The Importance of National Culture in the Design of and Preference for Management Controls for Multi-National Operations

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of national culture on firms' design of and employees' preference for management controls. Data for testing two hypotheses are collected from 159 Taiwanese managers working in six each of Japanese, Taiwanese, and U.S.owned, size-matched, computers/electronics firms in Taiwan. Overall, the results are consistent with national culture affecting these firms' design of and employees' preference for seven management controls, though there also are anomalies. These findings are combined with prior research for identifying desirable improvements in research design and method, variable measurement and selection, and, most important, the theoretical foundation for culture-based research on management controls.