The Nature of Managerial Work in Developing Countries: A Limited Test of the Universalist Hypothesis
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Abstract
Is the nature of managerial work universal such that worldwide similarities exist between the activities of managers? We measure the frequency that managers are involved with forty-four skill activities, and then test the universalist hypothesis against two competing hypotheses, situational and convergence. While we find some evidence that refutes the universalist hypothesis, overall we find surprisingly strong support for it, in that the relative frequency with which managers from one stratum of one nation are involved in various skill activities reflects the relative frequency with which managers from other strata within the same nation, and from nations of different cultural-industrialized standing, are involved in the same activities.© 1997 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1997) 28, 711–733