Article
Journal of International Business Studies (2009) 40, 859–885. doi:10.1057/jibs.2008.81
Culture, meaning, and institutions: Executive rationale in Germany and Japan
Michael A Witt1 and Gordon Redding2
- 1INSEAD, Singapore
- 2INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France
Correspondence: MA Witt, INSEAD, 1 Ayer Rajah Avenue, Singapore 138676, Singapore. Tel: +65 6799 5253; Fax: +65 6799 5399; E-mail: Michael.WITT@insead.edu
Received 4 May 2007; Revised 22 February 2008; Accepted 25 February 2008; Published online 23 October 2008.
Abstract
This paper contributes rare primary empirical evidence to one of the major research questions in the social sciences today, namely, the linkage between national cultures and institutional structures of national business systems. Drawing on the work of Redding, we explore the thinking, or "rationale", of senior executives of leading German and Japanese firms about the ideal structure of the economy. We find considerable variation in rationale across the two countries and in comparison with the shape of the business system of the United States. Our study has implications for our understanding of the meaning of economic activity in different countries and of the evolutionary trajectories of national business systems.
Keywords:
rationale, culture, values, institutions, varieties of capitalism, comparative business systems
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