Title: The 'fluid paradigm': the impact of national culture on small business management

Authors: Daniel Degravel; Christa L. Wilkin; Xianhong (Iris) Zhou

Addresses: Department of Management, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330, USA ' School of Human Resource Management, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada ' School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiao Ling Wei Street, Nanjing 210094, China

Abstract: Does national culture impact management in small business settings? The literature answers that question positively with the implicit use of the classic paradigm of national culture. The paper revisits the national culture concept and suggests a perspective called 'fluid paradigm' that introduces changes in the relationship between national culture and management. This relationship is however confirmed and examined through the cultural attributes of paradoxicality, negotiation, recreation, perception, and enactment. National culture affects strongly management and its components (such as human resources management, entrepreneurial behaviour, innovation) mainly through the human cognitive phenomenon. The very way to define national culture strongly impacts the relationship that appears as a system rather than a simple relationship. Implications for management are proposed at the end of the paper.

Keywords: national culture; organisational culture; small business management; small firms; fluid paradigm; strategy; entrepreneurship; capabilities; human cognition; firm performance; human resources management; HRM; entrepreneurial behaviour; innovation; cultural influence.

DOI: 10.1504/JIBED.2016.074023

Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, 2016 Vol.9 No.1, pp.62 - 87

Published online: 03 Jan 2016 *

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