Revista de Economía y Negocios

Does The Individual’s Culture Play A Role In The Value Perception Of Members Of Small Multin a tional Teams?

Abstract

Sven Horak

Whereas the impact of culture on international business has been frequently investigated, the impact of culture on value perceptions especially in small teams has received less attention in the academic debate. This research note investigates the impact of culture on a small team represented by a group of international students. The underlying research question is to investigate whether the culturally influenced work values on country level discovered by Hofstede can be confirmed in small multicultural teams too. In summary, this study could not find clear indications that cultural dimensions play a role on a small group level. This result might be explained by the students’ adoption to an international environment and by the convergence of cultures due to their dynamic character, especially within a young target group. This pilot study indicates a preliminary result, rather than drawing a valid final conclusion, particularely due to the small sample size of the observed group. Further research in this direction is recommended by investigating a larger number of small teams on the basis of a mulitmethod research approach.