Cultural Constraints on Transfer of Technology Across Nations: Implications for Research in International and Comparative Management

Abstract

Cultural variations across nations and organizational culture-based differences between organizations that are involved in the transfer of various kinds of technologies are considered two major factors that influence the success of transfer. Relevant contributions from crosscultural studies on management and organizations are integrated into the literature on organizational culture and diffusion of innovations, and a conceptual model is developed. Implications for researchin international and comparative management are discussed.

Uncertainty Avoidance and Innovative Differences in a Multi-ethnic Society: A Female Perspective

“…Societies with high uncertainty avoidance have been said to prefer well-structured mechanistic organisations which provide security, stability and clearly-specified job specifications; low uncertainty avoidance societies, on the other hand, are believed to welcome challenges and the opportunity to be creative. As such, uncertainty avoidance has often been linked to innovation (Kedia and Bhagat, 1988;Saffu, 2003). According to Saffu (2003), uncertainty avoidance reflects the extent to which ambiguous situations are tolerated and that 'low uncertainty avoidance cultures are inherently more anxious about taking risks than high uncertainty avoidance ones.'…”

Work Culture In Developing Countries: Implica tions For Performance Management

“…Masculinity denotes &dquo;the extent to which the dominant values in society are 'masculine' that is, assertiveness, the acquisition of money and things, and not caring for others, the quality of life, or people&dquo; ( 1980, p. 46 j. Using these dimensions, Jaeger and Kanungo (1990) have characterised the socio-cultural environment of the developing countries, when compared to the developed countries, as relatively high on Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance; and relatively low on Individualism and Masculinity. An additional dimension-&dquo;abstractive versus associative thinking&dquo; (Glenn & Glenn, 1981), has been /143 suggested by Kedia and Bhagat (1988) to be useful in understanding the cultural differences between the developed and developing countries. According to Kedia and Bhagat, &dquo;In associative cultures, people utilize associations among events that may not have much logical basis, whereas in abstractive cultures, cause-effect relationships or rational Judeo-Christian types of thinking are dominant&dquo; (1988, p. 566).…”

Towards an Alternative Approach to IT Planning in Non-Western Environments

“…Despite I their claim to "universality", most of the existing theories and normative models are mere extensions of western models, which are transposed in a linear fashion onto the 'international' scene (Tayeb, 2001;Kedia & Bhagat, 1988). In IT management, the seminal work by Hofstede (1980;200 l), was used by many researchers to account for the impact of national cultures on various dimensions of IT management (see Aladwani, 2001;Palvia, 1997).…”