IJMB Journal – Abstracts
International Journal of Management and Business
IJMB Volume III, Issue 2
A New Approach to the Study of Cultural Diversity which Transcends Stereotypes
Charles Hampden-Turner and Raymond Ferris Abelin
Institute for Manufacturing, Cambridge University.
chuckht@aol.com, hampden@cantab.net
ABSTRACT
Ways of measuring culture in the American social sciences are not “culture free”. We use the preferences and biases which are part of our culture. Most prominent among these is the habit of dichotomizing polarities, so that cultures are deemed to operate at the far ends of dimensions in an either-or mode. A cultural paradigm is a pattern we take for granted before research begins and is not itself questioned. This paper questions it. Nations tend to believe that wealth is created by the cultures they prefer and admire, so that in effect business scholarship in US culture may still be used as a paradigm in other cultures. In this paper we examine the way other nations think to see if this is not equally legitimate. A new form of measurement that transcends East-West differences is suggested.
Keywords: Culture, polarity, diversity, stereotyping, entrepreneurship.
Click for full manuscript (PDF) or back to Volume 3-2, Table of Content.