Research in Cultural Management: Approaches and Tasks

There are 3 main approaches in the research of cultural management. Aggregate (or etic) approach focuses on universal aspects of culture and has developed dimensions or typologies of culture across which different countries are compared. Individual (or emic) approach focuses on unique aspects of a particular company or community culture and has compared different beliefs and cognitive processes across culture (not only cultural values). Cultural Intelligence approach (or Knowledge Management perspective), a new paradigm for the study of cultural management, focuses on individuals’ cultural adaptation know-how. Supportive researches for the each approach are presented and the research tasks in cultural management are mentioned. Research tasks in cultural management can be summarized as follows: 1) Triangulation method (combination of qualitative and quantitative research method) is highly recommended for the study of cultural management, 2) Research team diversity is highly recommended to minimize the individual biases, 3) A combined emic-etic approach is desirable for obtaining a comprehensive view of cultural phenomena, 4) Developing consistent measurements for cultural variables is required to assure the clear link between culture and performance, 5) More attention to language and biculturalism is necessary.