Multicultural Perspectives on Attractive Work

This chapter explores whether, in a world where organizations act globally and managers interact worldwide, the meaning of organizational values for managers is universal or context-specific. We discuss the need to consider culture as a multifaceted concept in cross-cultural studies. The chapter discusses national, sectoral (pertaining to different types of industries) and gendered cultures, all of which may affect employees’ perceptions and behaviour in organizations. It has not so far been tested whether managers share perceptions of organizational values across nations, or whether different sectors or variations in gender composition among different industries have a greater impact on what values are considered important in workplace attractiveness for male and female managers. We present a comparative design that is suitable for testing different cultural perspectives in different contexts. Later chapters apply this comparative design and a cross-level methodology to a large sample of managers and strategically selected organizations in different sectors and types of industries.