Title: Revisiting Hofstede in the Indian context: understanding the influence of entrepreneurial culture on performance of micro, small and medium enterprises

Authors: P. Prasannavadanan Thampi; Amalendu Jyotishi; Ram Bishu

Addresses: Amrita School of Business, Amrita University, Amritanagar (PO), Ettimadai, Coimbatore-641112, Tamil Nadu, India ' Amrita School of Business, Kasavanahalli (Off. Sarjapur Road), Carmelram (PO), Bangalore – 560 035, India ' Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA

Abstract: The performance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has been closely linked to factors unique to the respective countries or regions, namely, macro environmental factors, firm specific factors and entrepreneurial factors. The influence of macro environmental and firm specific factors on Indian MSMEs has been well researched and documented. The nature and extent of the influence of culture on MSME performance has not yet been largely researched or documented. This paper attempts to see whether the cultural dimensions of entrepreneurs across different regions of India influence the performance of MSMEs. The six dimensional cultural framework identified by Hofstede and the seventh dimension brought out through the validation study done recently by Thampi et al. in the Indian context are used for this study. Quantitative analysis of the inputs on the cultural orientations of MSME entrepreneurs and the enterprise performance parameters established the influence of cultural determinants on enterprise performance.

Keywords: micro, small and medium enterprise; MSME; Hofstede's cultural dimensions; etic; emic; ethnic orientation; step-wise regression; performance; Kerala; Maharashtra; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2018.090220

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2018 Vol.33 No.3, pp.380 - 399

Received: 04 Jun 2016
Accepted: 07 Jul 2016
Published online: 06 Mar 2018 *

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