Crosscultural Application of the Situational Theory

1
Cross-cultural Application of the Situational
Theory

• Lan Ni
• University of Maryland

2
Introduction

• To explore the influence of culture on the
  applicability of the situational theory to
  employee publics in a culture different from the
  U.S.

3
Conceptualization

• Situational theory
• Societal culture
• Power distance, uncertainty avoidance,
  individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity
  , long- vs. short-term orientation (Hofstede,
  2001)
• Organizational culture
• Participative vs. authoritarian
• Need for cognition (NFC)
• The tendency for an individual to engage in and
  enjoy thinking (Cacioppo Petty, 1982)

4
Potential Areas for Exploration

• The validity of the three variables
• Do the same three variables exist?
• The meaning of the three variables
• Do people in another culture perceive the
  concepts of problem, constraint, and involvement
  in the same way?
• The level of three variables
• e.g., do people in another culture recognize same
  problems?
• Linkages between cultural dimensions and the
  independent variables
• Power distance level of involvement/constraint
  recognition
• Uncertainty avoidance constraint recognition
• Authoritarian organizational culture constraint
  recognition

5
RQs and Hypotheses

• RQ1 What types of employee publics will the
  situational theory identify in multinational
  organizations in China, a culture vastly
  different from the United States?
• RQ2 Is it possible to identify the same three
  variables among these publics?
• RQ3 What differences in peoples understanding
  of three variables, if any, will emerge?
• H1 High power distance will be correlated to low
  level of involvement and high constraint
  recognition.
• H2 High uncertainty avoidance will be correlated
  to high constraint recognition.
• H3 Authoritarian organizational culture will be
  correlated to high constraint recognition.