Organizational practices across cultures: An exploration in six cultural contexts

Abstract

This study examined organizational practices in a sample of 1239 employees from various organizations in Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United States. Twenty-four items measuring employee-orientation, formalization, and innovation practices showed a clear factorial structure across all samples, along with good reliabilities. Significant organizational position differences were found for employee-orientation and innovation practices. Sector differences were found for formalization and innovation practices. Cultural differences were found for employee-orientation and innovation practices, which can be explained using macroeconomic indicators, tightness-looseness, and individualism. Our study demonstrates the importance of individual, organizational, economic, and cultural level for understanding perceptions of organizational practices across a wider range of societies