Looking at African Value System through Cultural Dimensions: How Do African Countries Culturally Differ Among Themselves and from the United States?

The study through a variety of cultural dimensions, measures the cultural differences and similarities of four different African countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. The national cultures of the four African countries are analyzed through a methodology for systematically assessing cultural differences. The African countries are compared with that of the United States of America. The output of the study clearly shows that there are cultural differences among the African countries as well as between the African countries and the United States. African respondents demonstrated significantly higher cultural traits in collective & hieratical relations, being/feeling & risk avoidance related activities, in categorization of human nature as good or bad as well in subjugative relations to their environments than respondents of U.S. origin. The study also found that cultural variations exist among certain demographic groups within African countries

A comparative analysis of cultural value orientations of Polish and Turkish employees:implications for international human resource management

This study empirically compares and contrasts the cultural value orientations of employees from Poland and Turkey by testing the compatibility of their values in three stages through seven cultural dimensions. The first phase of the study deals with the assessment of inter-country cultural value differences; the second phase investigates the intra-country cultural dynamics between selected demographic groups; and the third phase examines the inter-country cultural differences among the selected demographic groups of employees. The research has been conducted adopting the Maznevski, DiStephano, and Nason's (1995) version of cultural perspectives questionnaire with a sample of 744 (548 Polish and 196 Turkish) respondents. The results show significant cultural differences between Poland and Turkey, a presence of cultural dynamics among certain demographic groups within the country, and a mixture of convergence and divergence in the value systems of certain demographic groups both within and between the two nation(s). The research findings convey important messages to international human resource strategists in order for them to employ an effective and rational employment policy and business negotiation approach(es) to effectively operate in these countries. It also highlights that diversity of cultural values not only requires viewing each of them through cultural dimensions at a macro-level with a cross-country reference, but also requires monitoring their dynamics at the micro-level with reference to controlled demographic groups

Who is talent? Implications of talent definitions for talent management practice

Although talent is considered imperative for gaining a competitive advantage, talent management programs’ effectiveness is unknown. It is believed that consensus on a strong theoretical underpinning for identifying talent and its general definition is yet to be achieved among academia and practitioners. This lack of integration and agreement on a single definition among scholars lead to more confusion which inhibits the advancement of talent management scholarship. The notion also requires renewed attention in the post-pandemic era because everything may not go back to normal as pre-pandemic. This study addresses the gap and focuses on reviewing the existing scholarship on talent definitions and its conceptualization in one place. The study also aims to present the potential implications of talent definition on talent management practices. Among the various implications discussed, it is argued that a single approach to talent definition makes the company vulnerable as it is not using the full potential of talent management. Finally, based on this in-depth review, the study will highlight potential critical research areas towards which the scholarship of talent may be extended

A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Value Orientations of Indians and Migrant Indians in the USA

Understanding the cultural value systems of nations is a key factor in anticipating the behaviour of business managers and employees in a specific business environment. Many research studies have acknowledged the impact of culture on communication across nations and its impact on business operations, however no study has attempted to measure and quantify the cultural orientations of people originating from one nation, but working in two different national settings. This study adopted Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's framework to examine cultural dimensions of a total of 580 Indian respondents comprising two groups: 429 Indian natives living and working in India and 151 Indian migrants living and working in the USA. It initially compares the cultural orientations of the total population of each of the two groups and then examines cultural differences in the same based on demographic characteristics consisting of occupation, gender, age, and level of education. The study found significant cultural value differences between the two groups on both levels of analysis. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in detail