1. ¹University of Connecticut
2. ²Lingnan College
3. ³University of Macau
4. ⁴Dalian University of Technology

Correspondence: David A Ralston, Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, PO Box 720302, Norman, OK 73070, USA. E-mail: dralston@ou.edu

Received June 1995; Revised September 1996; Accepted December 1996.

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.