Crosscultural Application of the Situational Theory

1
Cross-cultural Application of the Situational
Theory

• Lan Ni
• University of Maryland

2
Purpose and Conceptualization

• To explore the influence of culture on the
  applicability of the situational theory in a
  culture different from the U.S.
• Situational theory
• Societal culture
• e.g., power distance, uncertainty avoidance,
  individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity
  (Hofstede, 2001)
• Organizational culture
• e.g., participative vs. authoritarian

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Potential Areas for Exploration

• The validity of the three variables
• Are the same three variables equally effective in
  identifying publics?
• The meaning of the three variables
• Do people in another culture perceive the
  concepts of problem, constraint, and involvement
  in the same way?

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Possible linkages between cultural dimensions and
the situational theory

• Different levels on the independent variables
• Power distance ? L. I./ C. R.
• Uncertainty avoidance ? C. R./ P. R. (?)
• Differences in the kinds of problems,
  constraints, and involvement
• COL/IDV
• MAS/FEM
• Differences in the combination of three variables
  and the types of communication behavior
• Problem-facing, constrained, routine, fatalistic
• Differences in the proportion of types of publics
• Non, latent, aware, active

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Potential RQs and Hypotheses

• RQ1 Are the three independent variables equally
  effective in identifying publics in a culture
  different from the United States?
• RQ2 What differences in peoples understanding
  of three variables, if any, will emerge?

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Potential RQs and Hypotheses

• H1 High P. D. is correlated to low L. I. and
  high C. R.
• H2 High U. A. is correlated to high C. R.
• H3 People in COL culture show high P. R. and
  high L. I. in different problems from those in
  IDV culture.
• H4 People in MAS culture show high P. R. and
  high L. I. in different problems from those in
  FEM culture.
• H5 COL is correlated to higher P. R., lower C.
  R., and higher L. I. than IDV in problems of
  collectivist nature.
• H6 High P. D. and high U. A. generally lead to
  more constrained and fatalistic behavior.
• H7 For problems of a collectivist nature, COL is
  correlated to more active or aware publics than
  IDV.