Role Of Culture On Cross Cultural Interaction

Recently, Bird and Stevens (2003, p.397) discussed the tendency towards the emergence of a globalised business environment, arguing that increasingly an “identifiable and homogenous group is emerging at least within the world business community”. However, the effect of this globalised business environment on cross-cultural interactions has not been researched extensively. Previous studies in the field of cross-cultural research are either based on the assumption that culture is important in the international context (e.g., Hofstede, 2001), or that it is largely overruled by other conditions (e.g., Harris and Ogbonna, 1998). With a few exceptions (e.g., Gibson et al., forthcoming), relatively little is known about the conditions that influence

Research into the role of culture in cross-cultural interactions

Research in the field of cross-cultural management originally evolved around two general lines of inquiry, arguing either that culture matters, or that culture is largely overruled by other conditions. Since Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s seminal work (1961), one approach emphasises the importance of culture in cross-cultural interactions. In this perspective, culture matters because individuals have different values and different preferences with regard to management and leadership, that are related to their cultural background (see e.g., Hofstede,

2001; House et al., 2004). Cultural assumptions and values describe the nature of relationships between people and their environment, and amongst people themselves. Given little or no other information about an individual’s values and behaviour, culture provides a good first impression of that person (Maznevski and Peterson, 1997). Research has shown that national culture influences an individual’s perceptions, behaviour and beliefs (Harrison

More recently, this ongoing discussion as to whether culture matters is influenced by a new view of culture. This new view represents a dynamic view of culture, leading towards the emergence of a globalised business environment (Bird and Stevens, 2003). Following

Hofstede (2001) culture has been seen as a very stable concept that changes quite slowly.

However, political, economic, and technical changes in the 21st century create cultural changes across the world. Globalisation is leading to significant cultural cross-pollination.

Thus, cultures do not operate as uncorrelated independent variables, even though they are often treated like this when studying cross-cultural interactions (Bird and Stevens, 2003,

p.403). In negotiation simulations across various countries, Bird (2002) shows that within the world business community an identifiable and homogenous group is emerging that shares a common set of values, attitudes, norms, and behaviour, which overrule the diverse cultural backgrounds of the individuals involved.

However, a precise and comprehensive understanding of the questions ‘if’, ‘how’, and

‘when’ culture influences cross-cultural interactions is still lacking in the academic, as well