MBA 646 -CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

PROF. OGUNBAMERU
CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Every man/woman is interested in knowing about the world in which he/she lives. The notion of
knowing involves two simultaneous processes. The first is differentiation and categorization; the
second is discovery of relationships. Differentiation means that X can be distinguished from not
X for e!ample the distinction between "atholics from non#"atholics. The phenomenon that is
being differentiated is labeled with a concept. The sub groupings of a concept are referred to as
categories or values.
$ne ob%ect can be differentiated and categorized in several different ways e.g two persons may
e!amine the same chair. $ne might call it a &rocker' the other an &anti(ue'.
RELATIONSHIPS
)eyond differentiation and categorization involves discovering relationships between these
concepts.
METHODS OF KNOWING
*et us start with a broad (uestion. +ow do you know that you know something, -ome of the
ways of knowing are. faith or intuition; logic and research or empiricism.
/aith or intuition involves accepting something as being true. 0sing logic means using specific
rules to move from one premise to another. E.g. 123 4ll cowboys wear hats and 153 6ide is a
cowboy. Then we also know that 173 )ob wears a hat. This method of knowing is often termed
deductive reasoning.
CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
There are different ways to carry out research but roughly speaking there are two main
approaches namely (ualitative and (uantitative. 8ualitative studies concentrate mainly on
words and meanings and aim to capture the richness and comple!ity of human e!perience
whereas (uantitative studies involve recording information obtained from participants in
numerical form so as to enable statistical analysis of the findings and the generalization of those
findings to the wider population. )ehind these two main approaches there are important
theoretical differences and philosophical assumptions about the nature of knowledge truth and
reality how this should be recorded what kinds of methods should be used and the role of the
researcher in this process.
9owadays many researchers adopt a pragmatic approach simply using whichever method is
best suited to answering their research (uestions and which might even involve a combination
of both approaches within the same study.
Problems of Social research
Unlike in the physical sciences, conducting research in the field of social sciences is problematic. Social
Scientists are dealing with human beings and not inanimate objects or unreflecting animals. They are
people who have self-awareness and complex individual personalities. They are capable of choosing their
own course of action both rational and irrational reasons. The fact that the social scientist is studying
human beings poses some major problems to research methodology.
. The mere act of investigating social behavior may alter the very behavior that is being observed.
!. "eople- unlike flies or worms, mountains or airplanes- have emotions, motives, and other highly
individuals personality characteristics
#. The origins of social behavior are almost always extremely complex, involving many social,
psychological, historical and other factors.
$. %or ethical reasons it becomes difficult to perform certain kinds of experiments on human beings.
&. The social scientist, unlike the physical scientist, is part of the very subject he or she is to study.
Ethics in Research
What is Ethic?
'(thics) are norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. (thics is
not limited to specific acts and defined moral codes, but encompasses the whole of moral ideals and
behaviors, a person*s philosophy of life. "ersonal ethics signify moral codes applicable to individuals,
while social ethics mean moral theory applied to groups.
Why is it important to adhere to ethical norms?
There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical norms in research. %irst, some of these
norms promote the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth and avoidance of error. Second, since
research often involves a great deal of cooperation and coordination among many different people in
different disciplines and institutions, many of these ethical standards promote the value that are essential
to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect and fairness. Third, many of the ethical
norms help to ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the public. %ourth, ethical norms in
research also help to build public support for research. %inally, many of the norms of research promote a
variety of other important moral and social values, such as responsibility, human rights, and animal
welfare, compliance with the law and health and safety.
Sections of Ethical Issues
+iener and ,randall, ethical issues can be separated into four main sections-
. .hether there is harm to the participants
!. .hether there is informed consent
#. .hether the participants* privacy has been invaded
$. .hether the researcher has had to deceive those involved.
Thus, the term ethical and moral may be used interchangeably to refer to rules of proper conduct,
although one may prefer to distinguish between them in a context where codified principles are relevant.
%irst obtain informed voluntary consent from their research participants. /nformed consent is the
procedure by which individuals choose whether or not to participate in an experiment after being
presented with information that likely would affect their decision.
Methodological problems in Cross-cultural Research
,omparative management research can be defined as studies comparing organi0ations in different
cultures which are designed to identify similar and different aspects of organi0ations in cultures around
the world 12lder, 34#5. The main purpose of this type of research, according to 2dler, is to develop
e6uivalent theories of social behaviors within work settings in cultures around the world 1op cit5. The
purpose of cross-national organi0ational research is to understand the impact of environmental
characteristics on organi0ations, their members and relationships within those organi0ations 17oberts and
8oyacigiller5. ,ross-cultural research as research has culture as its main independent or dependent
variable but not as an extraneous and9or residual variable 1:asif, 2l-+aeja, (brahimi ; Thibodeaux,
335. The problem in cross-cultural organi0ational research is the lack ofuniversal organi0ational
theories.