Title: How can research on culture in international business be made more interesting?

Authors: Snejina Michailova; Nigel J. Holden

Addresses: Department of Management and International Business, The University of Auckland Business School, Private Bag 92019, 1142 Auckland, New Zealand ' Centre for International Business University of Leeds, Leeds University Business School, Maurice Keyworth Building, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

Abstract: This paper looks at a particular feature of international business (IB) research on culture that seems to be, on reflection, a curious omission from existing reviews and analyses - its potential for interestingness. To tackle this issue, we ponder two interconnected issues that sociologists and management scholars have wrestled with for quite some time: namely, what exactly is interesting research and why does it matter? We promote the value of the notion of contextualisation, highlight the need for more research into language and advance the case for research into intracultural variation. Conducting research on these three topics involves a break with national value systems, on the one hand, and the embrace of non-cultural variables, on the other. The current shifts and changes in the world open up new vistas of truly interesting research, at which IB scholars can and indeed should be at the forefront.

Keywords: IB research; culture; interesting research; contextualisation; language; intra-cultural variation.

DOI: 10.1504/EJCCM.2019.097824

European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, 2019 Vol.5 No.1, pp.1 - 12

Received: 22 Jul 2017
Accepted: 14 Oct 2017
Published online: 13 Feb 2019 *

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