A Study of Cross-Cultural Decision-Making Styles: Is Cognitive Mapping an Effective Methodology for Data Analysis?

In an increasingly globalised business environment, the behaviour and performance of managers from one country and culture working in another has never been more relevant. Of particular interest is the behaviour of expatriate managers from the west, working in Asian-owned or joint-venture companies situated in East Asia, and making decisions individually and as a group. The current study differs from many that are based around questionnaires and a quantitative methodology. It is a qualitative investigation into expatriate French managers based in China, and working in Chinese and French-Chinese companies. The choice of French managers situated in China is based on the distinct differences in culture, and the author’s own background as a Chinese manager working with French colleagues. The familiarity of the author with both the Chinese and French business cultures is important for useful interpretation of the data. The understanding of both cultures used in creating the methodology, interviewing, analysing and interpreting the data is an important and distinctive aspect of the research. The research looks at the manager's choice of individual or group decision-making styles, and the factors that influence the manager's choices in different cultural contexts. It uses cognitive mapping techniques to analyse 20 interview transcripts. The study concluded that cognitive mapping is a viable methodology to gain insights into the manager's individual and group decision-making styles. This methodology provided an opportunity to follow the manager's thinking around the choices they made, and to identify the factors that influence the manager's decision-making styles and process.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

mphil

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

The Open University

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Yang, Guangyu

Language dc:language

en