IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/manlab/v37y2012i1p45-60.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Emic and Etic: Different Lenses for Research in Culture

Author

Listed:
  • Madhu Bala
  • G.R.B. Chalil
  • Amit Gupta

Abstract

This article is an attempt to provide an integrated discussion of culture through both universal and indigenous approaches: etic and emic. Both universal and indigenous points of views are very important in understanding specific culture and its comparison with other cultures. Methodological concerns of both, however, have resulted in valuable yet incomplete explanation to concept of culture. Intricacies of using both in culture research have been explained in the article. The article uses these two lenses to discuss Indian context vis-Ã -vis other cultures in order to come up with unique aspects for Indian organizations. This way it offers a comprehensive look at culture as a concept, providing different approaches to capture the unique features of culture in Indian organizational context. It also discusses the challenges of culture research in multi-culture environment of India. Few propositions for future research have been suggested. Also implications for individuals and organizations planning to operate from India have been discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Madhu Bala & G.R.B. Chalil & Amit Gupta, 2012. "Emic and Etic: Different Lenses for Research in Culture," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 37(1), pages 45-60, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:manlab:v:37:y:2012:i:1:p:45-60
    DOI: 10.1177/0258042X1103700105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0258042X1103700105
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0258042X1103700105?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. House, Robert & Javidan, Mansour & Hanges, Paul & Dorfman, Peter, 2002. "Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: an introduction to project GLOBE," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 3-10, April.
    2. Alfred M Jaeger, 1983. "The Transfer of Organizational Culture Overseas: An Approach to Control in the Multinational Corporation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 14(2), pages 91-113, June.
    3. Hofstede, Geert, 1994. "The business of international business is culture," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Janice S Miller & Peter W Hom & Luis R Gomez-Mejia, 2001. "The High Cost of Low Wages: Does Maquiladora Compensation Reduce Turnover?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 585-595, September.
    5. Martin J. Gannon & Edwin A. Locke & Amit Gupta & Pino Audia & Amy L. Kristof-Brown, 2005. "Cultural Metaphors as Frames of Reference for Nations: A Six-Country Study," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 37-47, January.
    6. Ramamoorthy, Nagarajan & Kulkarni, Subodh P. & Gupta, Amit & Flood, Patrick C., 2007. "Individualism-collectivism orientation and employee attitudes: A comparison of employees from the high-technology sector in India and Ireland," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-203, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lewellyn, Krista B. & Bao, Shuji ‘Rosey’, 2014. "A cross-national investigation of IPO activity: The role of formal institutions and national culture," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1167-1178.
    2. Prince, Nicholas R. & Bruce Prince, J. & Kabst, Rüediger, 2020. "National culture and incentives: Are incentive practices always good?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    3. Jarrod Haar & Maree Roche & David Brougham, 2019. "Indigenous Insights into Ethical Leadership: A Study of Māori Leaders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 621-640, December.
    4. Alexander, Katherine C. & Mackey, Jeremy D. & Maher, Liam P. & McAllister, Charn P. & Ellen, B. Parker, 2024. "An implicit leadership theory examination of cultural values as moderators of the relationship between destructive leadership and followers’ task performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(3).
    5. Karacay, Gaye & Bayraktar, Secil & Kabasakal, Hayat & Dastmalchian, Ali, 2019. "Role of Leaders as Agents of Negotiation for Counterbalancing Cultural Dissonance in the Middle East and North Africa Region," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(4).
    6. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Alexei Koveshnikov, 2021. "From Cultural Differences to Identity Politics: A Critical Discursive Approach to National Identity in Multinational Corporations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2052-2081, December.
    7. Radziszewska Aleksandra, 2014. "Intercultural dimensions of entrepreneurship," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 35-47, April.
    8. Minguzzi, Antonio & Passaro, Renato, 2001. "The network of relationships between the economic environment and the entrepreneurial culture in small firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 181-207, March.
    9. Catana Gheorghe Alexandru & Catana Doina, 2012. "Societal Culture: A Comparison Of Romanian, Austrian And German Students Perspective," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 1008-1013, July.
    10. Luis Alfonso Dau & Aya S. Chacar & Marjorie A. Lyles & Jiatao Li, 2022. "Informal institutions and international business: Toward an integrative research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 985-1010, August.
    11. Elenkov, Detelin S. & Manev, Ivan M., 2009. "Senior expatriate leadership's effects on innovation and the role of cultural intelligence," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 357-369, October.
    12. Lu, Jiaying & Hung, Kam & Wang, Lili & Schuett, Michael A. & Hu, Liang, 2016. "Do perceptions of time affect outbound-travel motivations and intention? An investigation among Chinese seniors," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-12.
    13. Moriah Meyskens & Karen Paul, 2010. "The Evolution of Corporate Social Reporting Practices in Mexico," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 211-227, February.
    14. Saad, Mohsen & Samet, Anis, 2020. "Collectivism and commonality in liquidity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 137-162.
    15. Victor Oltra & Jaime Bonache & Chris Brewster, 2013. "A New Framework for Understanding Inequalities Between Expatriates and Host Country Nationals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 291-310, June.
    16. Chong, Eric, 2013. "Managerial competencies and career advancement: A comparative study of managers in two countries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 345-353.
    17. Fang, Tony & Fridh, Camilla & Schultzberg, Sara, 2004. "Why did the Telia-Telenor merger fail?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 573-594, October.
    18. Elango, B. & Talluri, Srinivas (Sri), 2023. "A study of the impact of cultural dimensions on the operational orientation of manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    19. Mackey, Jeremy D., 2022. "The effect of cultural values on the strength of the relationship between interpersonal and organizational workplace deviance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 760-771.
    20. Kaasa, Anneli, 2016. "Culture, religion and productivity: Evidence from European regions," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 12(1), pages 1-18.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:manlab:v:37:y:2012:i:1:p:45-60. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.xlri.ac.in/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.