Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
10-2018
Abstract
The 30-year anniversary of Kogut and Singh’s (1988) groundbreaking study that introduced the concept of cultural distance and its accompanying measure provides the opportunity to take stock of what makes for a good construct. We organize our discussion around the issues of concept, algorithm, and data to clarify and gauge their contribution, before highlighting the impact of their work more generally. Many of the challenges raised by critical observers focus on one of these three dimensions. As there is value in looking systematically at the construct from concept to data, we set out the argument of the index and discuss the validity of selected lines of criticism. We identify a number of emergent and future directions for the conceptualization and measurement of cultural distance, to facilitate the continuing advancement of work on international business. © 2018, Academy of International Business.
Keywords
Cultural dimensions, Cultural distance, Hofstede, National culture
Discipline
Business | Sociology of Culture | Strategic Management Policy
Research Areas
Strategy and Organisation
Publication
International Journal of Business Studies
Volume
49
First Page
1138
Last Page
1153
ISSN
0047-2506
Identifier
10.1057/s41267-018-0181-5
Publisher
Springer
Citation
CUYPERS, Ilya R. P.; ERTUG, Gokhan; HEUGENS, Pursey Pmar M.A.R.; KOGUT, Bruce; and ZOU, Tengjian.
The making of a construct: Lessons from 30 years of the Kogut and Singh cultural distance index. (2018). International Journal of Business Studies. 49, 1138-1153.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5917
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-018-0181-5