The Role of Espoused National Cultural Values in Cross-National Cultural IS Studies

Hofstede’s work on national culture has been extensively used in cross-national studies in the information systems discipline. In particular, many cross-national cultural researchers have used Hofstede’s cultural index. This study argues that espoused national cultural values should be measured when the unit of analysis of the cross-national cultural study is the individual. This study reviews cross-national studies published in eight IS journals and examines both cross-national studies and cross-national cultural studies. After that, this work provides rationales of why espoused national cultural values should be measured. Finally, we conclude that espoused national culture is more appropriate for individual behavior research

Three Research Essays on the Effects of Culture Across IT Diffusion Within Social Networks, Organizations, and Hospitals

This dissertation focuses on two research streams: IT diffusion and culture, and each can be examined in various contexts. Specifically, this study investigates IT diffusion through online social network use, knowledge sharing towards the general organizational information systems, and hospital information systems usage. In terms of culture, espoused national cultural values, IT occupational subculture, and organizational cultural variables are examined in the following essays. Essay1: Espoused National Cultural Values and Online Social Network Use: Towards an Extension of UTAUT Prior research has developed a number of models for examining the acceptance and use of technology. This paper extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) beyond the established demographic and contextual variables. Building upon research from social psychology and technology adoption, our proposed model incorporated three constructs into UTAUT: information privacy concerns, hedonic motivation, and relationship expectancy. Motivated by research where individual differences were shown to moderate the relationships of the UTAUT model, this paper investigated the effect of espoused national culture values on social network adoption. Integrating these findings into UTAUT, we formulated a model to examine the individual use of social network sites. Using data from 379 respondents, the model explained over seventy percent of the variance in intentions to use online social networks. Overall, all hypotheses were supported. The findings from this research generated both theoretical and practical implications. Essay2: Development and Testing of a Scale to Measure the Effect of IT Occupational Subculture on Knowledge Sharing within Organization Personnel Based on an existing conceptual framework in culture, this study developed a scale to measure IT occupational subculture. The relationship between the occupational subculture of information technology personnel and knowledge sharing in organizations was investigated. It was suggested that knowledge sharing among IT personnel and business end-users was positively affected by some elements of IT occupational subculture. Overtime, IT occupational subculture is positively affected by knowledge sharing among IT personnel and business end-users. Drawing upon cross-cultural psychology, the study presented one possible approach through which occupational subculture manifests at the organizational level of analysis and impacts the knowledge sharing process. In doing so, behaviors related to knowledge sharing and IT diffusion at the organizational level were better understood beyond the limitations of previous IT diffusion studies. Essay3: Differentiating Eustress from Distress: An Examination of Stress Associated with HIS Use across Organizational Culture An interesting but not yet investigated research issue is why some users complain that they are tired of using information systems while some other users actively embrace the use of such systems in their daily routine, and that this taste and associated behavior varies from person to person. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, a framework was developed to explore the antecedents of distress (negative stress) and eustress (positive stress). This study was based within the context of using hospital information systems (HIS) and we investigated two different psychological processes that played a role in the development of HIS-use strain and motivation. Additionally, espoused organizational cultural values were found to be antecedents of perceived HIS-enabled job resources (literacy support, technical support provision, technology involvement facilitation, and innovation support). While HIS-enabled job resources were positively related to eustress, HIS-enabled job demands (HIS-complexity, HIS-overload, and HIS-uncertainty) were positively related to distress. Furthermore, HIS-enabled job resource (literacy support) was found to buffer the intensity and outcome of HIS-enabled use demands - distress

Learning to negotiate reality: a strategy for teaching intercultural competencies

Managers in a global business environment work with people who have different values, behavioral norms, and ways of perceiving reality. Team members bring their different national and professional backgrounds to the table, and suppliers and clients come from different corporate cultures. Consequently, intercultural competencies have become important for a wider range and larger number of people in business than ever before. In order to prepare students to become effective in the multiple cultural contexts they will face, business educators must clarify what constitutes intercultural competencies and how to develop them within the context of a business school classroom. In this paper we present the idea of learning to negotiate reality as a core intercultural competence and we describe an approach we designed and used for developing this competence at an international business school in Europe. -- Die Fähigkeit, mit Menschen aus unterschiedlichen nationalen, professionellen, ethnischen und organisationellen Kulturen zu arbeiten wird immer wichtiger. Sei es in Projektgruppen mit Mitgliedern aus verschiedenen Ländern und mehreren Funktionsbereichen, sei es in Verhandlungen mit Kunden und Lieferanten: kulturell geprägte Werte und Verhaltensnormen beeinflussen die Erwartungen über Ziele und Vorgehensweisen und können zu Missverständnissen und Konflikten führen. Interkulturelle Kompetenz, im Sinne der Fähigkeit, ein gemeinsames Verständnis einer Situation auszuhandeln (negotiating reality) gewinnt in Organisationen immer mehr an Bedeutung. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt wie diese Kompetenz im Rahmen eines drei- bis viertägigen Seminars entwickelt werden kann. Die relevanten Theorien werden dargestellt und an einem ausgewählten Fall illustrativ angewandt.

Cross-Cultural Analysiis of European e-Government Adoption

In terms of adoption, the topic of e-government has focused on the supply side (or government-related issues) such as strategies and policy, challenges, technical issues, evaluation of the usability of e-government Websites; however, less attention has been given to the demand (or citizen’s) perspective. Recent studies of the citizen adoption of e-government services suggest that trust, security, and transparency are the major issues for e-government adoption. The aim of this study was to explore whether cross-national differences in the adoption of e-government (Internet users who visited public authorities’ websites in last three months to obtain information, download, and file forms) are associated with differences among national cultures as described in Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions (Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance and Long-Term Orientation).e-government; e-government adoption; European e-government; European Culture; Cross-cultural difference

Cultural Change Following International Acquisitions: Cohabiting the Tension Between Espoused and Practiced Cultures

This paper explores post-acquisition cultural change following international acquisitions. Despite the acknowledged complexity of the cultural encounter in acquisitions, less is known about cultural change following acquisitions by global organizations where a tension between espoused vs. practiced cultures co-exists. Our study leads us to identify the drivers, outcomes and directions of post-acquisition cultural change amid such contexts. In contrast to a seemingly singular, monolithical perspective, we present post-acquisition cultural change as a dyadic, bipolar process, whereby acquired firms cohabit the space between espoused and practiced values. Reflecting the acquirer’s cultural regime, targets align with either the acquirer’s espoused or practiced culture. Further, whereas previous research parallels cultural change with explicit initiatives, we find that cultural change results from all post-acquisition integration activity. Given the power of practiced over espoused culture, the findings call for recognition that in global organizations leveraging culture goes beyond leveraging values only. The findings are based on a large-scale qualitative research program, wherein eight international acquisitions conducted by four Finnish, globally-operating industrial acquirers were studied, totalling 166 interviews

The Behavioral Equivalence of Organizational Culture

Three decades of organizational cultural (OC) studies have seen change in both content and emphasis. This paper presents findings from an extensive review of literature on OC and highlights the relevance of OC with respect to individual, organizational, intra-organizational, industry and external environment related variables. The concept of organizational culture (OC) has traditionally focused on values and beliefs and has been considered to be relatively stable and enduring. But literature is less sanguine about the reciprocal evolution of culture through behaviors. This paper presents a behavioral perspective on OC and contributes to its emerging dynamic aspect. A behavioral model of OC is suggested and propositions are drawn to explain the dynamics involved.

Negotiating reality as an approach to intercultural competence

In an increasingly global business environment, managers must interact effectively with people who have different values, behavioral norms, and ways of perceiving reality. Many jobs now entail an international dimension, so the need to develop intercultural competences has taken on a greater importance for more people in business than ever before. Intercultural competence is the ability to recognize and use cultural differences as a resource for learning and for generating effective responses in specific contexts. We conceive of this as negotiating reality. The approach draws on concepts from international management, sociology, crosscultural psychology, action science and conflict resolution. -- In einer zunehmend globalisierten Umwelt müssen Führungskräfte immer häufiger mit Menschen aus anderen Kulturen zusammenzuarbeiten, die unterschiedliche Wertevorstellungen haben, verschiedene Verhaltensnormen pflegen und ihre jeweils eigene Wahrnehmung der Realität haben. Damit steigt der Bedarf an interkultureller Kompetenz, der Fähigkeit, kulturelle Unterschiede als Lernressourcen zu erkennen und für die jeweilige Situation adäquate Lösungen zu erarbeiten und einzusetzen. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt einen innovativen Ansatz, den wir negotiating reality nennen, der sich aus unterschiedlichen Theoriebereichen, u.a. dem internationalen Management, der Soziologie, der interkulturellen Psychologie, und der Konfliktforschung speist.

Does Culture Affect the Usage of Digital Disruption Innovations: A Study Using Instagram

Online social networks are growing rapidly. As people from all over the world can use these sites without any geographic boundaries, it becomes difficult for organizations to predict user behavior. Prior literature revealed that most previous studies focused on a single culture and on a single social networking site, mainly Facebook. Also, even if there were cross-national cultural studies, they were primarily based on Hofstede’s cultural index scores. In this study, we focus on espoused national cultural values in the usage of Instagram. We propose a model and conduct a pilot test. Results indicate that people who espouse more collectivistic values tend to use Instagram more frequently and are more likely to share more posts

What is Organisational Culture and How Can IT Be Managed Effectively

Budaya organisasi merupakan salah satu faktor penting yang menentukan kesuksesan suatu organisasi dan memiliki dampak jangka panjang terhadap kinerja organisasi tersebut. Nilai, cerita dan pahlawan merupakan elemen-elemen yang saling berkaitan dalam membentuk budaya suatu organisasi. Budaya organisasi yang kuat bisa menjadi kekuatan penggerak sekaligus bisa meningkatkan motivasi karyawan-karyawan sehingga mereka akan memiliki persepsi dan sikap yang sama dalam mencapai tujuan organisasi. Dengan demikian, karyawan akan memiliki komitmen yang tinggi terhadap organisasi tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, suatu organisasi harus mampu mengelola budaya organisasinya dengan efektif sehingga tujuan organisasi bisa tercapai dengan sukses

Examining the moderating effect of individual-level cultural values on users’ acceptance of E-learning in developing countries: a structural equation modeling of an extended technology acceptance model

In this study, we examine the effects of individual-level culture on the adoption and acceptance of e-learning tools by students in Lebanon using a theoretical framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). To overcome possible limitations of using TAM in developing countries, we extend TAM to include subjective norms (SN) and quality of work life constructs as additional constructs and a number of cultural variables as moderators. The four cultural dimensions of masculinity/femininity (MF), individualism/collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were measured at the individual level to enable them to be integrated into the extended TAM as moderators and a research model was developed based on previous literature. To test the hypothesised model, data were collected from 569 undergraduate and postgraduate students using e-learning tools in Lebanon via questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique in conjunction with multi-group analysis. As hypothesised, the results of the study revealed perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), SN and quality of work life to be significant determinants of students’ behavioural intention (BI) towards e-learning. The empirical results also demonstrated that the relationship between SN and BI was particularly sensitive to differences in individual-cultural values, with significant moderating effects observed for all four of the cultural dimensions studied. Some moderating effects of culture were also found for both PU and PEOU, however, contrary to expectations the effect of quality of work life was not found to be moderated by MF as some previous authors have predicted. The implications of these results to both theory and practice are explored in the paper