NOTE: COURSE POSTPONED TO MAY-JUNE 2022!

More information will be posted later

Time and place: October 18th to 22nd 2021, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland

Learning goal and objectives:

Due to globalization and higher international trade volumes there is an increasing trend in management research to conduct cross-cultural, cross-national and cross-disciplinary studies. Methods and methodology for comparative studies, however, require special knowledge and special skills. Researchers involved in cross-cultural research projects need to be familiar with the cross-cultural research methods and even be able to create novel methods and techniques in order to increase the validity, reliability, and trustworthiness of cross-cultural research. The empirical design becomes even more complicated, when studies are conducted in transitional and developing economies.

The course provides knowledge in:

• Designing theory based cross-cultural/ international studies
• Conducting cross-cultural research
• Quantitative and qualitative cross-cultural comparative methodology
• Doing cross-cultural collaborative research
• Doing research in transitional and developing economies
• Doing research outside your own home country

After the course the participants are familiar with relevant methodological literature on cross-cultural methods. They are able to use the literature as a guideline for their own methodological choices. The participants will understand the difficulties but also the opportunities of conducting cross-cultural research. The participants will receive knowledge, understanding and preparedness to independently develop skills in conducing empirical cross-cultural research.

Instruction and examination:

Credits: 6 ECTS 

In order to pass the course you are required to

• Read literature for each session (see the preliminary program)
• Be active during the sessions
• Send in for all participants one page research proposal with emphasis on methods ONE week before the start of the course
• Prepare 3 ppt slides for your brief research proposal presentation in the beginning of the course, include a figure summarizing your project
• Hand in a revised research proposal focusing on cross-cultural methods one month after the course that reflects ALL the course literature (articles, books, and slides) as well as other information given during the course (ca. 15 pages)

In order to get credits you need to pass all the above parts of the course

Grading: 1-5

Prerequisites: Doctoral students and post doctoral researchers who are conducting or are aiming to conduct comparative cross-national/cultural or international research. The participants should be doctoral students or faculty members of universities of KATAJA or cooperation partners of KATAJA.

Admittance: Maximum 25 participants will be accepted to the course

Instructors:

• Professor Hartmut H. Holzmueller, TU Dortmund University, Germany: Culture theory, multi-centric team management, experiences from cross-cultural research, qualitative/ explorative research methodology. Harmut Holzmueller - Academic Website
• Professor Edwin Nijssen, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands: Research designs, use of borrowed scales, experiences from cross-cultural research. Edwin Nijssen - Academic Website
• Professor Thomas Salzberger, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Austria: Measurement theory, emic and etic methodology, quantitative/ confirmative cross-cultural research. Thomas Salzbergger - Academic Website

Course coordinator and contact information:

The course coordinator is Professor Jorma Larimo ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and for practical arrangements, please, be in contact with Ha Nguyen ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) at the School of Marketing and Communication of the University of Vaasa.

Reference Lists:

Andersen, P.H., Skaates, M.A. (2004). Ensuring Validity in Qualitative International Business Research.Welch, C., Marschan-Piekkari, R. (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for International Business. Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 464-485.

Briley, D. A., & Aaker, J. L. (2006). When does culture matter? Effects of personal knowledge on the correction of culture-based judgments. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(3), 395-408.

Douglas, S.P., & Craig, C.S. (2006). On Improving the Conceptual Foundations of International Marketing Research, Journal of International Marketing, 14(1), 1-22.

Douglas, S. P., & Nijssen, E. J. (2003). On the use of “borrowed” scales in cross-national research: A cautionary note. International Marketing Review, 20(6), 621-642.

Easterby-Smith, M., Malina, D. (1999). Cross-Cultural Collaborative Research: Toward Reflexivity. Academy of Management Journal, 42(1), 76-86.

Ewing, MT., Salzberger, T., & Sinkovics, R.R. (2005). An Alternate Approach to Assessing Cross-Cultural Measurement Equivalence in Advertising Research. Journal of Advertising, 34 (1), 17–36.

Kostova, T., & Roth, K. (2002). Adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: Institutional and relational effects. Academy of management journal, 45(1), 215-233.

McGrath, H., & O’Toole, T. (2014). A cross-cultural comparison of the network capability development of entrepreneurial firms. Industrial Marketing Management 43, 897-910.

Punnett, B.J., Ford, D., Galperin, B. L. & Lituchy, T. (2017). The Emic-Etic-Emic Research Cycle. AIB Insights 17(1), 3-6.

Samaha, S. A., Beck, J. T., & Palmatier, R. W. (2014). The Role of Culture in International Relationship Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 78(September), 78-98.

Salmi, A. (2011). International research teams and collective case studies: an abductive approach,  Piekkari, R. ,  Welch C. (Eds.) Rethinking the case study in international business and management research, Edwards Elgar Publishing, p. 431-451.

Salzberger, T., & Koller, M. (2013): Towards a new paradigm of measurement in marketing. Journal of Business Research, 66 (2013) 1307–1317.

Salzberger, T., Newton, F.J., & Ewing, M.T. (2014). Detecting gender item bias and differential manifest response behavior: A Rasch-based solution. Journal of Business Research, 67 (2014) 598–607.

Schaffer, B. S., & Riordan, C. M. (2003). A review of cross-cultural methodologies for organizational research: A best-practices approach. Organizational Research Methods, 6(2), 169-215.

Sinkovics, R.R., Penz, E., Ghauri, P.N. (2008). Enhancing the Trustworthiness of Qualitative Research in International Business. MIR, 48(6), 689-714.

Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict, and Hans Baumgartner (1998), “Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross-National Consumer Research,” Journal of Consumer Research, 25 (1), 78–90.

Steenkamp, J. B. E., Hofstede, F. T., & Wedel, M. (1999). A cross-national investigation into the individual and national cultural antecedents of consumer innovativeness. The Journal of Marketing, 55-69.

Taras, V., Kirkman, B. L., & Steel, P. (2010). Examining the impact of Culture's consequences: A three-decade, multilevel, meta-analytic review of Hofstede's cultural value dimensions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3), 405.

Taras, V., Rowney, J., Steel, P. (2009). Half a century of measuring culture: Review of approaches, challenges, and limitations based on the analysis of 121 instruments for quantifying culture. Journal of International Management, 15, 357-373.

Teagarden et al. (1995). Toward a theory of comparative management research: An idiographic case study of the best international human resources management project. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1261-1287.

Watkins, L. (2010). The cross-cultural appropriateness of survey-based value(s) research. International Marketing Review, 27(6), 694-716.

Welch et al. (2011). Theorising from case studies: Towards a pluralist future for international business research. Journal of International Business Studies, 42, 740-762.

Wulf, K. D., Odekerken-Schröder, G., & Iacobucci, D. (2001). Investments in consumer relationships: a cross-country and cross-industry exploration. Journal of marketing, 65(4), 33-50.

Yaprak, A. (2008). Culture study in international marketing: a critical review and suggestions for future research. International Marketing Review, 25(2), 215-229.