Cross-National Cultural Differences

3. Cross-national Cultural Differences
A cultural orientation describes the attitudes of most people most of the time, never of all the people all of the time
(Adler 2002: 22)

3.1 Introduction
This chapter covers the studies that define cross-national cultural differences and shows how these cross-national cultural differences affect professional behavior in general. In § 3.2, a short exposition on the definition of national culture is provided, including the general understanding of what is meant by national cultures based on the studies of Hofstede (1980, 2001), Schwartz (1992, 1999), Trompenaars (1997), and
House et al. (2004). § 3.3 discussed the cultural dimensions defined by House et al.
(2004, Project GLOBE) in more detail. Levels (e.g., values, beliefs, and behaviors), layers (e.g., individual, organizational, and occupational cultures), and other relevant cultural phenomena and caveats are covered in § 3.4. A summary and conclusion is included in § 3.5.
In the context of drivers of professional behavior, the focus of this chapter is on national cultural differences influencing behavior in general. This can be illustrated as follows: Psychological and cognitive factors

National culture

Professional behaviors Contextual factors
- Professional context
- Organizational context

External / environmental factors

Figure 2 – The focus of Chapter 3: national culture in the context of drivers of professional behavior

How cross-national cultural differences have their impact in the specific context of auditing and auditors’ professional behavior is covered in Chapter 4.
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The Behavior of Assurance Professionals – A Cross-cultural Perspective

3.2 What are national cultures?
3.2.1 In search of a definition of (national) culture
When talking about culture, one quickly notices that many different understandings and definitions derived from different methodological assumptions exist. Culture is hard to grasp in