Abstract
Most research on culture in international business either aggregates people within a country into a single, homogeneous, national culture, or examines heterogeneity within countries based on exogenous criteria. In this study, we explore heterogeneity in cultural values within and across countries endogenously through the configurations of values people share in common. We develop a theory of culture archetypes and use a novel methodology that identifies a small number of distinct configurations of values – archetypes – in our data. These data come from the World Values Survey 2005 and Schwartz’s model of culture. We identify four culture archetypes in Japan, USA and China, and six in India. The existence of transnational and subnational archetypes across the four countries suggests the need to recognize culture as a combination of universal – etic – as well as unique – emic – characteristics. Our approach also distinguishes between those individuals represented by our archetypes and those individuals who more closely resemble the average values of a country. By unifying both archetypes and national averages within one theoretical and methodological schema we thus reconcile the conflicting perspectives in the field.
Abstract
La plupart des recherches portant sur la culture en management international regroupent les habitants d’un pays au sein d’une seule culture nationale et homogène ou examinent l’hétérogénéité au sein des pays sur la base de critères exogènes. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous explorons l’hétérogénéité des valeurs culturelles au sein et entre pays de façon endogène à travers les configurations de valeurs partagées par les individus. Nous développons une théorie d’archétypes culturels et utilisons une méthodologie nouvelle qui permet d’identifier un nombre restreint de configurations distinctes de valeurs – ou archétypes – dans nos données. Ces données proviennent du World Values Survey 2005 et du modèle culturel de Schwartz. Nous identifions quatre archétypes culturels au Japon, aux Etats-Unis et en Chine, et six en Inde. L’existence d’archétypes transnationaux et infranationaux dans ces quatre pays montre qu’il est nécessaire de considérer la culture comme une combinaison de caractéristiques universelles – etic – et uniques – emic. Notre approche différencie également les individus représentés par nos archétypes et ceux qui ressemblent davantage aux valeurs moyennes d’un pays. En unifiant à la fois les archétypes et moyennes nationales au sein d’une seule approche théorique et méthodologique, nous réconcilions les perspectives contradictoires de ce champ de recherche.
Abstract
La mayoría de las investigaciones sobre cultura en negocios internacionales, tienden a agregar las personas de un país en una sola cultura nacional homogénea, o bien a examinar la heterogeneidad en los países con base en criterios exógenos. En este estudio, exploramos la heterogeneidad en valores culturales dentro y entre los países de forma endógena mediante las configuraciones de los valores que la gente tiene en común. Desarrollamos una teoría de arquetipos culturales y usamos una metodología novedosa que identifica un número reducido de distintas configuraciones de valores –arquetipos- en nuestros datos. Estos datos vienen de la Encuesta Mundial de Valores (World Values Survey) 2005 y del modelo de cultura de Schwartz Identificamos cuatro arquetipos en Japón, Estados Unidos y China, y seis en India. La existencia de arquetipos transnacionales y sub-nacionales entre los cuatro países sugiere la necesidad de reconocer la cultura como una combinación de características universales –etic- y a la vez únicas –emic- . Nuestro enfoque también distingue entre aquellos individuos representados por nuestros arquetipos de los que se asemejan más a los valores promedio de un país. Al unificar tanto los arquetipos como los promedios nacionales en un solo esquema teórico y metodológico, conseguimos reconciliar los puntos de vista contradictorios en este campo de estudio.
Abstract
A maioria das pesquisas sobre cultura em negócios internacionais ou agrega pessoas de um país em uma única e homogênea cultura nacional, ou examina a heterogeneidade dentro dos países com base em critérios exógenos. Neste estudo, nós exploramos a heterogeneidade nos valores culturais dentro e entre países endogenamente através das configurações de valores que as pessoas compartilham. Desenvolvemos uma teoria dos arquétipos culturais e usamos uma nova metodologia que identifica um pequeno número de distintas configurações de valores - arquétipos - em nossos dados. Esses dados vêm da World Values Survey 2005 e do modelo de cultura de Schwartz. Identificamos quatro arquétipos culturais no Japão, EUA e China, e seis na Índia. A existência de arquétipos transnacionais e subnacionais em todos os quatro países sugere a necessidade de reconhecer a cultura como uma combinação de características tanto universais - etic – quanto únicas – emic. Nossa abordagem também distingue aqueles indivíduos representados pelos nossos arquétipos daqueles indivíduos que mais se assemelham aos valores médios de um país. Ao unificar os arquétipos e as médias nacionais em um esquema teórico e metodológico, nós reconciliamos as perspectivas conflitantes no campo.
Abstract
国际商务文献里大多数有关文化的研究, 要么将一个国家的人们划归到单一的、同质的国家文化, 要么基于外生标准来审视国家内部的异质性。在本研究中, 我们通过从人们共享的价值观配置, 探索了国家之间和国家内部的文化价值观的内部异质性。我们开发了一个文化原型理论, 并使用了一种新颖的方法, 在我们的研究数据中识别小数目不同配置的价值观——原型。这些研究数据来自2005年的“世界价值观调查”和Schwartz的文化模型。我们在日本、美国和中国识别出了四种文化原型, 在印度识别了六种文化原型。这四个国家中跨国家及地方的文化原型的存在表明 : 应该既将文化看作是普世性的 (etic) , 同时也应将文化看作是独特的 (emic) 。我们的方法也区分了代表我们文化原型的个体和近似国家平均值的个体。通过使原型和国家平均值统一于同一个理论和方法框架, 我们调解了这一领域相冲突的视角。
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Notes
According to Google Scholar, Hofstede (1980) has 36,611 citations, House et al. (2004) 4468 citations, and Schwartz (1999), 2000 citations, as of 21 April 2015.
An alternative, but equivalent perspective, on these individuals is that, because they resemble a composite, their value configurations can also be regarded as a composite of the various subgroup configurations. This perspective underlies the specific methodology we will describe later, which extends this idea by treating all individuals as weighted composites of the latent archetypes, and then assigns them to archetypal or non-archetypal subgroups on the basis of the strengths of the various weights.
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We thank Paul Brewer, Markus Christen, Michael Jarrett and seminar participants at the Leeds Business School for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the article. We also acknowledge the helpful guidance provided by the special issues editor Dan Carpar on various revisions, as well as the three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful ideas. All remaining errors and omissions are ours.
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Accepted by Dan Caprar, Guest Editor, 15 March 2015. This article has been with the authors for three revisions.
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Venaik, S., Midgley, D. Mindscapes across landscapes: Archetypes of transnational and subnational culture. J Int Bus Stud 46, 1051–1079 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.11