Conceptualizing and isolating cultural differences in performance data in international high-tech industrial markets

In high-technology industrial markets, a shift can be observed from the mer e delivery of industrial products to a total-product-offering, including bo th products and accompanying services. Because of the heterogeneity in buye rs' demands, the measurement of an organization's performance on such total -product-offerings becomes quite difficult. This problem gets even more ser ious when one is trying to compare the relative performance of internationa l subsidiaries, since factors such as cultural differences and their influe nce on how customers report on performance have to be taken into account. T his article attempts to conceptualize cultural differences and uses these f or establishing international equivalence in customer survey data on the pe rformance on a high-tech total-product-offering. The results of an empirica l study reveal that cultural differences indeed influence international per formance measurement After correction for these differences, conclusions ca n be drawn on the relative performance of different subsidiaries. Furthermo re, it is shown that intangible service elements in a high-tech total-produ ct-offering have the strongest influence on customer satisfaction. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.