The cross-cultural research imperative: the need to balance cross-national and intra-national diversity

This paper provides a brief overview of the evolution of comparative management theories/paradigms, and highlights the contribution of the ‘cross-vergence’ construct. Despite progress, most studies of work values across countries continue to suffer from two primary limitations. The first is the fallacious assumption of cultural homogeneity with nations. Given the growing diversity of the workforce within country, intra-national variations can often be as significant as cross-national differences. The second is the fallacious assumption of cultural stability over time. Since cultures evolve, albeit slowly, it is important to take these changes over time into consideration, and be aware of the paradoxes inherent within any given society. Hence the paper calls for the need to balance cross-national and intra-national diversity in order to truly understand cross-cultural phenomena, and thus further improve the quality of cross-cultural research.