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* Methodological issues in cross-cultural research have been discussed time and again by researchers in the political science field [Ross & Homer 1976], in criminology [Vigderhous 1978], economics [Wagner 1969], sociology [Bendix 1969], psychology [Whiting 1968], anthropology [Naroll 1968], social psychology [Berry 1979], public administration [Riggs 1969], and management [Nath 1968; Roberts and Snow 1973]. For the major part, theoretical and methodological reviews of cross-cultural management research have ended with a note of pessimism. [See, for example, Roberts 1970; Roberts and Snow 1973.] Kraut [1975], however, rang an optimistic chime when he traced and identified the methodological advances in cross-national research from the papers presented at the symposium on "Cross-National Views of the Manager in Industry" in 1974. More recently, Bhagat and McQuaid [1982] have documented that the cross-cultural literature generated during the 1970s offers much optimism for the future of cross-cultural organizational behavior research. The 1981 cross-cultural symposium at McGill University convened by Dr. Adler provides ample proof of how persistent the desire is to take stock of the progress made in the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological domains of cross-cultural research. This need for looking back, and looking ahead to the future, is born out of a genuine concern for mapping the directions for further work as we engage in this important area of research. Crosscultural research cannot be abandoned or ignored just because it is difficult and consumes time and resources. This paper briefly describes some of the major methodological concerns in crosscultural management research and shows how these have been increasingly addressed by cross-cultural researchers during the 1970s. The paper also raises some points for reflection as we step up our ambitions and goals for conceptual, theoretical, and methodological sophistication at this stage of our advancement in the field. Such an introspection might clarify for us issues such as whether or not we should continue to do 2-nation studies, inductive as opposed to hypotheticodeductive research, and similar dilemmas.

INTRODUCTION

The major methodological and design concerns in cross cultural research can be classified under 5 broad heads: ensuring functional equivalence, problems of in-

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

*Uma Sekaran is Associate Professor of Administrative Sciences at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She has extensive work and research experience in the banking industry and has published several articles in the areas of organizational behavior and crosscultural research. The author wishes to thank 2 anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions in revising the first draft of this paper. A short version of this was presented as an invited paper at the Cross Cultural Symposium held at McGill University in October 1981.

Journal of International Business Studies, Fall 1983 61

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