement research. It is aimed at management researchers who
undertake projects with comparative and international designs
involving culture as a key input for explanation. It is built on the
view that language matters considerably, both English as it is the
worldwide language of business, and foreign languages because
they uniquely express culturally specific patterns in context-
embedded situations, such as consumption or work relationships.
An underlying assumption of this book is that the final aim of
cross-cultural research in business is not to find universals, in a
fairly dichotomous way whether universal or culturally specific.
The real world is more subtle: a lot is shared, especially since there
is a dominant normative model for business activities worldwide.
Cross-cultural research progressively increases our understanding
of the influence of culture on management theories and practices
and, consequently, helps define the kinds of compromises which
can be negotiated and implemented when behavioural standards
and management styles are obviously conflicting.
Although a consistent topic for the last twenty years, cross-
cultural management research is still in its infancy. A possible
reason is that researchers worldwide still do not adequately manage
the cross-cultural dialogue which is acutely necessary for generat-
ing in-depth insights in the field. This dialogue implies full respect
for the others' languages and cultures, be they informants or co-
researchers. Despite the best intentions, this full-fledged dialogue
remains difficult for those, including myself, whose native culture is
near to the dominant values and practices of global business and
management research. In this sense the process of cross-cultural
research, which is most often limited to the contexts studied, should
extend to the researchers themselves. It is only by a reflexive atti-
tude vis-a-vis their own cultures that management researchers will
be able to search for cross-cultural equivalence and uncover true
areas of non-equivalence.
Another underlying assumption of this book is that, to increase
the significance of findings in cross-cultural business research, we
