CCM
Article
Cross-cultural issues
in business ethics:
A review and research agenda
International Journal of
Cross Cultural
Management
International Journal of
Cross Cultural Management
2021, Vol. 21(1) 95–121
ª The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/1470595821999075
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Natalia Ermasova
Governors State University, USA
Abstract
This paper reports a systematic literature review of articles published over the past 35 years on
cross-cultural issues in business ethics. A screening process resulted in a final sample of 306 papers
in 26 double-blind reviewed journals with an impact factor score of at least 1.0 in the field. This
study uses citation analysis, systematic literature review method, and knowledge-stock analysis.
This study highlights the findings from prior studies, compares and contrasts salient characteristics
and provides directions for future research. This study identifies important gaps between the
literature and the challenges of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. These gaps include lack of
conceptual articles, multi-countries level analysis, and deficiency of comparison analysis between
developed and developing countries. This article proposes to apply virtue ethics and model of
cultural sense-making as some analytical frameworks in the field of cross-cultural issues in business
ethics. This review of the literature could provide managers with a longitudinal perspective on how
the institutional environment and national culture affect business ethics perception of employees.
This paper contributes to the cross-cultural literature on ethical attitudes, helps us better
understand cross-cultural differences in business ethics, and provides directions for further
research.
Keywords
Business ethics, cross-cultural management, culture and values, international business
Introduction
Many researchers suggest that it is important to recognize that comprehensive and extensive
literature reviews on different scholarly topics help to provide directions for further research
(Bird and Osland, 2004; Calabretta et al., 2011; Cavusgil and Das, 1997; Craft, 2013;
Corresponding author:
Natalia Ermasova, Politics and Public Administration Unit, College of Arts and Sciences, Governors State University, C
3340, 1 University Parkway, University Park, IL 60484, USA.
Email: nermasova@govst.edu
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International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 21(1)
Hofstede, 2015; Jonsen et al., 2011; Kolk, 2016; Paul and Benito, 2018; Paul and Singh, 2017;
Paul et al., 2017; Sedziniauskiene et al., 2019; Snyder, 2019, Wilson, 2009). According to
Snyder (2019), “by integrating findings and perspectives from many empirical findings, a
literature review can address research questions with a power that no single study has”
(p. 333). Kolk (2016) highlights three main promising areas to further the field of the international business (IB): “environment; ethics, rights and responsibilities; poverty and sustainable development” (p. 23).
The field of business ethics has the multidimensional (multifaceted) nature. Many scholars
(Calabretta et al., 2011; Ethics and Compliance Initiative (EIC), 2016; Linuesa-Langreo et al.,
2019; Ma, 2009; Ma et al., 2012; Robertson et al., 1999; Uysal, 2010; Vries and Kim, 2011;
Wang et al., 2018; Wood, 2017; Xiao et al., 2017) find the differences in the ethical attitudes of
people from different cultures. The researchers develop new frameworks and promote the
accumulation of knowledge in the domain of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. Gift et al.
(2013: 633) support the importance of research of business ethics in different countries by
emphasizing “the role for ethical perceptions in future research, and further examination and
inquiry into the development and adaptation of ethical perceptions in cross-cultural business
dealings.” They believe that when managers consider a business partnership with a foreign
partner, their decision may be influenced by the different ethical standards across national
culture. Schein (1990) points out that simply telling a person in another culture that an action is
unethical may alienate that person. Ardichvili et al. (2010) write that “the consequences related
to breakdowns in organizational ethics perpetrated by individuals from diverse backgrounds
and cultures are a loss in trust, honesty, and integrity” (p. 426). According to Buller et al.
(2000), there are some commonly shared ethical values and many differences across national
cultures in regards to ethical behavior.
Research indicates there is a relationship between cultural background and ethical attitudes of
people, especially in developed and developing societies (Christie et al., 2003; Ermasova et al.,
2019; Nguyen et al., 2019; Pittroff, 2014; Trongmateerut and Sweeney, 2013; Zhuang et al., 2005)
and that attitudes toward whistleblowing varies significantly among different cultures (Clark et al.,
2020; Fleisher and Schmolke, 2012; Pittroff, 2014; Zhuang et al., 2005). Some scholars indicate that
the people in group-oriented collectivist cultures may be more critical of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices if these practices represent potential threats to the collective (Christie et al., 2003;
Clark et al., 2020; Hwang et al., 2014; Patel, 2003). Hwang et al. (2014) pointed out that individuals
in group-oriented collectivist cultures may be less likely to engage in whistleblowing activities.
Many researchers found that individuals in individualistic and egalitarian cultures like the United
States are more likely to engage in, and be accepting of whistleblowing activities than individuals in
collective, hierarchical cultures like China (Apud et al., 2003; Brody et al., 1998, 1999; Dozier and
Miceli, 1985; Hwang et al., 2014; Patel, 2003; Stahl, 2017; Su et al., 2007). However, there are very
rare studies investigate the business ethics and cultural distinctions, especially those of developed
and developing societies.
Cheng (2007) suggests that the role of country context in research is “a critical issue in the
advancement of the field. To bring balance to the global and local concerns in future research,
we need to pay greater attention to treating country context as ‘analytical variables’, and
incorporate their effects into the analysis of the dependent phenomenon under study” (p. 30).
There is no comprehensive review exploring the methods, variables, and constructs used in
prior studies cross-cultural issues in business ethic based on all the articles published in wellregarded academic journals with an impact factor score of at least 1.0. Many scholars offer
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prescriptive studies attempting to formulate moral norms and determine what ought to be done
(Beauchamp et al., 1997; Bonde and Firenze, 2013; Hite et al., 2015; Posner, 1979; Soltani,
2014; Treviño and Nelson, 2011). Even though recent notable studies (e.g., Alexandra et al.,
2017; Ast, 2019; Christie et al., 2003; Ermasova et al., 2017; Stahl et al., 2017) provide new
dimensions to cross-cultural issues in business ethics research, there are some unexplored areas
where researchers need to pay more attention. This study is the first comprehensive review that
covers 35 years of research on cross-cultural issues in business ethics. This study examined
empirical articles published in leading business and economics journals between the years 1984
and 2018.
The purpose of this paper is to provide deeper insights, which help us to contribute toward the
development of cross-cultural issues of business ethics research field. In this paper, we first
synthesize the current state of the literature and research. We conduct a systematic narrative
review (Jones, 2004; Jonsen et al., 2011), taking into consideration keyword searches of Business
Source Complete, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Oxford Journals, Sage, Academy of
Management journals, ABI/Inform, Ebsco, Emerald, Google Scholar, Springer Link, Web of
Science, and Wiley, and also searched for non- published manuscripts on Econbiz, National
Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), and Social
Science Research Network (SSRN) with particular emphasis on articles that have been cited most
(Web of Science).
Second, this research fills the gap in the literature by reviewing and classifying cross-cultural
studies of business ethics for highlighting the major contributions in journals. Third, this study
provides a citation analysis, to identify and focus on the works recognized as the most influential
and impactful articles and authors by the field. This study maps the intellectual structure of crosscultural issues in business ethics on the basis of changes in citation frequency (which works are
cited more often over time). Finally, through this review and knowledge-stock analysis, we
illustrate the dominant cultural assumptions in business ethics research and identify its limits and
gaps.
Four sections follow. The first section examines the research domain about cross-cultural
studies in business ethics that have developed over roughly the past 35 years. In light of the
significance of business ethics, it is no surprise that there are many views on the topic, not all
consistent with each other. The second section considers the method of analysis. The third section
considers the results of research. The final section identifies important gaps in academic and
practical understanding of cross-cultural studies in business ethics. The article provides a greater
understanding of the use of theories and empirical research of cross-cultural studies in business
ethics and identifies avenues for fruitful future research.
Definitions
Business ethics defines what is “appropriate and not appropriate, acceptable and unacceptable in
perception and behavior, outline moral conduct according to the ideology of a specific group, and
prescribe what humans ought to do” (Ermasova et al., 2018: 359). Cooper (2004: 401) suggests that
ethics is “as much about organizational design as it is about analytical and decision-making skills.”
According to Lawton (1998), “ethics are a set of principles frequently defined as a code of conduct;
that is, a framework for actions” (p. 16). Lewis (1985) proposes a synthesized definition of business
ethics, namely, “business ethics is rules, standards, codes, or principles which provide guidelines for
morally right behavior and truthfulness in specific situations” (p. 377). Cooper (2004) suggests that
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ethics is “as much about organizational design as it is about analytical and decision-making skills”
(p. 401). According to Beauchamp et al. (1997), ethical person with the right motivations is more
likely “to understand what should be done, more likely to be motivated to perform required acts, and
more likely to form and act on moral ideals than a morally bad person” (p. 39). Bowman and Knox
(2008) write that “ethics is more important than any issue. Because ethics provides the preconditions
for the making of good public policy, all policies depend on it” (p. 627).
Theoretical foundation
According to Ermasova et al. (2018), “the influence of cross-cultural differences on the ethics
perception has received great attention in the current empirical literature” (p. 361). The comparative
research shows that business ethics culture perceptions are not universally shared around the world
(Ardichvili et al., 2009, 2010, 2012; Bailey and Spicer, 2007; Cavico and Mujtaba, 2009; DanonLeva et al., 2010; Ermasova et al., 2017; Farazmand et al., 2011; Ford and Richardson, 1994; Jaffe
and Tsimerman, 2005; Jaffe et al., 2018; Kaptein, 2008; Lin, 2002; McCarthy and Puffer, 2008;
Morgan and Neal, 2011; Na, 2000; Robertson et al., 2003, 2008; Valette-Florence, 1998). Ardichvili
et al. (2010) write that “the consequences related to breakdowns in organizational ethics perpetrated
by individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures are a loss in trust, honesty, and integrity;
tarnishing of corporate goodwill and reputation; incurrence of financial penalties and fines (at the
corporate and individual level); and conviction and sentencing of corporate executives and
employees” (p. 426).
Institutional theory (North, 1990; Scott, 1995) has developed as one of the most important
theoretical bases for analyzing the culture perceptions of business ethics in different countries.
Integrative social contracts theory (ISCT) scholars agree that “the institutional framework defines
the prevailing value system and influences ethical attitudes of major segments of society” (Hisrich
et al., 2003: 5). Ralston et al. (1993) described culture as “those beliefs and values that are widely
shared in a specific society at a particular point in time.” Ralston et al. (2007) examined the potential
impact of economic ideology and national culture on the individual work values on managers in the
United States, Russia, Japan, and China.
Bonde and Firenze (2013) write that the theory of ethics consists of meta-ethics (nature of the right
as well as the nature and justification of ethical claims); normative ethics; and (3) applied ethics. Many
studies use Consequentialism as theoretical foundation for their empirical analysis. According to
Mulgan (2009), moderate consequentialist approach recommend the demands of morality, obligations
to future generations, the morality of individual reproduction, and international justice.
Modern studies borrow the virtue ethics approach to define the context and examine the business
ethics culture perceptions in different countries. Virtue ethics emphasizes the virtues or moral and
ethical character in both mind and behavior, in contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or
rules or that emphasizes the consequences of actions (Ermasova et al., 2018: 362). Farazmand
(2017) defines virtue ethics, “as ingrained values form the human characters that are displayed in
thought and action with tolerance, respect, justice, fairness, avoidance of harms to self and to others,
obligations to common good and adherence to values of public interests” (p. 203). Nussbaum (1993)
suggests that a lot of cultural disagreement arises from local understandings of the virtues, but the
virtues themselves are not and should not be relative to national culture. According to Ermasova
et al. (2018), “modern virtue ethics have always emphasized the importance of moral education, not
as the inculcation of rules but as the training of character. In addition, virtue ethics has less difficulty
with cultural relativity than the other two approaches” (p. 363).
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99
A lot of cross-cultural empirical studies use Hofstede’s culture dimensions’ theory (Hofstede,
1980, 2001, 2016) provides a framework to describe the effect of a society’s culture on the values of
its members, and how these values relate to behaviors. Many scholars indicate that the people in
group-oriented collectivist cultures may be more critical of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices
if these practices represent potential threats to the collective (Ermasova et al., 2017; Hwang et al.,
2014; Lim, 2001; Mujtaba, Tajaddini and Chen, 2011; Patel, 2003, Perks and Smith, 2008).
According to Hwang et al. (2014), individuals in group-oriented collectivist cultures may be less
likely to engage in whistleblowing activities.
The intercultural competency plays important role today’s global workplace. According to Bird
et al. (2010), “intercultural competency has been broadly defined as the ability to function effectively in another culture” (p. 811). The model of cultural sense-making by Osland et al. (2000)
proposes that “culture is embedded in the context and cannot be understood fully without taking
context into consideration” (p. 65). Bird et al. (2010) highlight the importance of interpersonal
engagement that refers to the degree to which “people have a desire and willingness to initiate and
maintain relationships with people from other cultures” (p. 817). They provide the definition of selfidentity that “refers to the extent to which people maintain personal values independent of situational factors and have a strong sense of personal identity” (p. 819). This model could be used in
analysis of business ethics perceptions of working adults in different countries. The model of
cultural sense-making by Osland et al. (2000) can be fruitful in future for researchers focusing on
cross-cultural issues in business ethics. Model of cultural sense-making can be used as an analytical
framework to analyze how culture norms affect the business ethics’ culture perceptions in different
countries.
Method
In this study we used systematic literature review method, citation analysis and a knowledge-stock
analysis. We conduct a knowledge-stock analysis to assess the evolution and major trends. Additionally, we use citation analysis to provide an accurate description of the content and the
advancement of research of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. This study highlights the
findings from prior studies, based on the articles published in journals with an impact factor score of
at least 1.0. The primary source of materials for this review consists of English-language articles
published in academically refereed international business journals, cross-cultural journals, and
management journals such as Journal of Business Ethics, Cross Cultural Management: an International Journal (since 2016, Cross Cultural & Strategic Management), International Journal of
Cross Cultural Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of World Business, Academy of
Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal
of Applied Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Strategic Management
Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Journal of Management from the mid-1990s through 2018.
Most articles were located online using the following databases: Web of Science, Business Source
Premier, JSTOR, Wiley Interscience, and ScienceDirect. The sample was subsequently extended
with a forward search in Web of Science looking for potentially relevant studies on cross-cultural
issues in business ethics. This study used searches in relevant databases and publisher sites: Oxford
Journals, Sage, Science Direct; Academy of Management journals, ABI/Inform, Ebsco, Emerald,
Google Scholar, Springer Link, Web of Science, and Wiley, and also searched for non- published
manuscripts on Econbiz, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Research Papers in
Economics (RePEc), and Social Science Research Network (SSRN).
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Snyder (2019), suggested to conduct the literature review in stages “by reading abstracts first and
making selections and then reading full-text articles later, before making the final selection. Once
this is done and the initial articles (or other relevant literature) have been collected, the texts should
be screened in full to ensure they meet the inclusion criteria” (p. 337). In this study were used interand intra-coding, the whole literature body were coded two times by two coders separately. In this
study were used several search combinations and variations of the term “Cross-cultural issues in
business ethics” including business ethics, normative ethics, social responsibility, trust, ethical
decision-making, virtual ethic, acculturation and business ethics, whistle-blowing, international
business ethic—all in relation to cross-cultural issues in business ethic. In this study we decided to
restrict ourselves to articles with the term “cross-cultural” and “business ethics” included in the title/
abstract/keywords from the online databases and from the above-mentioned journals to minimize
the sample bias to the least possible extent. The final sample of 329 working papers and studies was
analyzed in more detail by examining the abstract and full paper. Twenty three studies were dropped
in the next step, because they either did not contain a relevant “Cross-cultural issues in business
ethics” categorization. The remaining studies were narrowed to the final sample of 306 studies.
After that, we built a database of articles with the information collected, with an aim to record the
increase in publications on cross-cultural issues in business ethics over the time period of 35 years.
We divided our study into different time periods and found 75 articles were published during 1984–
2007 and 231 articles during 2007–2018, of 306 articles in our sample.
These data convey that interest in research on cross-cultural studies in business ethics research
has significantly increased during the time period 2007–2018. As an outcome, the number of crosscultural studies in business ethics research articles published during 2007–2018 increased substantially compared to the previous 10 years. We assume that one of the reasons for this is the
continued internationalization and globalization policies implemented by most governments in
recent years.
Results
The results section has been divided into different parts. First, we have examined the main journals
that published cross-cultural studies in business ethics. In the second part, we have examined the
countries of the cross-cultural studies in business ethics. Finally, we have reviewed overall contributions of business ethics cross-cultural studies, taking into account the theories and constructs
used and journals publishing business ethics studies.
Journals
This study systematically examines cross-cultural issues in business ethics research analyzing 306
articles published during 1984–2018. Due to space restrictions, the complete list of articles, included
in our dataset, could not be provided here, but is obtainable from the upon request. Majority
publications (33%) were published in Journal of Business Ethics (101 articles of 306 articles in our
sample) and Management International Review (34 articles). Business Ethics a European Review,
Cross Cultural Management an International Journal (Cross Cultural & Strategic Management),
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management and Journal of Business Research are other
main journals that published cross-cultural studies in business ethics. We found that the maximum
number of articles (101) was published by the Journal of Business Ethics. This result is logical as
Journal of Business Ethics is the oldest outlet business journal compared to other journals included
in Table 1. Management International Review (34) published the second highest number. These
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Table 1. Main outlets for the cross-cultural issues in business ethics studies (as on 24 February, 2019).
Journal name
Journal of Business Ethics
Management International Review
Business Ethics: A European Review
Cross Cultural Management: an International Journal/Cross
Cultural & Strategic Management
Journal of World Business
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
Journal of Business Research
Number of articles
% of total publications
101
34
19
18
33
11.1
5.9
5.7
10
9
9
3.1
2.9
2.9
Source: Prepared by the author.
Table 2. The list of nationality of the persons studied used by researchers in the business ethics area (as on
24 February, 2019).
Country
USA
Australia
China
Canada
England
South Korea
Spain
France
Turkey
Russia
Taiwan
Number of articles
% of total publications
146
32
27
25
24
14
14
13
13
11
10
48.8
10.7
9.3
8.3
8.1
4.7
4.7
4.3
4.3
3.7
3.3
Source: Prepared by the author.
were followed by Business Ethics: A European Review (19); Cross Cultural Management: an
International Journal/ Cross Cultural & Strategic Management (18), Journal of World Business (10),
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management (9), and Journal of Business Research (9).
Based on this, we observed that Journal of Business, Management International Review, Business Ethics: A European Review, Cross Cultural Management: an International Journal (since 2016,
Cross Cultural & Strategic Management), and Journal of World Business were the main outlets for
cross-cultural issues in business ethics research publication.
Countries studied
This study found that USA, Australia, and China were the countries that were most commonly
studied. Other studies have examined cross-cultural issues in business ethics from Canada, England,
South Korea, Spain, France, Turkey and Russia. Some researchers studied multiple countries
worldwide. Table 2 has the list of home countries most commonly studied by researchers in the
business ethics area.
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This study shows that ethical values are based on cultural differences and often driven by different business ethics perceptions. This study is looking at different motivations alongside cultural
values and ethical standards. Table 3 presents examples of cross-cultural research of business ethics
in academic literature.
According to Garcia et al. (2014), “there are many layers to ethics in some cultures” (p. 319).
They found that American managers were “more likely be loyal unto their own personal beliefs
when on business, whereas the Korean managers were prone to side on the company line ethically,
fitting with the collectivist ideal” (p. 319). Garcia et al. (2014) suggest that “a traditional Eastern
business relationship can easily turn toward bribery and corruption, but a sizable portion of the
business people sampled play down the risks. It is a cultural norm; therefore, is not easily separated
from an ethical standard” (p. 319). Taiwanese culture is a mix between traditional Chinese culture
and Western cultures due to its deep root in traditional Chinese culture and its longer exposure to
Western cultures (Lim, 2001; Xiao and Ma, 2015). Xiao and Ma (2015) found that “with the higher
level of perceived appropriateness of the ethically questionable negotiation strategies, Chinese and
Taiwanese negotiators will be more likely to use false promises, misrepresentation, attacking
opponent’s network and inappropriate information gathering in business negotiations” (p. 122).
Wang et al. (2018) found that “moral foundations and Confucian ethics interacted and jointly
affected managers’ positions on the shareholder value model of corporate responsibility” (p. 260).
Many scholars provide the comparative analysis of business ethics in Russia with other countries.
The current state of ethical behavior in Russia was created by an underdeveloped system of business
law, a unique culture and totalitarian political regimes. Ryvkina (1998) described Russia at the end of
the 1990s as “criminal oligarchy with a monopolistic State.” The Russian State had created a corrupted
cadre of government bureaucrats, who were frequently engaged in rent-seeking behavior (Ardichvili
et al., 2010; Duhamel, 2004; Levin and Satarov, 2000; Nguyen et al., 2015a, 2015b; Safavian and
Graham, 2001). The most dramatic opening of corruption opportunities occurred as a consequence of
the implementation of shock therapy reform beginning in 1992 (Dawisha and Parrot, 1994; Gerber and
Hout (1998); Kneen, 2000; Kuznetsov and Kuznetsova (2005); Puffer and McCarthy, 2002). Frye and
Shleifer (1997) described the Russian system at the end of the 1990s as the grabbing-hand model of
government with many bureaucrats pursuing their personal goals by securing bribes. Venard (2009)
shows that “firms are greatly influenced by the unfair behaviors of their competitors and multinationals in their choice of corrupted behavior when dealing with governments.” (p. 73). The scholars
compared ethical perspectives of Russian and US managers (Beekun et al., 2003, 2005; Deshpande
et al., 2000; McCarthy and Puffer, 2013; Puffer and McCarthy, 2011). Hisrich et al. (2003) analyzes
ethical frameworks in determining behavioral intentions by comparison of Russian business ethics
with the USA, Slovenia, and Turkey. Tsalikis and Seaton (2008) provided comparison analysis of
Russian consumers’ ethical behavior with consumers in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. Hisrich et al.
(2003) found that “a high percentage of Americans (60%) as well as Russians (67%) and Slovenians
(51%) felt that they had to sacrifice their personal ethics to business goals, while only 16% of Turkish
businesspeople felt this way. Respondents did not consider themselves as less ethical than the average
person” (p. 16). The authors suggested that Slovenians were on the same level as Americans in the
evaluation of legality and fairness of this action but they fell below the American and Turkish levels on
the pragmatic dimension of good/bad. Russians displayed the lowest levels of business ethics perception in this study. According to McCarthy and Puffer (2013), Russian managers have to deal with
ethical dilemmas more often in their daily business decision making and they are becoming more
tolerant of unethical behavior in Russian business practice. In comparison to Russian working adults,
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Table 3. The examples of multi-countries cross-cultural research of business ethics in the literature.
Countries
Authors
Findings
France, Germany, USA Maignan, 2001
Brazil, Russia, India,
and China
Russia and the USA
Germany and UK
Russia and the USA
Russia, USA, Slovenia
Russia, USA, Slovenia,
and Turkey
Russia, Poland,
Romania, and
Bulgaria
Russia and China
Russia
Vietnam
USA and Asian
countries
India, Korea and the
USA
Israel, South Africa,
Turkey, USA,
Australia, Jamaica
and West Indies
French and German consumers are most concerned about
business ethics standards, when American consumers value
higher corporate economic responsibilities
Ardichvili et al.,
Respondents from India and Brazil provided more favorable
2010
assessments of ethical cultures of their organizations than
respondents from China and Russia
Bailey and Spicer,
Americans and Russians had similar views of organizational
2007
practices that violated ethical hypernorms, while differing in
other contexts
Molthan-Hill, 2014 British managers placed a strong emphasis on their moral
neutrality, when German managers tended to use moral
arguments with more weight than financial arguments.
Hisrich and
55% of Russian respondents felt they had more similarities than
Gratchev, 1997
differences compared to American managers/entrepreneurs
Bukar et al., 2013
Cross-cultural differences in ethical attitudes of business
people based on the assumptions of integrative social
contract theory (ISCT)
Hisrich et al., 2003 Respondents were strongly opposed to claiming other people’s
efforts and equally against accepting gifts for preferential
treatment. The largest differences were found in the
evaluation of the misuse of time for non-company benefits or
for personal purposes, where surprisingly a large share of
American businesspeople find such practices ethical.
Tsalikis and Seaton, Russian consumers perceived the ethical behavior of the
2008
domestic businesses they dealt with to be higher than did
consumers in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria
Michailova and
The use of personal networks vital to these practices was the
Worm, 2003
product of specific cultural heritages in the two countries
Nguyen et al.,
Older Russian respondents seemed to have a higher level of
2015a
ethical maturity than younger respondents
Nguyen et al.,
Significant differences in business ethics perception between
2015b
Vietnamese working adults who are younger than 26 years of
age and those who are older, except the above 55 age group
Garcia et al., 2014 American managers are more loyal to their ethical beliefs,
rather than to their superior’s or company’s ethical beliefs.
While eastern Asian cultures focus more on the importance
of acting in the best interests of the company’s superior.
Christie et al., 2003 Indian business managers find ethical decision making to be
much more difficult than American business managers do.
Sims, 2006
The respondents living in Jamaica, West Indies share similar
attitudes toward business ethics to those respondents living
in Western Australia. The Jamaican respondents feel less
strongly than the Turkish and Israeli respondents that
businesses are exempt from the morality that traditionally
govern personal behavior.
(continued)
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International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 21(1)
Table 3. (continued)
Countries
Authors
Findings
Canada, China and
Taiwan
Xiao and Ma, 2015 Chinese both from the mainland and from Taiwan consider it
more appropriate to use ethically questionable negotiation
strategies than Canadians. Male Canadians are more likely
to consider it appropriate to use ethically questionable
strategies in all five categories than females. A moderate
level of gender differences found for the Taiwanese.
USA, China or Mexico Villatoro et al.,
Each nation has their own distinct ethics, values and culture
2014
which serve as the backbone of the particular region.
Australian people ranked a 3.9 out of 18 for honesty,
Chinese people who ranked honesty as a 8.8 out of 18
Israel and Ukraine
Jaffe et al., 2018
Students living in the Ukraine had the lowest ethical attitudes,
followed by Ukraine immigrants in Israel. Israeli-born
students had significantly higher ethical attitudes than either
of the two Ukrainian groups
Russia, Portugal, and
Alexandra et al.,
Individual social cynicism belief was directly and positively
the United States
2017
related to social dominance orientation and indirectly and
negatively related to the perception of unethical behavior in
three different cultures.
USA and Ecuador
Robertson et al.,
Managers from the United States and Ecuador are less ethical
1999
when faced with environmental issues if their personal
economic well-being is at stake
Source: Prepared by the author.
Japanese managers use the concept of Kaizen, or small steps toward perfection (K et al., 2005;
Seitz, 2001). The overall improvement between the three areas—employees, environment, or
consumers—thereby becomes balanced. Australian individuals “saw self-related values and
excitement as more important (e.g. happiness, inner harmony, and an exciting life)” (Feather,
1996).
This study found that most cross-cultural business ethics studies focused on a single country. We
suggest to carry out cross-country analysis either for a group of countries or for two countries with
similar or dissimilar features and compare the findings. There is need for theory based rationale for
the selection of countries, to justify methodological approach. There is a great potential for theoretical extension and theory development in this field, as it covers multi-countries cross-cultural
research of business ethics.
Knowledge-stock analysis: Major trends and topics
Based on the literature on cross-cultural research of business ethics, we decided to make a list in
which the research goals, constructs and topics that are used most are ranked and classified. This
was envisaged to be a tool for classifying theories and constructs with cross-cultural research of
business ethics papers and their authors. We conduct a knowledge-stock analysis (Biemans et al.,
2007, 2010; Calabretta et al., 2011) to analyze the major trends: articles are classified according to
subject area; authors are analyzed in terms of productivity and influence (citations).
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According to Collins (2000), main topics in business ethics literature are following: (1) Ethical
sensitivities (ethical decision making and individual ethical perceptions); (2) Corporate culture,
corporate policies, corporate codes of ethics; (3) Corporate social responsibility (CSR); (4) Business
ethics and education, methods and tools for teaching business ethics. (5) Moral theory. (6) Marketing and advertising; (7) “Accounting and finance, namely articles on the morality of accounting
practices, of accountants, or of the financial world; popular topics are, for instance, insider trading
and accounting frauds” (Calabretta et al., 2011: 504).
This study explores which topics are clustered with each other in shaping the intellectual
structure of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. We found following main topics in literature on
cross-cultural issues in business ethics:
The business environment, institutions and culture perceptions
Business education and training in different cultural context
Whistleblowing in different cultural context
The impact of demographic factors on business ethics perception in different countries
Conceptual articles.
This study found that empirical articles dominate the field of cross-cultural issues in business
ethics. The increase of empirical articles corresponds to the rise of articles on the business environment, institutions and culture perceptions. There are the lack of conceptual articles discussing the
theoretical foundations of cross-cultural issues in business ethics or the virtue ethics in different
countries.
This list thus created is presented in Table 4, along with the names of the author(s) and year of
publication.
The business environment, institutions and culture perceptions
The most commonly used construct in cross-cultural research of business ethics studies was business
environment, institutions and culture perceptions, with over 142 appearances. The influence of crosscultural differences on the business ethics perception has received great attention in the current
empirical literature. Mayer et al. (2010) suggested that a strong ethical climate is likely to promote
convergent norms and shared values in terms of ethical values and behavior. Many researchers found
that individuals learn what types of ethical behaviors are acceptable by observing cues and information
from their environment (Apressyan, 1997; Beekun et al., 2005; Berger et al., 2017; Ermasova et al.,
2017; McCarthy and Puffer, 2008; Molthan-Hill, 2014; Nguyen et al., 2015; Richardson et al., 2017;
Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978; Tréguer-Felten, 2017; Venard, 2009). People learn ethical or unethical
actions from one another through observation, identification, and imitation on workplace and their
interactions and experiences with others (Bandura, 1986; Peterson, 2013).
Mayer et al. (2010) suggest that “an ethical climate serves a sense-making function for employees
so they know how to respond to ethical issues” (p. 13). Research by Christie et al. (2003) has shown a
strong correlation between ethical attitudes of business managers and culture. Many cross-cultural
studies analyze acculturation, especially when discussing how immigrants integrate into the host
society (Berry, 1997, 2003, 2005; Jaffe et al., 2018; Jasinskaja-Lahti et al., 2011; Leshem and
Neeman-Haviv, 2013; Remennick, 2003; Tartakovsky, 2012; Ward, 1996). Berry (2003, 2005, 2006;
Phinney, 2003) claims that acculturation is a mutual process that affects all groups in contact with each
other. According to Goebel and Weißenberge (2017), “the relationship between ethical work climates
and organizational-level outcomes merits further research attention” (p. 18).
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International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 21(1)
Table 4. Main topics used in articles on cross-cultural issues in business ethics (as on 24 February, 2019).
Topics
Number of
Studies
Authors*
Business environment,
institutions and
culture perceptions
142
Business education
and training
36
Whistleblowing
22
The impact of
demographic factors
on business ethics
perception in
different countries
Conceptual articles
12
8
Alexandra et al., 2017; Ardichvili et al., 2010; Arslan, 2000; Ast, 2019;
Berger et al., 2017; Berry, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006; Dawisha and
Parrot, 1994; Feather, 1996; Garcia et al., 2014; Jakubowski, 2002;
Kneen, 2000; Mcdonald and Pak, 1996; North, 1990; Phinney, 2003;
Puffer and McCarthy, 1996; Robertson et al., 2003, 2008; Scott,
1995; Seitz, 2001; Sekhar, 1995; Sims, 2006; Tartakovsky, 2012;
Vitell and Paolillo, 2004; Ward, 1996; Zabid and Alsagoff, 1993.
Ahmed and Machold, 2004; Brown and Treviño, 2006; Ermasova et al.,
2017, 2019; Gröschl and Gabaldon, 2018; Morin, 1999, 2004, 2014;
Nguyen et al., 2014, 2015
Brody et al., 1999; Hwang et al., 2014; Kohn, 2011; Nielsen, 2013;
Palmer and Zakhem, 2001; Perks and Smith, 2008; Trongmateerut
and Sweeney, 2013; Villatoro and Chang, 2014; Zhuang et al., 2005
Hough et al., 2015; Hwang et al., 2008, 2014; Ermasova et al., 2017,
2018; Nguyen et al., 2015a, 2015b; Tsalikis and Ortiz-Buonafina,
1990; Xiao and Ma, 2015
Hofstede, 2015; Kolk, 2016; Martin and Cullen,2006; Ralston et al.,
1997; Resick et al., 2006; Ward, 1996; Whipple and Swords, 1992;
Wood, 2017; Xiao et al., 2017
Note: *Full references available from the authors.
Culture refers to the collective programming of minds that distinguishes members of one group
from another, and it is a unique character of social groups (Hofstede, 2001). Taras et al. (2016)
suggest that culture is a multi-faceted construct that has common element: “(1) a relatively stable,
(2) multi-level construct comprised of values, beliefs, norms, traditions, and artifacts that (3) are
shared in a given population” (p. 456). According to Goebel and Weißenberge (2017), “the
relationship between ethical work climates and organizational-level outcomes merits further
research attention” (p. 18).
Business education and training in different cultural context
The second commonly used construct in cross-cultural research of business ethics studies was
business education and training, with 36 appearances. Many scholars analyzed the role of business
ethics education (Ermasova et al., 2017; Mayer et al., 2010; Nguyen et al., 2014, 2015). Gröschl and
Gabaldon (2018) pointed out the relevance of transdisciplinarity to business ethics education in
order to suggest that “business leaders will need to make sense of complex challenges in a systemic
and integrative way by thinking in synthetic, dynamic, and non-linear ways” (p. 187). Morin
considers truly human development to be built on the “joint development of individual autonomy,
community participation, and awareness of belonging to the human species” (Morin, 1999, 2004,
2014).
Ermasova
107
Many researchers found that ethical educational courses have positive effect on business ethics
perceptions (Bageac et al., 2011; Ermasova et al., 2017; Eynon et al., 1997; Hiltebeitel and Jones,
1992; Kish-Gephart et al., 2010; Langlois, 2011). Neubaum et al. (2009) highlighted that “college
education has been shown to be a powerful experience in the moral development of all students,
including those from the business school” (p. 20). Social interactions, professional training, and
work environment can impact ethical values and behavior (Ahmed and Machold, 2004; Brown and
Treviño, 2006; Mayer et al., 2009; Waples et al., 2009). Many scholars found that ethics training
teaches appropriate business behaviors in working place (Higgins et al., 1984; Lysonski and Gaidis,
1991; Palmer and Zakhem, 2001; Phau and Kea, 2007; Saks and Ashforth, 2000; Stening and
Skubik, 2007; Thelen and Zhuplev, 2002; Vardi, 2001; Villatoro and Chang, 2014; Whipple and
Swords, 1992).
According to Jaffe and Tsimerman (2005), Russian students believe that in order to succeed, one
must compromise their ethics. Ermasova et al. (2017) analyzed the business ethics training and
education in Russia and found that “professional development focusing on diversity was positively
related to reports of ethical behavior for women but no significant relationship was observed for
men. The professional development focusing on ethics was positively related to reports of ethical
behavior for younger employees but no significant relationship was observed for older employees in
Russia” (p. 1).
Gröschl and Gabaldon (2018) highlight “that complex and pressing global socio-economic and
environmental challenges will depend heavily on current and future graduates of our business
schools and on the business education that they receive” (p. 193). Business schools should promote
courses on business ethics, responsible leadership, corporate social responsibility, and social
entrepreneurship. Future studies should focus on in-depth analyses of various specific personnel and
cultural management control techniques for establishing shared norms and values regarding
appropriate business ethics.
Whistleblowing in different cultural context
The third most commonly used construct was whistleblowing in different cultural context. Many
scholars of business ethics are attempting to better understand what factors influence the propensity to blow-the-whistle and help limit the possibility of unethical behavior on workplace
(Brody et al., 1999; Hwang et al., 2014; Kohn, 2011; Mayer et al., 2010; Nielsen, 2013; Pascoe
and Welsh, 2011; Park and Lewis, 2019; Reckers-Sauciuc and Lowe, 2010; Staub, 1978). Nader
et al. (1972) emphasizes whistle-blowing as “an act of a man or woman who, believing that the
public interest overrides the interest of the organization he serves, blows the whistle that the
organization is in corrupt, illegal, fraudulent or harmful activity” (p. 28). Many authors (Hwang
et al., 2008; Jubb, 1999; Maroun and Solomon, 2014; Staub, 1978) adopt a similar definition,
stressing the importance of acting for the greater good, rather than primarily for self-interest.
Many scholars provide evidence that whistle-blowing is one of the most important sources of
information for detecting and reducing illegal and unethical corporate behaviors (Hwang at al.,
2014; Kohn, 2011; Nielsen, 2013; Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2009). Maroun and Solomon (2014)
propose that the whistle-blowing is “the right thing to do.” Many authors suggest that the whistleblowing is a mean for enhancing transparency (Crotty, 2007; Maroun and Solomon, 2014;
Nielsen, 2013; Vecchiatto, 2011).
Research indicates there is a relationship between cultural background and whistle-blowing
activities (Hwang et al., 2014; Kaptein, 2011; MacNab et al., 2007; Pittroff, 2014; Trongmateerut
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International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 21(1)
and Sweeney, 2013; Zhuang et al., 2005) and that attitudes toward whistle-blowing varies significantly among different cultures (Zhuang et al., 2005). However, there are very rare studies
investigate the different propensity on whistle-blowing behavior across country, especially the
comparative between two different economics or culture system. Hwang et al. (2008) suggest that
“individuals will evaluate their ethicality of whistleblowing, and this evaluation process and its
results will affect their decision on whether or not to disclose illegal, immoral, or illegitimate
practices” (p. 510). Cultural background plays a huge role of attitude toward whistle-blowing. The
attitude toward whistle-blowing varies among different cultures significantly (Brody et al., 1999;
Dowling, 2008; Keenan and McLain,1992; Lacayo and Ripley, 2003; MacNab et al., 2007; Martirossian, 2004; Park et al., 2017; Palmer, 2013; Patel, 2003; Pittroff, 2014; Su, 2007; Zhang, 2015;
Zhuang et al., 2005).
In the Scandinavian countries, whistle-blowing is approved by the population and supported by
government. Keenan (2007) find that Chinese managers are less likely to blow the whistle than their
American counterparts. Brody et al. (1999) suggests that the collectivist individuals in Taiwan and
China may be less likely to blow the whistle than Americans. In contrast to the USA, Continental
European countries and Russia have a more negative association with whistleblowers (Dowling
2008: 12–13; Pittroff, 2014; Schmolke 2012: 229). Whistleblowers are still often seen as villains or
traitors (Dowling, 2008: 12–13; Martirossian, 2004: 100; Pittroff, 2014; Schmolke, 2012: 229).
According to LeFebvre (2011), U.S. companies require their employees to whistleblowing if they
see their colleagues are violating the code and “often provide mechanisms for anonymous reporting
in order to encourage this behavior. Very few of the Indian companies had this requirement or
provided for anonymous reporting” (p. 403).
According to Batishcheva and Vorontsov (2013), many countries have the culturally
specific counter-arguments to whistle-blowing, that are based on negative connotations surrounding whistleblowers. The Russian culture has the attitude toward whistle-blowing as a
disloyalty to collective, and even as treachery. Such perception is represented by one of
“birthmarks” of the Soviet system where informing, though was officially encouraged,
especially in the period of Stalinism, nevertheless perceived by public opinion as unworthy
behavior (Lyubarsky, 2006).
Research indicates there is a relationship between cultural background and whistleblowing activities (Kaptein, 2011; MacNab et al., 2007; Trongmateerut and Sweeney,
2013; Zhuang et al., 2005, Pittroff, 2014) and that attitudes toward whistle-blowing varies
significantly among different cultures (Pittroff, 2014; Schmolke, 2012; Zhuang et al., 2005).
However, there are very rare studies investigate the different propensity on whistle-blowing
behavior across country, especially the comparative between two different economics or
culture system.
The impact of demographic factors on business ethics perception in different countries
Christie et al. (2003: 263) find that “in addition to national culture, respondents’ general
attitudes toward business ethics are related to their personal integrity; their attitudes toward
questionable business practices are related to the external environment and gender, as well as to
their personal integrity.” There are mixed findings of relationship between gender and business
ethics perception in academic literature. Many scholars found that women are more ethical than
men (Betz et al., 1989; Jones and Gautschi, 1988; Malinowski and Berger, 1996; Nguyen et al.,
2016). Wang and Calvano (2015) find that women are generally more inclined to act ethically
Ermasova
109
than men. Another group of researchers do not find significant differences between business
ethics behavior of men and women (Jazani and Ayoobzadeh, 2012; Tsalikis and OrtizBuonafina, 1990).
Gender has been found in previous studies as a significant predictor on perception to whistleblow (Dalton and Radtke, 2013; Kaplan et al., 2009; Stansbury and Victor, 2009). Dalton and
Radtke (2013) found that females have a higher intention for whistle-blowing than males. Kaplan
et al. (2009) agreed with this result but he suggested that this result is true only when an anonymous
reporting arrangement was available. Many scholars found that age is the important factor in
business ethics maturity (Brody et al., 2020; Carrol and Cannon (1997); Ermasova et al., 2017,
2018; Loe et al., 2000; Nguyen et al., 2019). According to Loe et al. (2000), the review of empirical
articles found that nearly 50% of relevant studies found significant positive relationships between
age and ethical judgments. A meta-analysis by Pan and Sparks (2012) suggested that managers in
senior positions are significantly more likely for whistle-blowing than others. However, the
quantitative studies found that age and tenure are inconsistent predictors of whistle-blowing
intentions (Kaplan et al., 2009; Near and Miceli, 2016).
According to Lee et al. (2018), “a uniform approach to the design and implementation of
whistle-blowing regulation may not be effective if transplanted into another country because of its
unique history and culture” (p. 2). However, there are very rare studies investigate the different
propensity on whistle-blowing behavior across different countries. There is a need for additional
rigorous empirical studies on the propensity to whistle-blowing that influenced by national
context.
Citation analysis
This study is providing a citation analysis to identify the most influential articles on crosscultural issues in business ethics. We used the information from Web of Science, computed
total number of citations and weighted citation scores for all papers, and rank ordered them.
In addition, in this study were computed and included annual average weighted citation score
to control for the age of an article. A list of the articles with the highest number of total
citation and average weighted citation scores is presented in Table 5 (in deceasing order). The
most cited articles (as on 24 February, 2019) are Maignan (2001; 334 citations), Husted
(2000; 169 citations), Martin et al. (2007; 167 citations) and Quazi and O’Brien (2000; 160
citations).
Conclusions and directions for future research
This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of empirical research performed to date on crosscultural issues in business ethics. This study encourages to continue studying cross-cultural issues
in business ethics, since business and management in the USA continue to change in a turbulent
and uncertain environment, requiring revisiting those topics. It is essential to continue studying
cross-cultural issues in business ethics because it is important for global business managers to
have an understanding of their employees from different countries and business partners in other
countries.
This study found that empirical articles dominate the field for cross-cultural issues in business
ethics. Conceptual articles are in the minority, particularly in the area both the intrinsic theoretical
nature of cross-cultural issues in business ethics and for the difficulties in collecting empirical data
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International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 21(1)
Table 5. Most cited articles cross-cultural issues in business ethics (as on 24 February, 2019).
Rank
no.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Author(s)
Maignan, I.
Husted, B.
Martin, K. D.; Cullen, J. B.; Johnson, J. L.;
Parboteeah, K. P.
Quazi, A.M.; O’Brien, D.
Resick, C.J.; Hanges, P.; Dickson, M.;
Mitchelson, J.
Dunfee, T.; Smith, NC; Ross, W.
Christie, P.; Kwon, I.; Stoeberl, P.A.; Baumhart, R.
Husted, BW
Pless, N. M.; Maak, T.; Stahl, Guenter K.
Cullen, J.B.; Parboteeah, K.P; Hoegl, M.
Year
published
Total
citation
Average weighted
citation score
2001
2000
2007
334
169
167
17.58
8.45
12.85
2000
2006
160
153
8
10.93
1999
2003
2011
2004
2010
145
142
139
135
131
6.9
8.35
15.44
8.44
13.1
Source: Prepared by the author.
on ethical issues in different countries. There are need for conceptual articles in the field for crosscultural issues in business ethics. The future conceptual articles could investigate the business
environment and institutions, including factors like the political environment and globalization, in
the research of the cross-cultural issues in business ethics. Future conceptual studies can identify
the theories, methodologies, methods that underlie similarities and differences between business
ethics perceptions in individual and group-oriented culture, in developed and developing
societies.
Although virtue ethics has grown remarkably in the last 50 years, it is still in the minority,
particularly in the area of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. However, the last decade has seen
an increase in the amount of attention applied virtue ethics has received (Ermasova et al., 2017;
Nguyen et al., 2016a, 2016b; Nussbaum, 1993; US Office of Government Ethics, 2017; Zagzebski,
2004). This area can certainly be expected to grow in the future, and it looks as though applying
virtue ethics and model of cultural sense-making by Osland et al. (2000) in the field of cross-cultural
issues in business ethics may prove particularly fruitful.
This study contributes to the business ethics literature in several ways. First, this paper has
provided substantial information on a wide range of theoretical and empirical topics in crosscultural studies on business ethics to serve as a foundation for future research. Second, this study
encourages further continue studying cross-cultural issues in business ethics, since global business and management continue to change in a turbulent and uncertain environment, requiring
revisiting those topics. It is essential to continue studying cross-cultural issues in business ethics
because it is important for global business managers to understand of their employees from
different countries and business partners in other countries. Also it is could help to improve their
own company’s ethical standards. Finally, this paper offers an extensive review of publications on
cross-cultural issues in business ethics organized by topics that would also be likely subjects for
future research.
These study findings have four practical implications. First, this research can better prepare
managers for the international business environment in different countries. Second, this research
Ermasova
111
makes an important contribution to understanding business ethics perceptions across multiple
cultures. The results of this study will help auditors and managers better assess risk and the
effectiveness of internal controls and ethical standards. The personal business perceptions of
people in different countries are dissimilar. Understanding these differences can benefit those who
deal with this workforce tremendously. Second, this study has practical implications for HRM
practices in international firms and cross cultural leadership training. The organization will have
significant competitive advantage from the correct adaptation and alignment of the firm’s management practices with the national culture. Third, this study pointed out that cultural diversity in
a workplace could provide for the confluence of disparate ideas from different cultures, including
business ethics perceptions and whistleblowing. The appropriate combination of perspectives
from different cultures could help to address business problems in the global economy. Fourth,
this study shows that there are different business ethics perceptions and propensity on whistleblowing behavior across country, especially in developed and developing societies. different
economics or culture system. Managers of multinational firms should also take into account the
different attitudes toward whistleblowing in countries with different corporate governance systems. Introducing anonymous hotlines or financial rewards in different countries is not only
challenging from a legal viewpoint but also from a cultural viewpoint because the norms and
beliefs of society toward whistleblowers might differ. Due to these different attitudes toward
whistle-blowers in different countries, financial rewards should not be offered in a culture that
regards whistle-blowers as traitors or denunciators (Clark et al., 2020). Protection against dismissal could be more appropriate in order to preserve a system that promotes a long-term relationship between employee and employer (Clark et al., 2020; Ermasova et al., 2021; Pittroff,
2014). The regulators should actively influence the norms and beliefs of the society so that
whistle-blowing is considered to be a legitimate action. If whistleblowing is perceived as an act of
great loyalty, the moral dilemma will disappear because the whistleblowing acts in line with the
organization’s goals.
Future studies should analyze how different social, political, and cultural factors affect the
ethical attitudes of working adults. For this, surveys from a large number of countries need to be
collected to allow for greater variance in the variables. There is necessity for theory-based
rationale for the selection of countries, to justify methodological approach. The contextspecific work can be extended in comparative studies that can produce valuable results by
comparing business ethic in the USA not only with other developed economies like European
countries and Japan, but also with emerging and developing economies. Another interesting
direction for future research is assessing the relevance of cross-cultural issues in business ethics
research to practitioners. More attention should be spent on inquiring whether more can be done
for practitioners.
Future studies should analyze the influence of different social, political, and cultural factors on
the ethical perceptions of working adults. Among the opportunities for future research in the area of
business ethics, constructs such as multi-countries cross-cultural research of business ethics;
business education and training in different cultural context; and whistleblowing protection need
further attention. The context-specific work can be extended in comparative studies that can produce
potentially more valuable results by comparing business ethic in the USA not only with other
developed economies like European countries and Japan, but also with emerging and developing
economies.
112
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 21(1)
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Natalia Ermasova
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9813-483X
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