Why Does Culture Have Such a Prominent Position in Im Research and Practice?
Why does culture have such a prominent position in IM research and practice?
Culture as a driver of knowledge transfer
Vanak, KIT
University of Auckland
11/23/2012
Introduction
As the world economy leans toward globalisation, the understanding of different culture becomes inevitable in today International management (IM) research and practice. Culture is part of management concepts when it turns more complex and multidimensional (Martinez & Toyne, 2000). Due to complexity of culture, there are many researches on this topic. Scholars such as Davenport and Prusak studied how culture differences affect knowledge transfer in cross-cultural organisations (Bhagat, Kedia, Harveston, & Triandis, 2002). In contrast other authors suggest that both the differences and similarities of culture should be examined (Ofori-Dankwa & Ricks, 2000). In light of all recent researches relate to culture, this essay initially looks at the different definitions of culture. Then, it reviews the link between culture and international management research, and the practical important of culture in international firm practices.
Defining culture
First of all, culture is complex by nature and there are many definitions of culture in academia. Culture can be understood as a group in a society or it can be things that make the group stand out from another group (Dickson, Castano, Magomaeva, & Den Hartog, 2012). In early 1955, Herskovits (as cited in Dickson et al., 2012) defined culture as a set of rule or agreement that sharp the society pattern and individual behaviours. Although there are abundant in studies and researches on culture differences, management and others researches use the culture dimension as a base of measurement and identification (Dickson et al., 2012). After a decade of studies around the world in the 1960, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck came up with six culture dimensions (see table 1) that later on influence many scholars such as Hofstede’s culture
Culture as a driver of knowledge transfer
Vanak, KIT
University of Auckland
11/23/2012
Introduction
As the world economy leans toward globalisation, the understanding of different culture becomes inevitable in today International management (IM) research and practice. Culture is part of management concepts when it turns more complex and multidimensional (Martinez & Toyne, 2000). Due to complexity of culture, there are many researches on this topic. Scholars such as Davenport and Prusak studied how culture differences affect knowledge transfer in cross-cultural organisations (Bhagat, Kedia, Harveston, & Triandis, 2002). In contrast other authors suggest that both the differences and similarities of culture should be examined (Ofori-Dankwa & Ricks, 2000). In light of all recent researches relate to culture, this essay initially looks at the different definitions of culture. Then, it reviews the link between culture and international management research, and the practical important of culture in international firm practices.
Defining culture
First of all, culture is complex by nature and there are many definitions of culture in academia. Culture can be understood as a group in a society or it can be things that make the group stand out from another group (Dickson, Castano, Magomaeva, & Den Hartog, 2012). In early 1955, Herskovits (as cited in Dickson et al., 2012) defined culture as a set of rule or agreement that sharp the society pattern and individual behaviours. Although there are abundant in studies and researches on culture differences, management and others researches use the culture dimension as a base of measurement and identification (Dickson et al., 2012). After a decade of studies around the world in the 1960, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck came up with six culture dimensions (see table 1) that later on influence many scholars such as Hofstede’s culture
References: Bhagat, R. S., Kedia, B. L., Harveston, P. D., & Triandis, H. C. (2002). Cultural variations in the cross-border transfer of organizational knowledge: An integrative framework. Academy of Management Review, 27(2), 204-221. Chan, Y., & Ford, D Dickson, M. W., Castano, N., Magomaeva, A., & Den Hartog, D. N. (2012). Conceptualizing leadership across cultures. Journal of World Business, 47, 483-492. George, O Lertxundi, A., & Landeta, J. (2012). The dilemma facing multinational enterprises: transfer or adaptation of their human resource management systems. The international journal of human resource management, 23(9), 1788-1807. Martinez, Z Minbaeva, D. B., Makela, K., & Rabbiosi, L. (2012). Linking HRM and knowledge transfer via individual-level mechanisms. Human Resource Management, 51(3), 387-405. Ofori-Dankwa, J., & Ricks, D Steward, J. H. (1990). Theory of culture change: The methodology of multi-linear evolution. Massachusettes: University of Ilinois Press.