Culture is often seen as a shared meaning system. This definition has important implications for cross cultural management research. This article outlines a multilevel research process model that identifies a number of crucial steps to be aware of, if culture is being treated as a shared construct. The model integrates recent advances on composition models in organizational research and equivalence and multilevel frameworks in cross cultural psychology research. The proposed model is discussed in relation to two principal areas of cross cultural management work: (a) the identification of cultural constructs at the country level and (b) individual-level studies aiming to unpackage cultural differences in attitudes and behaviour. Implications for management research and practice across cultures are discussed.
Où se situe la culture dans la recherche interculturelle ? Les grandes lignes d'un processus de recherche pluri-strates pour mesurer la culture en tant que système de signification partagée (Ronald Fischer) La culture est souvent perçue comme un système de signification partagée. Cette définition a des implications importantes pour la recherche en management interculturel. Je dresse ici les grandes lignes d'un modèle de recherche à plusieurs niveaux (pluri-strates) qui identifie un certain nombre d'étapes cruciales qu'il nous faut appréhender si la culture doit être traitée comme une construction mentale partagée. Le modèle intègre les récentes avancées en ce qui concerne les modèles de composition en recherche organisationnelle et les cadres d'équivalence pluri-strates en recherche psychologique interculturelle. Le modèle proposé est étudié en relation avec deux domaines clefs du management interculturel : a) l'identification des constructions interculturelles au niveau national et (b) les études à l'échelon individuel visant à dissocier les différences culturelles d'attitudes et de comportement. Les implications pour la recherche en gestion et la pratique du management dans différentes cultures sont étudiées.
Anderson, N.R. and West, M.A. (1998) `Measuring Climate for Work Group Innovation: Development and Validation of the Team Climate Inventory', Journal of Organizational Behavior19: 235-58.
2.
Au, K.Y. (2000) `Intra-cultural Variation as Another Construct of International Management: A Study Based on Secondary Data of 42 Countries' , Journal of International Management6: 217-38.
3.
Barrick, M.R. and Mount, M.K. (1991) `The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job Performance: A Meta-analysis', Personnel Psychology44: 1-26.
4.
Bliese, P.D. (2000) `Within-group Agreement, Non-independence and Reliability: Implications for Data Aggregation and Analyses', in J.K. Klein and S.W.J. Kozlowski (eds) Multilevel Theory, Research and Methods in Organizations. Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions, pp. 349-81. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.
5.
Bliese, P.D., Chan, D. and Ployhart, R.E. (2007) `Multilevel Models', Organizational Research Methods10: 551-63.
6.
Bond, M.H. and Van de Vijver, F.J.R. (in press) `Making Scientific Sense of Cultural Differences in Psychological Outcomes: Unpackaging the Magnum Mysterium', in D. Matsumoto and F. van de Vijver (eds) Cross-cultural Research Methods. London: Sage.
7.
Brown, R.D. and Hauenstein, N.A. (2005) `Interrater Agreement Reconsidered: An Alternative to the rwg Indices', Organizational Research Methods8: 165-84.
8.
Chan, D. (1998) `Functional Relations among Constructs in the Same Content Domain at Different Levels of Analysis: A Typology of Compositional Models', Journal of Applied Psychology83: 234-46.
9.
Chen, G., Mathieu, J.E. and Bliese, P.D. (2004) `A Framework for Conducting Multilevel Construct Validation', in F.J. Yammarino and F. Dansereau (eds) Research in Multilevel Issues: Multilevel Issues in Organizational Behavior and Processes, Vol. 3, pp. 273-303. Oxford: Elsevier .
10.
Cheung, G.W. and Rensvold, R.B. (2000) `Assessing Extreme and Acquiescence Response Sets in Cross-cultural Research Using Structural Equations Modeling', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology31: 160-86.
11.
Cheung, M.W.L., Leung, K. and Au, K. (2006) `Evaluating Multilevel Models in Cross-cultural Research: An Illustration with Social Axioms', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology37: 522-41.
12.
Chinese Culture Connection (1987) `Chinese Values and the Search for Culture-free Dimensions of Culture', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology18: 143-64.
13.
Cohen, D. (2001) `Cultural Variation: Considerations and Implications' , Psychological Bulletin127: 451-71.
14.
Dansereau, F. and Yammarino, F.J. (2006) `Is More Discussion about Levels of Analysis Really Necessary? When Is Such Discussion Sufficient?', Leadership Quarterly17: 537-52.
15.
Diener, E., Diener, M. and Diener, C. (1995) `Factors Predicting the Subjective Well-being of Nations', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology69: 851-64.
16.
du Toit, S.H.C. and du Toit, M. (2008) `Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling', in I. Kreft and J. de Leeuw (eds) Handbook of Multilevel Analysis, pp. 435-78. New York: Springer.
17.
Felfe, J., Yan, W. and Six, B. (2008) `The Impact of Individual Collectivism on Commitment and Its Influence on Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Turnover in Three Countries', International Journal of Cross Cultural Management8: 211-37.
18.
Fischer, R. (2006) `Congruence and Functions of Personal and Cultural Values: Do My Values Reflect My Culture's Values?', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin32: 1419-31.
19.
Fischer, R. (2008) `Multilevel Approaches in Organizational Settings: Opportunities, Challenges and Implications for Cross-cultural Research', in F.J.R. van de Vijver, D.A. van Hemert and Y. Poortinga (eds) Individuals and Cultures in Multilevel Analysis, pp. 173-96. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
20.
Fischer, R., Ferreira, M.C., Assmar, E.M.L., Redford, P. and Harb, C. (2005) `Organizational Behaviour across Cultures: Theoretical and Methodological Issues for Developing Multilevel Frameworks Involving Culture' , International Journal of Cross Cultural Management5: 27-48.
21.
Fischer, R., Ferreira, M.C., Assmar, E., Redford, P., Harb, C., Glazer, S. et al. (2009) `Individualism-Collectivism as Descriptive Norms: Development of a Subjective Norm Approach to Culture Measurement', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology40: 187-213.
22.
Fischer, R., Milfont, T. and Gouveia, V.V. (submitted) Does Social Context Affect Value Structures? Testing the Intra-cultural Stability of Value Structures with a Functional Theory of Values Manuscript submitted for publication.
23.
Fischer, R. and Schwartz, S.H. (submitted) Whence Value Priorities? Individual, Cultural, and Social Sources of Variation Manuscript submitted for publication.
24.
Fischer, R., Smith, P.B., Richey, B.E., Ferreira, M.C., Assmar, E.M.L., Maes, J. et al. (2007) `Organizational Reward Allocation Principles: Testing Organizational and Cross-cultural Differences', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology38: 1-16.
25.
Fischer, R., Vauclair, M.C., Fontaine, J.R., Poortinga, Y.H. and Schwartz, S.H. (submitted) `Are Individual- and Culture-level Value Structures Different? Testing Hofstede's Legacy with the Schwartz Data', manuscript submitted for publication.
26.
Fontaine, J.R. (1999) `Culturele Vertekening in Schwartz' Waardeninstrument: Een Exemplarisch Onderzoek naar Culturele Vertekening in Sociaal-Psychologische en Persoonlijkheidsvragenlijsten' [Cultural Bias in Schwartz's Value Instrument: An Exemplary Research on Cultural Bias in Social-psychological and Personality Questionnaires], unpublished doctoral dissertation, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
27.
Fontaine, J.R. (2008) `Traditional and Multilevel Approaches in Cross-cultural Research: An Integration of Methodological Frameworks', in F.J.R. van de Vijver, D.A. van Hemert and Y. Poortinga (eds) Individuals and Cultures in Multilevel Analysis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
28.
Fontaine, J.R.J. (2005) `Equivalence', in K. Kempf-Leonard (ed.) Encyclopedia of Social Measurement . New York: Academic Press.
29.
Fontaine, J.R.J., Poortinga, Y.H., Delbeke, L. and Schwartz, S.H. (2008) `Structural Equivalence of the Values Domain across Cultures: Distinguishing Sampling Fluctuations from Meaningful Variation' , Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology39: 345-65.
30.
Gamliel, E. and Cahan, S. (2007) `Mind the Gap: Between-group Differences and Fair Test Use', International Journal of Selection and Assessment15: 273-83.
31.
Gelfand, M.J., Nishii, L.H. and Raver, J.L. (2006) `On the Nature and Importance of Cultural Tightness-Looseness' , Journal of Applied Psychology91: 1225-44.
32.
Gintis, H. (2007) `A Framework for the Unification of the Behavioural Sciences', Behavioural and Brain Sciences30: 1-61.
33.
Glick, W.H. (1985) `Conceptualising and Measuring Organizational and Psychological Climate: Pitfalls in Multilevel Research', Academy of Management Review10: 601-16.
34.
Hanges, P.J. and Dickson, M.W. (2006) `Agitation over Aggregation: Clarifying the Development of and the Nature of the GLOBE Scales', Leadership Quarterly17: 522-36.
35.
Heine, S.J., Buchtel, E.E. and Norenzayan, A. (2008) `What Do Cross-national Comparisons of Personality Traits Tell Us? The Case of Conscientiousness', Psychological Science19: 309-14.
36.
Hofmann, D.A. and Jones, L.M. (2004) `Some Foundational and Guiding Questions for Multi-level Construct Validation', in F.J. Yammarino and F. Dansereau (eds) Multi-level Issues in Organizational Behaviour and Processes, Vol. 3, pp. 305-16. Amsterdam : Elsevier.
37.
Hofstede, G. (1980) Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
38.
Hofstede, G. (2001) Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations across Nations, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
39.
Hofstede, G. (2006) `What Did GLOBE Really Measure? Researchers' Minds versus Respondents' Minds', Journal of International Business Studies37: 882-96.
40.
House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. and Gupta, V. (eds) (2004) Cultures, Leadership, and Organizations: GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
Huang, X., van de Vliert, E. and van der Vegt, G. (2006) `Breaking the Silence Culture: Stimulation of Participation and Employee Opinion Withholding Cross-nationally' , Group and Organization Review1: 459-82.
42.
Inglehart, R. (1997) Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
43.
Inglehart, R. and Baker, W.E. (2000) `Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistence of Traditional Values', American Sociological Review65: 19-51.
44.
James, L.R. and Williams, L.J. (2000) `The Cross-level Operator in Regression, ANCOVA, and Contextual Analysis' , in J.K. Klein and S.W.J. Kozlowski (eds) Multilevel Theory, Research, and Methods in Organizations: Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions , pp. 382-424. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
45.
Javidan, M., House, R.J., Dorfman, P.W., Hanges, P.J. and de Luque, M.S. (2006) `Conceptualizing and Measuring Cultures and their Consequences: A Comparative Review of GLOBE's and Hofstede's Approaches', Journal of International Business Studies37: 897-914.
46.
Kenny, D.A., Kashy, D.A. and Bolger, N. (1998) `Data Analysis in Social Psychology', in D. Gilbert, S. Fiske and G. Lindzey (eds) The Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. 1, 4th edn, pp. 233-65. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
47.
Kirkman, B.L., Lowe, K.B. and Gibson, C. (2006) `A Quarter Century of Culture's Consequences: A Review of Empirical Research Incorporating Hofstede's Cultural Values Framework' , Journal of International Business Studies37: 285-320.
48.
Klein, K.J., Dansereau, F. and Hall, R.J. (1994) `Level Issues in Theory Development, Data Collection and Analysis', Academy of Management Review19: 195-229.
49.
Kozlowski, S.W.J. and Klein, J.K. (2000) `A Multilevel Approach to Theory and Research in Organizations: Contextual, Temporal and Emergent Processes', in J.K. Klein and S.W.J. Kozlowski (eds) Multilevel Theory, Research and Methods in Organizations. Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions, pp. 3-90. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
50.
Kuper, A. (1999) Culture - The Anthropologists' Account. London: Harvard University Press.
51.
Lau, I.Y., Chiu, C.Y. and Lee, S.I. (2001) `Communication and Shared Reality: Implications for the Psychological Foundations of Culture', Social Cognition19: 350-71.
52.
Lehman, D.R., Chiu, C.Y. and Schaller, M. (2004) `Psychology and Culture', Annual Review of Psychology55: 689-714.
53.
Leung, K. and Bond, M.H. (1989) `On the Empirical Identification of Dimensions for Cross-cultural Comparisons', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology20: 133-51.
54.
Leung, K. and Bond, M.H. (2004) `Social Axioms: A Model for Social Beliefs in Multicultural Perspective', Advances in Experimental Social Psychology36: 119-97.
55.
Leung, K. and van de Vijver, F.J.R. (2008) `Strategies for Strengthening Causal Inferences in Cross Cultural Research: The Consilience Approach', International Journal of Cross Cultural Management8: 145-69.
56.
Little, T.D. (2000) `On the Comparability of Constructs in Cross-cultural Research: A Critique of Cheung and Rensvold', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology31: 213-19.
57.
Lubke, G.H., Dolan, C.V., Kelderman, H. and Mellenbergh, G.J. (2003) `On the Relationship between Sources of Within- and Between-group Differences and Measurement Invariance in the Common Factor Model', Intelligence31: 543-66.
58.
McCrae, R.R. (2001) `Trait Psychology and Culture: Exploring Intercultural Comparisons', Journal of Personality69: 819-45.
59.
McCrae R.R., Terracciano A. and 79 members of the Personality Profiles of Cultures Project (2005) `Personality Profiles of Cultures: Aggregate Personality Traits', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology89: 407-25.
60.
Matsumoto, D. and Yoo, S.H. (2006) `Toward a New Generation of Cross-cultural Research' , Perspectives on Psychological Science1: 234-50.
61.
Morgeson, F.P. and Hofmann, D.A. (1999) `The Structure and Function of Collective Constructs: Implications for Multilevel Research and Theory Development', Academy of Management Review24: 249-65.
62.
Morris, M.W., Williams, K.Y., Leung, K., Larrick, R., Mendoza, M.T., Bhatnagar, D. et al. (1998) `Conflict Management Style: Accounting for Cross-national Differences', Journal of International Business Studies29: 729-47.
63.
Muthen, B. (1994) `Multilevel Covariance Structure Analysis', Sociological Methods and Research22: 376-98.
64.
Naumann, S.E. and Bennett, N. (2000) `A Case for Procedural Justice Climate: Development and Test of a Multilevel Model', Academy of Management Journal43: 881-9.
65.
Peterson, M.F. (2004) `Book Review: Culture, Leadership and Organizations' , Administrative Science Quarterly49: 641-7.
66.
Peterson, M.F. and Castro, S.L. (2006) `Measurement Metrics of Aggregate Levels of Analysis: Implications for Organization Culture Research and the GLOBE Project', Leadership Quarterly17: 506-21.
67.
Poortinga, Y.H. and van de Vijver, F.J.R. (1987) `Explaining Cross-cultural Differences: Bias Analysis and Beyond', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology18: 259-82.
68.
Poortinga, Y.H. and van Hemert, D.A. (2001) `Personality and Culture: Demarcating between the Common and the Unique', Journal of Personality69: 1033-60.
69.
Raudenbush, S.W. and Bryk, A.S. (2002) Hierarchical Linear Models, 2nd edn. London: Sage.
70.
Rohner, R.P. (1984) `Toward a Conception of Culture for Cross-cultural Psychology', Journal of Cross-Cultural psychology15: 111-38.
Schwartz, S.H. (1994) `Beyond Individualism-Collectivism: New Cultural Dimensions of Values', in U. Kim, H.C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi , S.C. Choi and G. Yoon (eds) Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method and Applications, pp. 85-119. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
73.
Schwartz, S.H. (2006) `A Theory of Cultural Value Orientations: Explication and Applications', Comparative Sociology5: 136-82.
74.
Selig, J.P., Card, N.A. and Little, T.D. (2008) `Modeling Individuals and Cultures using Multilevel SEM', in F.J.R. van de Vijver, D.A. van Hemert and Y.H. Poortinga (eds) Individuals and Cultures in Multilevel Analysis . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
75.
Shteynberg, G., Gelfand, M.J. and Kim, K.(2009) `Peering into the "Magnum Mysterium" of Culture: The Explanatory Power of Descriptive Norms', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology40: 46-69.
76.
Smith, P.B. (2002) `Levels of Analysis in Cross-cultural Psychology' , in W.J. Lonner, D.L. Dinnel, S.A. Hayes and D.N. Sattler (eds) Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, Unit 2, Chapter 7. Bellingham, WA: Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University, available at http://www.wwu.edu/~culture
77.
Smith, P.B. (2006) `When Elephants Fight, the Grass Gets Trampled: The GLOBE and Hofstede Projects', Journal of International Business Studies37: 915-21.
78.
Smith, P.B. and Bond, M.H. (1998) Social Psychology across Cultures, 2nd edn. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
79.
Smith, P.B., Bond, M.H. and Kagitcibasi, Ç. (2006) Understanding Social Psychology across Cultures: Living and Working in a Changing World. London: Sage.
80.
Susser, M. (1994) `The Logic in Ecological: 1. The Logic of Analysis' , American Journal of Public Health84: 825-9.
81.
Terracciano, A. and co-authors (2005) `National Character Does Not Reflect Mean Personality Trait Levels in 49 Cultures', Science310: 96-100.
82.
Tinsley, C.H. (2001) `How Negotiators Get to Yes: Predicting the Constellation of Strategies Used across Cultures to Negotiate Conflict', Journal of Applied Psychology86: 583-93.
83.
Triandis, H.C. (1995) Individualism and Collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
84.
van de Vijver, F. and Fischer, R. (2009) `Improving Methodological Robustness in Cross-cultural Organizational Research', in R.S. Bhagat and R.M. Steers (eds) Handbook of Culture, Organizations, and Work. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
85.
van de Vijver, F. and Leung, K. (1997) Methods and Data Analysis of Comparative Research . Needham Heights, MA: Allyn Bacon .
86.
van de Vijver, F.J.R. and Poortinga, Y.H. (2002) `Structural Equivalence in Multilevel Research' , Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology33: 141-56.
87.
van de Vijver, F.J.R., van Hemert, D.A. and Poortinga, Y.H. (eds) (2008) Individuals and Cultures in Multilevel Analysis . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
88.
Wan, C., Chiu, C.Y., Tam, K.P., Lee, S.L., Lau, I.Y.M. and Peng, S. (2007) `Perceived Cultural Importance and Actual Self-importance of Values in Cultural Identification', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology92: 337-54.
89.
Welkenhuysen-Gybels, J.G.J. and van de Vijver, F.J.R. (2001) `A Comparison of Methods for the Evaluation of Construct Equivalence in a Multigroup Setting', in 2001 Proceedings. American Statistical Association [CD-ROM] . Opladen, Germany: Leskebudrich .
90.
Whiting, B.B. and Whiting, J.W.M. (1976) Children of Six Cultures: A Psychocultural Analysis . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
