The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Ja
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2007 DECADE AWARD WINNING ARTICLE
The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China David A Ralston1, David H Holt2, Robert H Terpstra3 and Yu Kai-Cheng4 1
University of Connecticut; 2Lingnan College; University of Macau; 4Dalian University of Technology 3
Correspondence: David A Ralston, Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, PO Box 720302, Norman, OK 73070, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract This study assesses the impact of economic ideology and national culture on the individual work values of managers in the United States, Russia, Japan, and China. The convergence–divergence–crossvergence (CDC) framework was used as a theoretical framework for the study, while the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) was used to operationalize our investigation of managerial work values across these four countries. The findings largely support the crossvergence perspective, while also confirming the role of national culture. Implications from the findings are drawn for the convergence–divergence–crossvergence of values, as well as for the feasibility of multidomestic or global strategies for a corporate culture. Journal of International Business Studies (2008) 39, 8–26. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400330
INTRODUCTION The convergence or divergence of work values has been an important debate for the past several decades as international companies have struggled to understand the diverse value systems of their multidomestic operations and whether the cross-societal values of their workforces are becoming more alike or not (Abegglen, 1957; Cole, 1973; Dunphy, 1987; England & Lee, 1974; Eisenstadt, 1973; Kelley & Reeser, 1973; Kelley, Whatley, & Worthley, 1987; Negandhi, 1975; Ottaway, Bhatnagar, & Korol, 1989; Pascale & Maguire, 1980; Prahalad & Doz, 1987; Ralston, Gustafson, Cheung, & Terpstra, 1993; Ricks, Toyne, & Martinez, 1990; Webber, 1969). Now, however, many of these international companies are considering trying to become global organizations in the sense of having a seamless or borderless approach to organization. In essence, being a global organization implies having a universal corporate culture. Since corporate culture grows out of the values held by organizational members, especially the influential members of the organization, a universal corporate culture is one where all members of the organization – regardless of where in the world these individuals grew up or now work – have similar views and beliefs that guide their behaviors when transacting business with members from other societies, as well as with members from their own society (Boeker, 1989; Chatman & Jehn, 1994). Thus, as these companies that strive to become global organizations envision a unified approach to business that transcends
Impact of national culture and economic ideology
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individual work values differences, whether work values are con
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