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Foreword Starting point for Sebastian-Dominik Jais' dissertation is the insight that - despite the relevance of national culture on the one hand and the use of information on the other - there is only little research on the relationship between the two variables. Thus, the author aimed at a better understanding of the influence of national culture on the use of information. To that end, Jais has carried out a survey with asset managers of a renowned global company in Germany, South Korea and the United States of America. Since there is only little relevant knowledge available, the author has chosen an explorative setup. In his research, Sebastian-Dominik Jais finds that differences between the samples are only observable where the adequate type of information use is determined neither by technical necessity nor the task to be fulfilled. Accordingly, national culture can only exert its influence when the information user has some degree of freedom when fulfilling his task. In addition, the findings of Jais' research provide first evidence for the existence of cross-national effects on the managerial use of information in general. In particular, the results show that power distance and uncertainty avoidance affect the managerial use of information most strongly. This confirms Hofstede's prediction and underscores the frequently made statement that not all cultural dimensions are similarly important as determinants of managerial behaviour.
A propos de l'auteur
Dr. Sebastian-Dominik Jais promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer am Lehrstuhl für Controlling der European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel. Er ist Associate im Bereich Acquisition/Closing/Financing für einen US-amerikanischen Private Equity Fund.
Résumé
The recent past shows a growing interest in cultural specificities. This new-found focus has its origin in reports about corporate practices indicating that globally standardized information systems are not effective in every culture. One explanation for this observation is that information use practices vary among cultures.
Based on data collected in three national subsidiaries of a multinational company, Sebastian-Dominik Jais examines the use of information in the United States, South Korea and Germany. The results indicate that differences in information use practices only exist if the type of information use is not determined externally, e.g. by technical necessity or task necessity. The author shows that the effectiveness of managerial information use is strongly related to the respective cultural environment.
