Crossvergence and cultural tendencies: A longitudinal test of the Hong Kong, Taiwan and United States Banking Sectors

Crossvergence in a Period of Dynamic. Turbulent Cultural Change: Assessing The Kelley, MacNab, And Worthley Study

The nuances and subtle shifts in a culture as a result of globalization is a paradox for many enterprises to manage over time and also for shot nations to anticipate and plan for economic, political and social shifts over time. As globalization continues to accelerate the integration and assimilation of diverse cultures together, the long-standing cultural frameworks including Hofstede's Model of Cultural Dimensions increasingly appears unable to capture cultural nuances effectively, and often, due to its structure, generalize differences between cultures (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006). One of the most valuable lessons learned from the Kelley, MacNab, and Worthley study is that there are often significant nuances and differences in the five cultural dimensions within a region, which are unaccounted for using dated frameworks and concepts (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006). The most powerful aspect of crossvergence is that the five cultural dimensions as defined by Hofstede are analyzed from a more dynamic, mercurially-changing framework and foundation, which is in reality how cultures are evolving today. Crossvergence, as the authors of the study suggest, illustrates that as local and regional economies develop, interact and evolve there is a collaborative series of effects between the culture itself and the enterprise or business operating there, in addition to adjacent cultures affected by the continual change (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006). The reality is that cultural changes are more abrupt and significant than legacy models suggest.

Critical Analysis Of The Kelley, MacNab, And Worthley Study

The empirical research in the study clearly supports a more eclectic, highly volatile view of cultural change, providing ample evidence across the...

The researchers have illustrated this volatility by showing the paradoxical values of collectivism in the United Status vs. China, where in the former case this value was considered low within the Hofstede Model of Cultural Dimensions (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006). By taking a more nuanced approach to measuring collectivism using the constructs and frameworks as defined by the study's authors, these differences in collectivism and the ironic aspects of Hong Kong being more similar to the U.S. than China could be found. As ancillary studies have shown, knowledge transfer across widely varying cultures is more effective when it is contextual in nature as these commonalities of perception of time, values and norms create a bond of trust (Sarala, Vaara, 2010).
The contextuality of cultural nuances is evident in how well the differences between regions on the same continent are shown in the Kelley, MacNab, and Worthley study (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006). This aspect of contextual intelligence is lacking in previous frameworks. Crossvergence creates a more agile architecture for ensuring higher level of cultural congruency as well, even when the cultures being interrelated to either in an organization or through political alliances are geographically dispersed (Gupta, Wang, 2004). This orientation of how cultures actually operate in turn generates more acuity of insight and value for differences in the defining of authority roles, creation of more effective gender equality initiatives and the development of more sensitive and culturally-aware religious and ethnic responses to cultural conditions (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006).

One of the most powerful examples of work culture alignment and congruity from the study is in how the gradual impact of time perception, collectivism and power distance gradually changes work cultures in China and Hong Kong (Kelley, MacNab, Worthley, 2006). Further showing the impact of crossvergence, it is ironic that the U.S.…