Cultural Influences on IT Use This page intentionally left blank Cultural Influences on IT Use A UK–Japanese Comparison Norio Kambayashi Foreword by Harry Scarbrough © Norio Kambayashi 2003 Foreword © Harry Scarbrough 2003 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 978-1-4039-0140-8 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2003 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-50772-6 ISBN 978-0-230-51111-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230511118 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cultural influences on IT use p. cm. ISBN 978-1-349-50772-6 1. Information technology—Social aspects—Great Britain. 2. Information technology—Social aspects—Japan. HM851 .C848 2002 303.48′33′0941—dc21 2002072080 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 To Asako and Aoi with love This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables x List of Abbreviations xii Foreword by Professor Harry Scarbrough xiii Preface xv 1 Introduction 1 Research objectives: use of IT under the influence of national culture 1 Definition of terms 3 Outline of the book 7 2 Concepts of IT and National Culture 10 Introduction 10 The relationships between IT and organisations 10 National cultural influences on IT use 17 Specific British/Japanese cultural influences on IT use 26 Conclusion 33 3 The Analytical Model and Research Methods 35 Introduction 35 The relevance of a survey-based approach for the study 36 The analytical levels of organisational IT use 38 The operationalisation of national culture and the patterns of IT use 40 Developing a model of cultural influences on IT use 48 The analytical model and the hypothesis 57 Preliminary work for the field study 60 The structure of the survey 62 Conclusion 72 4 The Analysis of the Context 74 Introduction 74 Some suggestions from Sorge etal.’s work 74 Control for kinds of technologies/systems 75 vii viii Contents Control for industry 82 Control for individual organisations 83 Conclusion 88 5 Some Evidence of Cultural Influences on IT Use 90 Introduction 90 Findings on control-oriented IT use 90 Findings on individual-oriented IT use 100 Conclusion 110 6 How Cultural Influences Operate at the Shop-floor Level 112 Introduction 112 Findings on control-oriented IT use 112 Findings on individual-oriented IT use 133 Relationship between managerial preferences and actual practices 142 Discussion and implications 149 Conclusion 151 7 How Cultural Influences Operate at the Management Level 153 Introduction 153 Findings on control-oriented IT use 153 Findings on individual-oriented IT use 172 Relationship between managerial preferences and actual practices 186 Discussion and implications 188 Conclusion 192 8 Conclusions 193 Summary of the research: lessons to be learned 193 Implications for further research 203 The significance of the research 206 Appendix:The Questionnaire 208 Notes 215 Bibliography 218 Index 230 List of Figures 3.1 Britain, Japan and the USA along Trompenaars’ seven dimensions 48 3.2 Two main dimensions of national culture 50 3.3 Operationalising process of national culture and its relationship with CIU 52 3.4 Operationalising process of national culture and its relationship with IIU 55 3.5 The analytical model 58 3.6 The process of collection of questionnaires in the surveys 67 4.1 Technologies and systems used (all samples) 76 4.2 Technologies and systems used in each industry 78 5.1 Managerial preferences for CIU – general view 92 5.2 Managerial preferences for IIU – general view 102 6.1 Actual practices in CIU at the shop-floor level – general view 114 6.2 Actual practices in IIU at the shop-floor level – general view 135 7.1 Actual practices in CIU at the management level – general view 155 7.2 Actual practices in IIU at the management level – general view 174 8.1 Technology, organisation and national culture 202 ix