[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/ Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

National Cultures, Information Search Behaviors and the Attribution Process of Cross-National Managers: A Conceptual Framework

  • Published:
Teaching Business Ethics

Abstract

Cross-cultural management researchers haveobserved that when presented with similarethical dilemmas and problems, managers raisedin different cultural environments exhibitdivergence in their perceptions,interpretations, and eventual solutions. Whydoes this happen? Our framework attempts tointegrate theoretical concepts from theinternational management and organizationalbehavior literature to explain variances inmanagerial information search patterns andattribution processing arising due to nationalcultural differences.

Based on the work of Trompenaars,Hampden-Turner, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, wepropose that managers belong to one of twotypes of national cultures. The firstemphasizes Universalism, Specificity, andDominance over nature (USD) while the secondassigns importance to Particularism,Diffuseness, and Subjugation (PDS). When facedwith a situation/dilemma, which may have anethical component, USD and PDS managers differwhen it comes to:

The weighting, importance and amount of emphasis placed on the three types of information (Consistency, Consensus, and Distinctiveness) used to make attributions.

A tendency to focus heavily on those information types, or alternately, to search for external environmental factors.

Thus, the above process guides the manager's attribution process to assign causality of an event to either the primary actor(s) involved OR to factors in the external environment.

Managers in different cultures may examine asituation, and through the attribution process,arrive at completely different conclusionsregarding whether an action is unethical, orwhether ethics even have a role. Our frameworkwill enable managers to understand the impactof cultural differences in dealing with ethicalsituations involving multiple cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
£29.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Abramson, L. Y., M. E. P. Seligman and J. D. Teasdale: 1978, 'Learned Helplessness in Humans: Critique and Reformulation', Journal of Abnormal Psychology 87, 49–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adler, N.: 1986, International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, Kent, Boston, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arunthanes,W., P. Tansuhaj and D. J. Lemak: 1994, 'Cross-Cultural Business Gift Giving', International Marketing Review 11, 44–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blakely, G. L.: 1993, 'The Effects of Performance Rating Discrepancies on Supervisors and Subordinates', Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 54(1), 57–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J. J.: 1994, 'Good Ethics is Good for Business: Ethical Attributions and Response to Environmental Advertising', Journal of Business Ethics 13(11), 873–887.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbins, G. H. and J. M. Russell: 1986a, 'Self-Serving Biases in Leadership: A Laboratory Experiment', Journal of Management 12(4), 475–483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbins, G. H. and J. M. Russell: 1986b, 'The Biasing Effects of Subordinate Likableness on Leaders' Responses to Poor Performers: A Laboratory and a Field Study', Personnel Psychology 39(4), 759–777.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eastman, K. K.: 1994, 'In the Eyes of the Beholder: An Attributional Approach to Integration and Organizational Citizenship Behavior', Academy of Management Journal, 37(5), 1379–1392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadil, P. A.: 1995. 'The effect of Cultural Stereotypes on Leader Attributions of Minority Subordinates', Journal of Managerial Issues 7(2), 193–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, G. R., V. L. Yates, D. C. Gilmore and K. M. Rowland: 1985, 'The Influence of Subordinate Age on Performance Ratings and Causal Attributions', Personnel Psychology 38(3), 545–557.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, J. and D. Goodwin: 1999, 'Ethical Judgments Across Cultures: A Comparison between Business Students from Malaysia and New Zealand', Journal of Business Ethics 18, 267–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopalan, S. and J. Rivera: 1997, 'Gaining a Perspective on Indian Value Orientations: Implications for Expatriate Managers', The International Journal of Organizational Analysis 5, 156–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, S. G. and R. C. Liden: 1980, 'Contextual and Attributional Influences on Control Decisions', Journal of Applied Psychology 65(4), 453–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargrett, N. T.: 1981, 'Potential Behavioral Consequences of Attributions of Locus of Control', Journal of Applied Psychology 66(1), 63–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heider, F.: 1958, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, John Wiley and Sons, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G.: 1993, 'Cultural Constraints in Management Theories', Academy of Management Executive 7, 81–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G.: 1994, 'Management Scientists are Human', Management Science 1, 4–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D. and S. Vitell: 1986, 'A General Theory of Marketing Ethics', Journal of Macromarketing (Spring) 8, 5–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B. H.: 2000, 'The Impact of National Culture on Software Piracy', Journal of Business Ethics 26, 197–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. and M. C. Artola.: 1997, 'Ethical Beliefs and Management Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Comparison', Journal of Business Ethics 16 1163–1173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H.: 1967, 'Attribution Theory in Social Psychology', in D. Levine (ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H.: 1971, Attribution in Social Interaction, General Learning Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H.: 1972, Causal Schemata and the Attribution Process, General Learning Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H.: 1973, 'The Process of Causal Attribution', American Psychologist 28, 107–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H. and J. L. Michela: 1980, 'Attribution Theory and Research', Annual Review of Psychology 31, 457–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaas, B. S. and H. N. Wheeler: 1990, 'Managerial Decision Making about Employee Discipline: A Policy-Capturing Approach', Personnel Psychology 43(1), 117–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kluckhohn, F. and F. Strodtbeck: 1961, Variations in Value Orientations, Row, Peterson, Evanston, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinko, M. J. and N. F. Thomson: 1998, 'A Synthesis and Extension of the Weiner and Kelley Attribution Models', Basic and Applied Social Psychology 20(4) 271–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. R. and L. S. Kalb: 1982, 'Effects of Job Experience on Supervisor Attributions for a Subordinate's Poor Performance', Journal of Applied Psychology 67(2), 181–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. R. and L. S. Kalb: 1981, 'Effects of Outcome Knowledge and Outcome Valence on Supervisors' Evaluations', Journal of Applied Psychology 66(5), 604–612.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. R. and R. E. Wood: 1980, 'Supervisor's Responses to Subordinate Poor Performance: A Test of an Attributional Model', Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 25(1), 123–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C. and P. A. Fadil.: 1999, 'Ethical Decision Making in Multinational Organizations: A Culture-Based Model', Journal of Business Ethics 19 385–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slamet, S. S. and R. W. Armstrong: 2001, 'Microcultural Differnces and Perceived Ethical Problems: An International Business Perspective', Journal of Business Ethics 30 41–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trompenaars, F.: 1994, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trompenaars, F.: 1996, 'Resolving International Conflict: Culture and Business Strategy', Business Strategy Review 7, 51–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsui, J. and C. Windsor: 2001, 'Some Cross-cultural Evidence on Ethical Reasoning', Journal of Business Ethics 31, 143–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitell, S., S. Nwachukwu and J. Barnes: 1993, 'The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making: An Application of Hofstede's Typology', Journal of Business Ethics 12 753–760.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R.: 2001, 'Ethics Programs in Global Businesses: Culture's Role in Managing Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 30, 3–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B.: 1985, 'An Attributional Theory of Achievement Motivation and Emotion', Psychological Review 92, 548–573.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wines, W. and N. Napier: 1992, 'Toward and Understanding of Cross-Cultural Ethics: A Tentative Model', Journal of Business Ethics 11, 831–841.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abbott Turner College of Business, Columbus State University, 4225 University Avenue, Columbus, GA, 31907-5645

    Suresh Gopalan & Neal Thomson

Authors
  1. Suresh Gopalan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Neal Thomson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gopalan, S., Thomson, N. National Cultures, Information Search Behaviors and the Attribution Process of Cross-National Managers: A Conceptual Framework. Teaching Business Ethics 7, 313–328 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025029421972

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025029421972

Keywords

Search

Navigation