Influence of National Culture on the Formalization of Management Systems

In this book, it was researched whether differences in the formalization of management systems occur in certain countries and whether these can be attributed primarily to the culture of the country or whether there are other influences. A quantitative study was conducted in which the five factors Need for Instructions, Compliance with Instructions, Supervisor Support, Change Management, and Overformalization were surveyed and analysed with the cultural dimensions Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance according to Hofstede and GLOBE. The analysis has shown that the national culture has an influence on the formalization of management system measured by three of the five factors. Moreover, a correlation of the factor Overformalization with Hofstede’s UAI and a preference for centralization in high PD countries were identified. Although the differences in the formalization of the management system are not limited to cultural aspects, they are the only ones with high significance. About the author Johanna Schomisch was already interested in management systems during her dual studies and found her research focus through her work-related connection to standards. As an internal auditor for ISO9001 and IATF 16949, she noticed the differences in processes despite the same underlying standards, which aroused her interest for research in this field. When Hofstede's cultural dimensions were covered in modules of the part-time MBA, the idea for this book was born.