ANALYZING CROSS-NATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS - A THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

The differential social control embedded in core and periphery values indigenous to a cultural setting, and the availability of resources in that setting, are discussed as critical factors for the effective ada ptation of organizations and management practices transferred across c ultural boundaries. The relationships between these factors and organi zational structure, processes, and behavior, are analyzed and specifie d in a theoretical framework. The framework postulates the importance of congruent or, at least, accommodative relationships between the cor e values dominating the local setting, and those underlying transferre d practices for the effectiveness of ''imported'' organizational pract ices. Four main contingencies of local-imported values' incongruence a re described, and their implications for ''entry'' and ''coping'' stra tegies of cross-national organizations are discussed. The framework al so offers a scheme for generating hypotheses regarding the effects of values on structures and behavior in cross-national organizations. The theoretical and managerial implications of the scheme are discussed a nd illustrated.