A configurational and experimental approach to compare British and Chinese cultural profiles of generation Y

Abstract

This study provides new activity-based classifications for cultural differences and similarities, in contrast to the cultural dimensions of hierarchy, group behavior, uncertainty avoidance and timeorientation. In terms of cultural activity types, Lewis (1999) distinguishes linear-active, multi-active and reactive cultures. Moving away from a country perspective based on political boundaries to a cultural community approach, it is not only time-orientation, but also the way cultures communicate, negotiate, and contract that shape activity types. This article conceptualizes, hypothesizes and tests observations with a set-theoretic tool -fuzzy set QCA. The analysis focuses on two distinct cultural profiles -the British and Chinese. The outcome of the configurational and experimental analysis shows that young managers from Britain and China have more similarities than differences.