On the Need to Include National Culture as a Central Issue in E-Commerce Trust Beliefs

Author(s):  
David Gefen ◽  
Tsipi Heart

Trust and trust beliefs (trustworthiness) are key to e-commerce success but depend, to a large extent, on culture. With e-commerce being an international phenomenon, understanding the cross-cultural aspects of trust creation is therefore arguably required although mostly ignored by current research which deals almost exclusively with the U.S. This exploratory study examines whether definitions of trust beliefs as conceptualized and verified in the U.S. apply in Israel which differs markedly in individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance. The data, crossvalidating the scale of trust and its antecedents in both cultures, generally support the proposition that trust beliefs apply across cultures, and may be a relatively unvarying aspect of e-commerce. However, as expected, the effects of predictability and familiarity on trust beliefs may differ across national cultures. Implications about the need to include national culture in the research on trust, in general, and in e-commerce in particular, are discussed.

Author(s):  
Yu-Wei Chang ◽  
Ping-Yu Hsu ◽  
Wen-Lung Shiau

A major challenge for multinational companies is how to motivate employees with different individual cultural characteristics and national cultures to share knowledge. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of individual and national cultures on knowledge sharing. Individual cultural characteristics are incorporated into the model as antecedents of knowledge-sharing motivations (organizational rewards, image, and reciprocal benefits). National cultural differences are examined by conducting studies with subjects in the U.S. and China. The results show that power distance is significantly related to reciprocal benefits in the U.S. but not in China. Individualism/collectivism is related to organizational rewards and image in the U.S. but not in China, while individualism/collectivism is significantly related to reciprocal benefits in China but not in the U.S. Uncertainty avoidance is significantly related to reciprocal benefits in the U.S. but not in China. This study provides knowledge-sharing practices and management implications for multinational companies.


Kultura ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 323-345
Author(s):  
Gordana Đuretić ◽  
Nevena Krasulja

The main goal of this paper is to point out that the dimensions of national cultures have a huge impact on different aspects of organisational behaviour. The main support in the work is Hofstede's five-dimensional cultural model. The authors pay special attention to the dimensions of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. When both of indexes are high at the level of national culture, organizational climate will have some special features such as high hierarchical pyramids, centralised decision making, and autocratic behaviour of managers, negative attitudes towards work, stress and lack of entrepreneurial behaviour. Also, special interest in this topic results from the fact that both of these dimensions in Serbia are very high.


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Steve Jenner ◽  
Brent MacNab ◽  
Richard Brislin ◽  
Reg Worthley

A great number of studies have been reported based on Hofstede’s seminal work on national culture (1980). Our findings for a very recent sample of people attending executive and MBA programs found no significant differences in Power Distance between the United States (U.S.), Mexico and Canada. Our results suggest that caution should be taken in automatically assuming cultural parity between the U.S. and Canada and that more traditional culture positions between the NAFTA member nations may be more subject to change than stable through phenomena like crossvergence. Our findings suggest that Hofstede’s (1980) study provides one useful framework; however, the relative positions of national culture are not necessarily applicable to present day.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 1937-1963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Lee Park ◽  
Ely Laureano Paiva

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which different patterns of cross-functional integration and the operations strategy (OS) process may be explained by national cultures differences.Design/methodology/approachPerceptual survey data from 105 manufacturing plants in four countries were used to validate the constructs and to test the hypotheses. The plants are located in two Western and two Eastern countries with different industrialization and development backgrounds (Brazil, China, Germany and South Korea). CFA validated the constructs, and ANOVA andt-tests evaluated the differences between levels of four Hofstede’s elements (i.e. power distance, individualism vs collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and long-term vs short-term orientation) on the OS process enablers (i.e. leadership for cross-functional integration and functional integration) and elements (i.e. manufacturing strategy linkage to corporate strategy and formulation of manufacturing strategy).FindingsResults suggest that different OS and OM processes are present in different national cultures. Leadership for cross-functional integration and manufacturing strategy linkage to corporate strategy differ between levels of power distance, individualism vs collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. Functional integration and formulation of manufacturing strategy also present differences according to the degree of individualism vs collectivism and long-term orientation.Originality/valueResults indicate that national culture is a key aspect for the OS process. Prior studies usually do not consider cultural aspects. Therefore, the OS process varies in different countries and contexts. Managers need to adjust their OS process when they are developing a global OS.


2003 ◽  
Vol 92 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1199-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basu Sharma

Using measures of national cultures published by Hofstede in 1991, this study examined their effects on the weighted index of social progress of 50 countries around the world. Empirical findings indicated that individualism was negatively associated, while power distance was positively associated with the social progress of nations.


Author(s):  
Viktoriia Bokovets ◽  
Nataliia Korzh ◽  
Lyudmila Davidyuk

It is noted that knowledge of all cross-cultural aspects of behavior in international business, namely understanding the national characteristics of people's behavior in different countries, value systems, negotiation patterns, traditions and customs, increase business efficiency and enable mutual understanding during business negotiations and meetings.The article considers the approaches to determining the role of the cultural factor, the importance of national culture in planning international activities and conducting international business. It is considered that religion seriously affects the nature of business relations, moral attitudes of employees, appearance, consumer behavior and work schedules. The parameters that allow to identify cultural differences between countries are considered and a number of universal elements of behavior in international business, knowledge of which is important for effective cooperation and communication. The significant influence of cross-cultural aspects of behavior on activities in international business is determined. The necessity of research of such parameters of national culture as religion, language, attitude to formalities and importance of personal space in business relations is substantiated. It is also noted that an important parameter in doing business is language. Knowledge of the language of foreign partners increases the efficiency of communication, promotes better communication.It is indicated that an important parameter is the understanding of social and personal space. After all, in different countries there is a certain business distance between the partners, which must be observed in order not to create certain inconveniences. The importance of international business etiquette and its main categories is revealed, as well as the code of business communication, ie a number of rules that must be followed to establish strong relationships between foreign partners. Knowing all the cultural features of the partner country will allow you to establish a strong business relationship. Having studied the parameters that determine the cultural features of the country, a number of universal elements that need to be known to establish cooperation at the international level are presented.


2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald K. Mitchell ◽  
J. Brock Smith ◽  
Eric A. Morse ◽  
Kristie W. Seawright ◽  
Ana Maria Peredo ◽  
...  

In this study we examine three research questions concerned with entrepreneurial cognition and culture: (1) Do entrepreneurs have cognitions distinct from those of other business people? (2) To what extent are entrepreneurial cognitions universal? and (3) To what extent do entrepreneurial cognitions differ by national culture? These questions were investigated in an exploratory study using data collected from 990 respondents in eleven countries. We find, in answer to question one, that individuals who possess “professional entrepreneurial cognitions” do indeed have cognitions that are distinct from business non-entrepreneurs. In answer to question two, we report further confirmation of a universal culture of entrepreneurship. And in answer to question three, we find (a) observed differences on eight of the ten proposed cognition constructs, and (b) that the pattern of country representation within an empirically developed set of entrepreneurial archetypes does indeed differ among countries. Our results suggest increasing credibility for the cognitive explanation of entrepreneurial phenomena in the cross-cultural setting.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Wei Chang ◽  
Ping-Yu Hsu ◽  
Wen-Lung Shiau ◽  
Yun-Shan Cheng

A major challenge for multinational companies is to motivate employees with different individual cultural characteristics and national cultures to share knowledge. Although comparative studies across different countries have been conducted, little is known about the effects of individual cultural differences in this context. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of individual and national cultures in knowledge sharing. The individual cultural characteristics of power distance, individualism/collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance are incorporated into the model as antecedents of knowledge-sharing motivations (organizational rewards, image, and reciprocal benefits). National cultural differences are examined by subjects conducted in the U.S. and China. Results show that power distance is significantly related to reciprocal benefits for the U.S. but not for China. Individualism/collectivism is related to organizational rewards and image for the U.S. but not for China, while individualism/collectivism is significantly related to reciprocal benefits for China but not for the U.S. Uncertainty avoidance is significantly related to reciprocal benefits for the U.S. but not for China. This study provides knowledge-sharing practices and managements for multinational companies attempting to motivate U.S. and Chinese employees to share knowledge.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 580-588
Author(s):  
Maria Manuela Martins ◽  
Ilídio Tomás Lopes

Organizational cultures distinguish different organizations within the same country or countries. When comparing the organizations within the same country differences in national cultures are not relevant but become relevant in comparison between different countries. This paper intends to evidence whether the profitability of companies can be influenced by the national culture. In order to characterize the culture of each country, we used the Hofstede measure of cultural dimensions (1. Power Distance (PDI); 2. Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI); 3. Individualism (IDV); 4. Masculinity (MAS); 5. Long-Term Orientation (LTO); and 6. Indulgence vs Restraint (IND)). Sample was based on the 500 largest European companies rated by the Financial Times 2015. Profitability was measured by the ratios Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). Statistical tests were performed to test whether the means of the variables used to measure profitability are statistically equal. The results indicate that companies with higher profitability are from countries with lower Power Distance, lower Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term Orientation, and Higher Indulgence


Author(s):  
Eka Nurilaila ◽  
Sigit Ricahyono ◽  
Dwi Setyadi ◽  
Samsul Arifin

<p>The study which is descriptive qualitative in nature, aims to investigate preference of politeness strategies by American and Japanese characters in  “The Last Samurai movie and explain it in terms the national culture.  Results show that the order of preference by Americans is: 1) BoP (11/50%), 2) PoP (7/31.8%), 3) NeP (3/13.6%), and 4) OfR (1/4.5%).  That by the Japanese is: 1) OfR (18/60%), 2) BoR (6/20%), 3). NeP (6/20%), 4) PoP (0). American national culture and that of Japan which are different affect their preference of politeness strategies shown in “The Last Samurai” movie. In conclusion, language and culture affect each other. People coming from different language and culture communicate differently.</p>


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