Cultural Values, Sources of Guidance, and their Relevance to Managerial Behavior

TLDR

Focusing on sources of guidance offers a more precise basis than generalized value measures for understanding cultural behaviors, and explaining national differences in neglected organizational aspects requires greater sensitivity to culture‑specific contexts. The study uses data from 47 countries to test whether cultural value dimensions from Hofstede, Trompenaars, and Schwartz can predict the specific sources of guidance that managers rely on. Data on how middle managers handle eight specific work events were collected and analyzed to assess the predictive power of these cultural value dimensions. Across 47 countries, cultural values strongly predict reliance on guidance sources tied to vertical relationships but poorly predict reliance on peers or tacit guidance.

Abstract

Data are presented showing how middle managers in 47 countries report handling eight specific work events. The data are used to test the ability of cultural value dimensions derived from the work of Hofstede, Trompenaars, and Schwartz to predict the specific sources of guidance on which managers rely. Focusing on sources of guidance is expected to provide a more precise basis than do generalized measures of values for understanding the behaviors that prevail within different cultures. Values are strongly predictive of reliance on those sources of guidance that are relevant to vertical relationships within organizations. However, values are less successful in predicting reliance on peers and on more tacit sources of guidance. Explaining national differences in these neglected aspects of organizational processes will require greater sensitivity to the culture-specific contexts within which they occur.