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Previous research has identified goal setting as an important determinant of the performance of teams with innovative tasks. This study aims to further the understanding of how teams successfully perform goal setting given the collaborative nature of innovative projects. The authors argue that the quality of teamwork serves as an important facilitator to the successful enactment of goal setting in team projects. Using data from 575 members, leaders, and managers of 145 software development teams, they test direct and moderated relationships between goal setting and effectiveness (quality) and efficiency (schedule, budget). Results indicate that goal setting is directly related to both effectiveness and efficiency. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses show that teamwork quality moderates these relationships. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This study examines an often-ignored area, namely the relationship between organizational information and organizational commitment, using a sample of employees from Trinidad and Tobago. Basing our arguments on research in Anglo cultures, we postulated that organization information would be positively related to organizational commitment and the latter mediates the relationship between organization information and job satisfaction. Furthermore, we also predicted that job satisfaction would mediate the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Finally, it was hypothesized that job alternatives will moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to quit. The hypothesized relationships yielded mostly significant results. The latter is not surprising given that Trinidad and Tobago's cultural context is fairly similar to Anglo cultures. We discuss both theoretical and practical implications of our findings in the context of cross cultural management.

In spite of the popularity of institutional explanations of organizational form, most international management research uses dimensions of national culture to explain cross-national differences in individual work centrality. In this study, we show that social institutions explain variance in work centrality in addition to Hofstede's (2001) dimensions of national culture. Using individual-level data from 30,270 interview respondents from the World Value Survey and institutional data for their 26 countries, we developed hypotheses to investigate whether selected social institutions (i.e., socialism, union strength, educational accessibility, social inequality, and industrialization) affect individual work centrality. We tested our cross-level hypotheses using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Findings showed that all of the social institutional variables studied predicted lower work centrality.

To date there has been little to no widespread, universally accepted and theoretically driven examination of what an emerging market is and how best to capture its principle characteristics. Major international organizations, institutions, and scholars, all classify these countries utilizing a multitude of different perspectives. Applying institutional theory as a framework yet bowing to the unique pervasiveness of culture research, this study develops a more nuanced reclassification of emerging markets. Utilizing cluster analysis and dendogram interpretation, the application of this multidimensional and multidisciplinary framework results in eight categories of emerging markets and shows how social, political, economic, and spatial can contribute to the emergent status of a country. This study also serves as a vehicle to show how both the institutional and culturalists perspectives on international business management and strategy can be combined. These theoretically grounded findings from the study provide new boundary conditions for national contexts to be applied in future international business research and further inform international management and strategy stakeholders of a means to reduce the clouds of uncertainty surrounding these countries.

Abstract


As more universities provide on‐line education to an increasingly international audience, there is a need to adapt these on‐line programmes to satisfy cross‐cultural needs.


This paper emphasizes on‐line course delivery and suggests possible cultural adaptations based on Hofstede's (2001) popular cultural dimensions.


In terms of on‐line design, it is proposed here that more formal and hierarchical imagery such as logos and leaders for high power distance web sites is used, and more artistic and aesthetic designs for feminine societies and more operational freedom for high individualist countries.


With respect to facilitative information, it is recommended that as much precise instructions and detailed guidance on assignments and strict timetables be provided for students in high uncertainty avoidance countries.


It is recommended that group assignments are carefully designed to stress equity, for example individual goals, in more individualist societies while emphasizing equality, such as equal grades, in more collectivist societies.


Finally, we suggest that on‐line instructors provide more definitive and assertive feedback in high power distance societies.


Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this article, we develop a new approach to further understand cross-national differences in work values by examining the effects of post-industrialization, an important social institution, on work values. We hypothesize that post-industrialization is positively related to intrinsic work values and negatively related to extrinsic work values. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling, we control for national culture and test our hypotheses on 30,974 individuals from 25 countries. Results showed partial support for our hypotheses. Specifically, we find that post-industrialization is negatively related to both extrinsic and intrinsic work values. We discuss the counterintuitive findings for intrinsic work values. However, the study provides support for our fundamental assertion that social institutions, and in our case, post-industrialization, are important in understanding cross-national differences in work values. We discuss the implications of our study for future research and for practicing managers.

Although the existing literature contends that religious beliefs have a strong impact on work values, few studies have examined the relationship. Given the sustained importance of religion in most societies and the growing diversity of the US population, companies are finding an increasing need to understand religion in the workplace. The current research uses data from 44,030 individuals in 39 countries to investigate the influence of the world's four major religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam on extrinsic and intrinsic work values. Controlling for important variables such as age, gender, and education, results generally support the posited hypotheses, confirming that religion is positively related to work values. Specifically, we find that all religions except Christianity show a positive relationship with extrinsic work values. Furthermore, we find that all four religions show a positive relationship with intrinsic work values. We also find that those who report no religious affiliation also view work values positively. We suggest that these results are perhaps a result of the converging effects of globalization. This article makes an important contribution to the literature by examining a large sample covering the world's major religions. The findings suggest that most religions view work in a positive light. Such findings are important as more multinationals attempt to manage an increasingly diverse workforce worldwide.

ABSTRACTIndividuals' knowledge networks are widely considered to contribute substantially to the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations. While the positive effects of knowledge networks as a primary driver of social capital have recently received considerable research attention, potential determinants of individuals' network building have not yet been adequately addressed. In this study, we investigate how certain team‐level properties affect team members' development of knowledge networks through the course of a team project. Using data from 430 team leaders and team members pertaining to 145 software development projects, we test cross‐level hypotheses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results indicate that the team's perception of the organizational knowledge‐sharing climate, the team's networking preference, and the team's perceived importance of networking for project success positively affect individuals' network building. Furthermore, a team's perception of the adequacy of its technical competency and a team's perception of the adequacy of its material resources inhibit team members' individual network development. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

This research considers important social institutions (e.g., the economic system, the level of industrialization, the level of social inequality, and the degree of religiosity) as determinants of individuals' justifications to commit socially sanctioned behaviors. Using factor analyses on data from 32,734 individuals located in 27 nations, we find that regardless of country, all individuals group 23 socially sanctioned behaviors uniformly in three categories, which we term controversial behaviors (e.g., abortion), peccadilloes (e.g., keeping money found), and illegal behaviors (e.g., political assassinations). We used Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to test the country-level effects of the social institutions on individuals' ability to justify these three types of sanctioned behaviors. The results confirm that the social institutions influence individuals' justifications of sanctioned behaviors, above and beyond important individual-level control variables included in the HLM analyses. The economic system (degree of socialism) and the level of industrialization show positive effects on all three types of sanctioned behaviors. Social inequality has a positive effect on illegal behaviors and peccadilloes, but a negative effect on controversial behaviors. Religiosity affects illegal behaviors positively and controversial behaviors negatively with no significant influence on peccadilloes.

In this article, we examine the relationship of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness national culture dimensions with the willingness of 27,459 individuals located in 21 nations to justify ethically suspect behaviors. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), a technique well suited for cross-level studies, is employed to test the hypothesized relationships from data made available by the World Values Survey. Results support our hypotheses with regard to performance orientation, assertiveness, institutional collectivism and humane orientation. However, results surprisingly reject our hypotheses on power distance and uncertainty avoidance. We discuss these counterintuitive findings and elaborate on the study's implications for both research and practice.