IntroductionTHE difficulties encountered by headquarters personnel who manage overseas branches are a central problem of multinational corporations.l Differences between the environment of the headquarters (parent country organization) and that of the subsidiary (host country organization), impose serious constraints on managerial behaviour. These differences frequently make it necessary for headquarters to reshape its managerial style and content to fit the local branch requirements. Adaptations must be made to suit specific conditions in many spherespolitical, legal, economic, international, as well as cultural.The role played by cultural differences is a controversial issue in the management literature. Reports vary in their conclusions between:( I ) Those which de-emphasiTe the influence of cultural differences on expec-( 2 ) Those which remgnixe the effect of culture but warn against attributing ( 3 ) Those which emphasixe the central importance of the effect of c u l t~r e .~ tations and behaviour in complex organizations. to it greater importance than is empirically warranted.3 Richman, Barry M. and &pen, Melvin, International Management and Economic Development, Wire, M., et al., Managerial Tbin&nj: An Intrmotional Study, New York Wiley, 1966. Both studies found that there were many similarities across nationalities. Yet, there were also differences which patterned in clusters of countries, suggesting the effect of cultural differences in their conclusions. The former emphasized the differences and the latter the similarities. 3 Ajiferuke, Musbau and Boddewyn, J., 'Culture and Other Explanatory Variables in Comparative Management Studies', Academy flMunagement]oml,
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