A Conceptual Model and Study of Cross-Cultural Business Relationships
Section snippets
Culture in Business Relationships: Interpersonal Aspects
Central to the research premise underlying the concept of interpersonal orientation in business relationships and the role that culture plays in influencing these relationships is the definition of culture. As such, culture is an important force determining managerial attitudes and practices; it influences the practice of management and is considered an essential tool for understanding the process of doing business (Allen, Miller, and Nath, 1988). Despite numerous areas in which culture can
A Conceptual Model
Using the Hofstede framework as a foundation, a conceptual model of the effects of culture and interpersonal orientation on business-to-business relationships is presented in Figure 1. Briefly, the model suggests national culture as defined by Hofstede’s four dimensions impacts an individual’s behavior both directly and indirectly (through organizational culture).
We are primarily interested in the influence of Hofstede’s individualism/collectivism dimension because of its connection with
Hypotheses
This conceptual model now allows us to develop hypotheses about the performance of business relationships between firms from different national cultures. Structural and social bonding are the antecedents to commitment in business relationships. The importance an individual will place on social bonding, which focuses on commitment to people, will be determined by national culture (i.e., IO as reflected by the individual’s individualist/collectivistic background).
In the context of the framework
Research Method
To test these hypotheses, we collected data from five national cultures. This research is an extension of a larger study based just on business relationships in the United States. Our study was designed as an exploratory study to begin testing the validity of our conceptual model.
Results and Discussion
We conducted regression analysis to examine the hypothesized relationships between a country’s culture in affecting the interpersonal relationship in a business-to-business relationship. The basis for the specific tests of the hypotheses and their results are presented in Table 1., Table 2..
The results in Table 1 and Equation 1 of Table 2 indicate that structural bonding and social bonding are positively related to commitment to the relationship and these results support H1a and H1b. A review
Conclusion
In this study we have attempted to increase our understanding of the critical yet neglected subject of business-to-business relationships and the importance of national culture, particularly interpersonal orientation as reflected through the impact of bonding. Drawing upon past work on social and structural bonding and the framework developed by Hofstede (1980) for describing a country’s national culture, a conceptual model was developed and an exploratory empirical test was conducted that has
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Korea Research Foundation.
References (68)
- et al.
Linking Corporate Culture to Strategic Planning
Business Horizons
(1986) Buyer/Seller Relationships in International Industrial Markets
Industiral Marketing Mangement
(1984)A Comparison of Japanese and American Business Negotiations
International Journal of Research in Marketing
(1984)- et al.
Do’s and Don’t’s of Cross-Cultural Negotiations
Industrial Marketing Mangement
(1992) Cross-Cultural Research on Organizational CommitmentA Review and Application of Hofstede’s Value Survey Module
Journal of Business Research
(1993)- et al.
Developing and Protecting Profitable Customer Relationships
Industrial Marketing Management
(1989) - et al.
North America
- et al.
Estimation Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys
Journal of Marketing Research
(1977) - Beamish, P. M.: Joint Venture Performance in Developing Countries., Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of...
The Characteristics of Joint Ventures in Developing Countries
Columbia Journal of World Business
(1985)